Unknown but Nose-Worthy
The surfboards strapped to the roofs of cars parked at the Cape Mentelle Winery were my first clue. That and the fact that the thundering sound I heard in the distance as I sipped a 1996 Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc was the ocean pounding beaches just five miles away.
Then there was the rural town of Margaret River, with its main street lined in an eclectic collection of hardware stores, wine boutiques, surf shops, craft galleries and a hemp store. Finally, sipping a Chardonnay over lunch at Leeuwin Estate Winery, as bright red parrots strutted across the lawn and electric blue wrens swooped out of the eucalyptus grove to peck at my butter dish, I realized that this is definitely no ordinary wine-growing region.
Western Australia has always had an individualist approach to life, a tradition of going its own way. For years an active secessionist movement has been hellbent on separating from the rest the country. Being a resident of a headstrong separatist nation myself--Quebec--I was attracted to Western Australia because individualists, I’ve found, make a place more interesting.
The Margaret River region, a 3 1/2-hour, 180-mile drive south of Perth, is one of Australia’s youngest wine growing regions and one of its best. Though Margaret River produces only 1% of the country’s vintage, it accounts for 10% of Australia’s premium wines, and Margaret River wines are so popular that most of them never make it out of the country. It’s even hard to find many of them in Sydney.
But the region is also diverse, so that someone who isn’t a wine buff can still find plenty to do here. Located between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin--jutting into the Indian Ocean in southwest Australia--this is a premier surfing locale famous for westerly swells that undulate around the bottom of the globe. It’s a spectacular eco-tourism destination, known for its hiking, caving and bird-watching. Artists have migrated to this peaceful rural area, and their studios and galleries dot country roads running between wild beaches, native forests and rambling farmlands. And for lovers of food, the Margaret River has more winery restaurants than any other Australian winegrowing region.
Americans have played a role in the development of Margaret River as a winegrowing region. In the mid-1970s Robert Mondavi, from the Napa Valley, helped convince the owners of Leeuwin Estate that their newly purchased cattle ranch should really be a vineyard. Mondavi recognized the potential of the limestone soil, which mirrors France’s Bordeaux region; although this climate is free of frost with a high rainfall in winter and warm, dry summers that allows for a longer growing season for fruit to ripen.
Leeuwin’s owner, Denis Horgan, with his trademark modesty, said “that makes an average year in Margaret River equal to a great year in Bordeaux.” But then Leeuwin did, in 1981, win the prestigious International Wine Challenge in London with only its third vintage. Leeuwin Estate has also caught the eye of Robert M. Parker Jr., America’s best known wine critic, who has labeled it as one of Australia’s superb wine producers.
In recent years Australian wines have caught on with Americans. New South Wales in southeast Australia is where most of the country’s wine exports come from. And Australia’s most celebrated red wine is from the shiraz grape. But in Margaret River, cabernet sauvignon is the main red wine produced.
Today there are about 45 wineries sprinkled throughout the Margaret River area, and its cabernets are lighter and more Bordeaux-like than the full, rich Australian reds produced in other parts of the country. The most popular white grape varieties here are very fruity Chardonnay, Semillon and Sauvignon Blancs. Now even the French have their fingers in this obscure corner of Western Australia, with the legendary Champagne firm Veuve Clicquot controlling a sizable chunk of the Cape Mentelle Winery.
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On my first night I checked into Basildene Manor just outside the small country town of Margaret River, a granite homestead built in 1912 by the local lighthouse keeper. Garry Nielsen, who formerly owned several prawn trawlers off Queensland, bought the house in 1996, and the elegantly decorated Edwardian rooms are up a staircase and off the balustrade; all crafted from jarrah, a luscious native hardwood. Basildene is a romantic delight that serves a delicious full country breakfast in a conservatory overlooking a private lake. Nielsen and his partner, Julie Whittingham, know their wines and each night in the fireplace-warmed lounge they served up a local vintage for guests.
Just outside the manor runs a five-mile cycling and walking track down to the beach and connecting to a former railway line that heads to the north. This is a perfect way to prowl the region’s wineries. With its strikingly contemporary winery buildings and an elegance in a solidly rural setting, the Margaret River constantly reminds me of the Napa Valley.
Strolling through the spacious grounds of Leeuwin Estate winery, I heard neon green parrots shriek from the canopy of eucalyptus trees. The staff told me they had to plant sunflowers as an alternative food source, or the parrots, which come by “in plague proportions,” would eat up the grapes.
In this region you feel close to the Australian “bush” because the wineries are widely spaced apart and forests of tall karri and jarrah trees make you feel like you are secluded from the rest of the world. At Leeuwin, a towering stand of karri forms a backdrop to a natural grass amphitheater in front of the modern winery building. Every year since 1985, the winery has hosted an ambitious outdoor concert featuring artists such as Ray Charles, Dionne Warwick and Diana Ross. The event is so popular that it literally doubles the population of Margaret River.
Cape Mentelle Winery, which produces some of my favorite Australian wines, is just down the road from Basildene Manor. On a trip to Sydney several years ago I fell in love with their crisp and fruity Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc. In 1983 Cape Mentelle’s Cabernet Sauvignon won Australia’s most coveted wine award, the Jimmy Watson Trophy--a dream come true for a small winery set up in only 1969.
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North of the town of Margaret River, strung along a network of back roads, is a cluster of well-known wineries such as family-run Cullen, Pierro, and Evans and Tate. Generally, tastings are free with a small fee for premium wines. Some wineries will ship their product home for you. Otherwise, the Margaret River Regional Wine Center--which features tastings as well--in unpronounceable Cowaramup will package and mail to the U.S.
During my weeklong visit, while driving through golden vineyards, I reached Amberley Estate, nestled among jarrah and red gum in a secluded valley off the main route. The winery building is modeled on an old villa, with deep verandas that create a naturally cool building where I met winemaker Eddie Price who won the West End Trophy for his 1995 Shiraz.
Harvest in Margaret River is from February to mid-April, a fun time to visit any winegrowing region, but a hectic period for winemakers. For that reason the annual Margaret River Wine and Food Festival has been shifted to November--Australia’s springtime--so that winery staffs have more time to spend with visitors.
One day, just as dark clouds gathered overhead, I reached the Vasse Felix Winery (another thumbs up from wine critic Parker) for a tasting amid oak barrels. Heading upstairs as rains pound the high wooden roof of the winery, I found a table beside a blazing fireplace set in the center of the restaurant and dined overlooking vines that have turned orange with autumn.
Winery restaurants are a Margaret River specialty, and there are many to choose from. Amberley has an excellent light lunch menu, and over at Brookland Valley Vineyard, set on the banks of a small lake, Flutes Cafe is as well known as their wines. In these restaurants I dined on marron (a local freshwater crayfish), dhufish and local Cloverdene lamb glazed with local honey.
Just inland from Margaret River, a deli called the Berry Farm produces a unique range of table, dessert and fortified wines made from fruit and berries such as kiwi, raspberry and strawberry.
Most of the coastline between the two capes is a patchwork of protected sections belonging to Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park. If you are ambitious enough, you can hike the entire 71-mile length on the coast, a trip that can take up to six days. More than 150 wild caves pockmark this limestone plateau; 15 miles south of Margaret River four of them are open to the public.
One of the wildest stretches of the National Park is in the Boranup area just south of the caves. A secondary road, a 10-mile detour off the main route, winds through wetlands, coastal health and gnarled forests of banksia and tall native trees; a great place for bush walking and bird-watching for such gems as red-capped parrots, purple-crowned lorikeets and the sacred kingfisher.
Heading back toward Perth I checked into the warmth of a bygone era at Newtown House in Busselton at the northern end of Margaret River country. Built in 1851, with antique farm equipment set on its two acres, the original three-room homestead is now a restaurant where inn owner Stephen Reagan is also the chef. He uses as much local produce as possible on his menu that includes Margaret River venison and a personal favorite, smoked Clover Cottage trout.
On my last day in the Margaret River region I headed toward Cape Naturaliste, to the lighthouse set at the far northern tip of the peninsula. In late afternoon I watched surfers ride waves in the reddish glow of sunset when I suddenly spotted something out to sea. It was a pair of humpback whales close to shore rounding the cape on their annual migration south to Antarctica. Had I a glass of wine in my hand, it would have been a perfect and fitting close to a trip through a wine region that offers absolutely everything.
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GUIDEBOOK
Bottled Joy Down Under
Getting there: Quantas, Air New Zealand, American and United offer nonstop service from LAX to Sydney, Australia, with connecting flights to Perth on Qantas or Ansett. Round-trip fares start at $1,470. It’s a 14 1/2-hour flight to Sydney; another 4 3/4-hour flight to Perth. From Perth it’s a 180-mile drive to Margaret River country. Hertz, telephone (800) 654-3131, and Avis, (800) 879-2847, rent mid-size cars for about $290 to $300 a week, with insurance, taxes and unlimited mileage.
Wineries: Amberley Estate, Thornton Road, Yallingup, tel. 011-61-8-9755-2288. Brookland Valley Vineyard and Flutes Cafe, Caves Road, Willyabrup, tel. 011-61-8-9755-6250; open Tues.-Sun. 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Cape Mentelle Winery, Wallcliffe Road, Margaret River, tel. 011-61-8-9757-3266; open daily 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Leeuwin Estate Winery & Restaurant, Stevens Road, Margaret River, tel. 011-61-8-9757-6253; open daily 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.’; restaurant serves lunch daily, dinner Saturday. Margaret River Regional Wine Center, 9 Bussel Highway, Cowaramup; open Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; will ship wines internationally.
Where to stay: Basildene Manor, Wallcliffe Road, Margaret River, tel. 011-61-8-9757-3140; room rates about $90 for double, including breakfast. Newton House, Bussel Highway, Vasse, tel. 011-61-8-9755-4485; about $70, including breakfast.
For more information: Call Australia’s Aussie Helpline, tel. (805) 775-2000, fax (805) 775-4448, Internet https://www.australia.com.; Margaret River Tourist Bureau, tel. 011-61-8-9757-2911.