It is Indian summer time in Margaret River. Coils of bright translucent blue divide and unwind their way around the finger-like point just north of the seaside village of Prevelly. Some meet the requirements of a school of patient, wetsuited surfriding humanity gathered about a hundred metres out from the rocky shore, while others are left to pass by like empty carriages on a train. Lit beneath a sky so brilliant that its every fine and distant detail is presented with exceptional clarity, the wild scrubby coastline spreads north and south, sculpted with small bays and protected coves. At this time of year nature itself is clearly prepared to indulge mankind with its most docile and agreeable disposition. And why shouldn’t it? After all, it has grapes to ripen. At Cape Mentelle, less than ten kilometres due east, David Hohnen is looking like the cat that swallowed the cream. He’s just a few days away from having another successful vintage in the can. And while he’s upstairs awaiting my arrival, winemaker John Durham and one of his cellar team are lazily finishing what appear to be suspiciously like double caffe lattes on a sunny paved courtyard in front of the ochre colours of the rammed earth winery. Gentleman’s game, winemaking, I think to myself. An hour later and I’ve tasted a small collection of vintage 2000 Cape Mentelle red wines, each as honest, open and enthusiastic as only the very young can be. Some looked exceptional. Mark 2000 as another classic red year for Margaret River. Meantime, Hohnen’s more than happy to wait for the sunshine to add the finishing touches to his best cabernet sauvignon. With a wave of the arm he says: ‘Look at this. Perfect days of twenty-five degrees well into autumn. You just can’t ask for more. I’ve come to the view after all these years that the most important thing about whether a wine region is cool or not is whether it ripens its fruit into autumn and not in late summer. This is what it’s all about.’ It’s beyond dispute to me that there is something very, very special about Margaret River. Having given regions like the Barossa, Hunter and Yarra Valleys well over a century’s headstart, the Margaret River wine region now makes a disproportionately large volume of Australia’s greatest wine. Names like Cullen, Moss Wood, Leeuwin Estate, Vasse Felix, Pierro and Cape Mentelle justly take their place amongst the makers of our most sought after and prestigious labels. Today, a mere generation after Tom Cullity planted Margaret River’ first vines at Vasse Felix in 1967, it’s a wine destination without equal in this country and one entirely geared to delight and surprise the wine visitor. The area’s unusually suspicious community of artisans, alternative lifestylers, dairy farmers, surfers and potato growers initially greeted wine with great circumspection, but today even those most reluctant towards wine would surely agree that thanks to it, Margaret River has never had it so good. There’s now rather a visible if not tangible snazzy smartness and attitude about Margaret River, perhaps fuelled by the knowledge that even its smallest and least-credentialled vineyards can sell for millions of dollars and do. The best would easily fetch telephone numbers. This air of prosperity and self-confidence has tipped over into its townships, its hotels and restaurants and even into its tourism, art and gallery communities. If you want to, you can do Margaret River very well indeed. But if you’d rather making the visit without spending a packet, that’s no problem either. The Margaret River Hotel, which offers excellent accommodation, is a classic pub, just up the road from the area’s finest restaurant, Vat 107. I’d be perfectly happy to recline either at Cape Lodge or Caves House near Yallingup or at Basildene House near Margaret River itself. While there are distinctive Margaret River styles of wine, there is no such thing as a Margaret River style of winery. They come in all shapes and sizes, from the tiny domaines like Rosabrook Estate to the sprawling modern and half-built shell of the region’s largest winery, Palandri. Some, like Vasse Felix, Leeuwin Estate and Voyager Estate, reflect something of the scale and style of California’s Napa Valley. To the committed wine drinker however, the drive along Caves Road, past estates like Moss Wood, Cullen and Pierro, engenders something of the feeling experienced while motoring along the D2 by most of the Medoc’s most famous chateaux near Bordeaux. It’s a sensation that only magnifies once you step out of the car and into the estate, simultaneously exciting, invigorating and surprisingly humbling, if you’ve never experienced it before. You certainly know you are somewhere special. Although several makers, David Hohnen included, see no reason why Margaret River shiraz should not ultimately rival its signature red wine based on the cabernet sauvignon variety, it has some making up to do. For Margaret River’s better cabernets, many of which depend to a very large degree on its distant relative of merlot, are world-class wines with few peers outside the greatest estates of Bordeaux. And despite the elegance and refinement of the best cabernets, there’s always plenty of flavour and longevity. I’m presently less convinced by Margaret River shiraz, which is often made into a very gamey, spicy and earthy expression of the grape. Not that they’re ordinary wines, more that they presently lack the real distinction of the cabernets. David Hohnen, whose Cape Mentelle Shiraz is one of the spiciest, wildest and most briary, disagrees, suggesting that they sit comfortably between the richness of Barossa shiraz and the leaner, more aromatic and spicy expressions from Victoria. Led by the brilliant Art Series Chardonnay of Leeuwin Estate, Margaret River chardonnay combines rare presence and intensity of ripe grapefruit, pineapple and lemony flavours with genuine elegance and restraint. Their concentration of fruit allows them to soak up winemaking influences of oak and extended contact with yeast lees in the barrel. They also cellar superbly, typically peaking between five and eight years of age. The region’s other white speciality is its sauvignon blanc and semillon, typically blended together but also released separately by some estates. The sauvignon blanc ripens well, developing intense passionfruit and lychee flavours and a rich, mouthfilling texture that semillon genuinely enhances with its fresh, lingering acidity and typically lemony, melon and occasionally grassy qualities. Unwooded examples of the wine like those of Cape Mentelle and Ribbon Vale are usually at their best when young, while the oak matured styles, led by Cullen, Pierro and Evans & Tate tend to appreciate a few years in the bottle. There are some perfectly drinkable rieslings and pinot noirs made from the Margaret River’s older vineyards, but to be perfectly frank, there are plenty of Australian wine regions which do these varieties better. Amberley Amberley is found near Carbanup River to the north of Margaret River. Located in an idyllic vine-covered valley, it’s home to one of the region’s finest restaurants. An indoor-outdoor setting provides the perfect backdrop to a lively collection of zesty white wines based around semillon, chenin blanc and sauvignon blanc, while its Shiraz and Cabernet Merlot reveal richness and weight. Further south, on a ridge running parallel to Caves Road, are some of the region’s finest vineyards. A substantial number are found in the Willyabrup Valley. Cullen The first of the Margaret River vineyards to introduce merlot to its cabernet-based red, Cullen’s star has risen to such an extent that there is no more respected and sought-after Australian wine than its Cabernet Merlot. Typically sumptuous and concentrated, it’s nevertheless sophisticated and refined, superbly balanced and elegant, a benchmark wine. Cullen’s has evolved into a tight-knit and leaner expression of Margaret River Chardonnay, while its Sauvignon Blanc Semillon is a silky, seamless blend simply bursting with pear and pineapple fruit. The Pinot Noir is a deliciously drinkable country wine without any pretensions. Even if its more sought-after wines have sold out, Cullen is a must-visit location in this region. It offers a casual lunch affair in a relaxed restaurant, looking over one of the most special vineyards this country has to offer. Soak it up. Evans & Tate Although its cellar door is found on Caves Road, the Evans & Tate’s epicentre has shifted towards Jindong, a relatively new and warmer northern focal point which now hosts the region’s largest vineyards. Winemaker Brian Fletcher now has the resources to create richly flavoured regional wines blended from several different subregions within Margaret River. This company’s style is ripe and punchy. Lenton Brae One of the region’s most exciting up and coming wineries, Lenton Brae is a maker of an excellent Sauvignon Blanc, a ripe regional Chardonnay and a pure, harmonious Cabernet Sauvignon of considerable class. Climb past a water garden to its elevated cellar door for a decent peek into the modern winery below and you can watch winemaker Ed Tomlinson at work. Vasse Felix Owned by one of Australia’s most prominent businesswomen in Janet Holmes a Court, Vasse Felix is becoming a substantial maker of Margaret River table wines across a number of price points, from the top-drawer Heytesbury label to its Classic Dry White and Cabernet Merlot. Its restaurant, which specialises in local fare, overlooks its Willyabrup vineyard and visitors may also get the chance to cast an eye over some of the Heytesbury collection of automobiles. Pierro Pierro is a tiny winery made famous by its Chardonnay, one of Australia’s most opulent and statuesque, and the region’s closest rival to Leeuwin Estate’s. It also produces a restrained, barrel fermened blend of semillon, sauvignon blanc and chardonnay known as LTC and a robust and deeply flavoured Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot. Each of Pierro’s wines, including its rustic and generous Pinot Noir, cellar particularly well. South of Willyabrup and closer to Margaret River itself is another concentration of excellent wineries which extends down south of the town towards Augusta. Cape Mentelle Made famous by its two consecutive triumphs with the Jimmy Watson Trophy in 1983 and 1984, Cape Mentelle is a distinguished and definitive maker of deeply flavoured and long-term red wines which occasionally border on the exotic. Its flagship Cabernet Sauvignon is powerfully constructed around a firm tannic backbone, while the Cabernet Merlot is a shorter term wine of some breeding. Shiraz is another red speciality, along with Zinfandel, Australia’s finest and firmest example of this Californian variety. The Semillon Sauvignon is a benchmark example of a lighter-oaked blend, while the Chardonnay can be spectacular. Xanadu A somewhat erratic maker of wild and often esoteric dry table wines, which can scale the heights, especially with the Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Reserve. The Secession dry white blend is especially popular. Voyager Estate A spectacular vineyard and winery development conceived along classic Cape Dutch lines, with over five hectares of pristine lawns and a spectacular cellar door building. On the wine front, it’s another of the emerging upper crust, with a very classy Cabernet Merlot, a punchy ripe Chardonnay and a de luxe Semillon Sauvignon Blanc blend under the premier Tom Price label. Leeuwin Estate One of the truly great winery experiences. Home to one of Australia’s benchmark chardonnays, an occasionally superb Sauvignon Blanc and the typically consistent Prelude range, Leeuwin Estate also features one of the country’s best winery restaurants, where a range of older vintage wines is available by glass or bottle. Set amid acres of tall forest in rolling hills, Leeuwin always leaves a lasting impression.
