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  Quaffers® Feature - January 2002
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 Way out West: the Brave New World of Western Australia |
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 It has been the stated aim of the Australian wine industry to become the most influential world wine exporter by 2025: bigger even than France, which has led the international league table for as long as anyone can remember. Many quaffers have their favourite Australian tipple, often a Chardonnay or a Shiraz from the main growing areas of South-Eastern Oz, and the wines have developed an easy-drinking, good value reputation which is a vital advantage in a cut-throat marketplace.
Yet there is more to Australia than the main coastal population centres of Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, and more to its wine industry than the well-known regions which are satellites of these three cities. Look to the left on any map of the Great Southern Land and you will find that, beyond Adelaide, there is still much more than half a country to go.
Here, in Western Australia, there has been a wine industry since the early part of the 19th century. Yet it is only in the last couple of decades that the impact of Western Australian wines has started to register widely, with an increasing concentration on fine wine production to rival the best of what is available from elsewhere on the same continent.
| Western Australia (WA) Factfile |
| Size: |
approx. 2.5 million km2 (1 million miles2) - one-third of the continent |
| Capital: |
Perth, population 1.38 million inhabitants |
| State population: |
1.7 million (Australia: approx. 20 million) |
| General economy: |
natural resources (prospecting and mining, particularly gold, iron ore, minerals, gas), tourism |
| Area under vine: |
4490 hectares from Geraldton (500km north of Perth) to Albany (Southern Ocean coast), representing 4.56% of total plantings in Australia (J.Halliday, 1998 figures) |
WA may be the biggest Australian state, but it is punching well below its weight in terms of contribution to the country's total wine production, at around only 3% per annum. To be fair, most of WA is inhospitable, minimally populated desert, with only the South-West corner offering respite from the dry, mineral-laden interior. Yet when premium wines are taken into account, WA offers a disproportionately high 20% —30% of names to the overall list, reflecting its increasing international reputation for quality.
 First wave
Although the first official British settlement in WA was made in 1826 at Albany on the south coast, the first vines appeared in the 1830's with recently-arrived settlers in the Swan Valley to the north-east of Perth. From the start of the 20th century the influence of the European immigrant community, particularly of incomers from Dalmatia, was a major force in maintaining and developing the WA wine tradition. Latterly the industry has moved towards premium quality production in small wineries, although there are now signs that it could become a victim of its own success. As in many other newly-fashionable wine-growing areas of the world, the outstanding progress made by the few can result in a bandwagon being jumped on by the many, and both wine and reputation become diluted in the aftermath unless due vigilance is exercised.
New wave
 Today inevitably, where there are vineyards in the Antipodes there is also wine tourism, and WA is no exception. Virtually every winery has an open-door policy, and actively encourages visits. Some even have cafés or top-notch restaurants attached, perfect for enjoying with a bottle of the local produce. The preponderance of BYO (Bring Your Own) restaurants on the other side of the world makes sampling the widest possible range of wines even easier, and each region is well-geared with wine trails for the adventurous traveller. Amongst WA natives, visiting a local winery is no less a popular past-time.
Some like it hot
Swan Valley has the hottest vine-growing climate in all of Australia (average summer temperature pushing 40ºC), which can result in excessive yields unless control is exerted over the crop. The region has a Mediterranean climate and alluvial soil, akin to that of the Rhône valley in France. The wines are often high in alcohol, and the bulk of WA quaffing wine comes from here. The region is also renowned for its top quality dessert wines, high sunshine hours bringing added sugar to the ripening grapes before picking.
Houghton's is one of the oldest names in the local wine industry, its first commercial vintage having been in 1859. Its "White Burgundy" (first released in 1937) was the most popular white wine buy for Australians over many years. This blend contains a mixture of Chenin Blanc, Muscadelle, Verdelho, Chardonnay: in fact just about anything as long as it's white. In Europe it can only be referred to as "HWB" due to strict EU regulations concerning labels of origin. Other volume producers include Evans & Tate and Sandalford, both of which have large operations in the Swan Valley region.
Southern stars
However it is towards the southern coasts that Western Australian wine is developing its niche market. Driven by the pull of a discerning export market, wine-makers are searching for the most suitable grape varieties for growing in the many micro-climates which dot the coastline and interior of the south-west chunk of the state. Moving south from Perth, gentler maritime influences begin to hold sway, enabling producers to consider cool-climate grapes such as Riesling and Pinot Noir. Even "hot climate" varieties like Shiraz are doing well here, although producing more restrained examples than the punchy fruit-driven eastern counterparts which have made Australia's name.
 The past forty years from the early 1960's have seen the advent of the WA boutique wine industry, based initially in Margaret River where the cooler climate encourages concentrated fruit flavours. In amongst the dedicated wine-growers and a family-oriented cottage industry of wine production, there has also been a welter of Perth doctors and lawyers looking for a tax break, but the local wine scene has now been going long enough for the cream to have risen to the top. The Qantas Wine Magazine Winemaker of the Year 2000 was Vanya Cullen from Cullen's in Margaret River, whose Cabernet/Merlot rates arguably as Australia's finest example of the blend, and the Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay is also the pick of the Aussie bunch for many wine commentators and aficionados. Straight Cabernet from this area is also revealing its quality, with Moss Wood (Exceptional) and Cape Mentelle (Outstanding) both making examples which rank in the top categories of the September 2000 edition of Langton's Classification of Australian Wine. (This list has been prepared since 1991 by Australia's leading wine auctioneers, as a guide to the elusive and fickle game of fine wine investment.)
 The Great Southern region has been on the map for as long as Margaret River, but was slower to get into stride. Initial plantings were around Mount Barker, and the wines from this part of the state are now consistently holding their own against more established names to their north-west. Following the trail blazed in these two regions, the WA wine revolution has spread into newer areas such as Geographe, South-West Coast and Pemberton. Wine-makers are seeking ideal terroir and climate conditions in which to produce wines which emulate their pioneering neighbours, and indications are that they are succeeding, slowly but surely. Arable land and reliable rainfall both contribute to this progress. This far south the climate is even cooler than that of Margaret River, so Riesling and Pinot Noir have a fighting chance and develop character unlike that found anywhere else in Australia.
Unfortunately for international wine-lovers, with this high quality reputation come prices to match, and it has ever been thus. However if you are looking for an Oz wine which has subtlety and individual style, Western Australia may provide the solution. With worldwide distribution for these wines on the increase, it's not even necessary to cross the globe to buy them... and yet it seems a shame not to travel "downstairs" to discover this New World wine paradise.
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| Coming up next month: As cold as ice, as hot as fire: Quaffers® investigates wines which are cooked or frozen to enhance their unusual characteristics. |
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