Western Australian wine refers to wine produced in Australia's largest state,

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. Although the state extends across the western third of the continent, its

wine region This list of wine-producing regions catalogues significant growing regions where vineyards are planted. Wine grapes mostly grow between the 30th and the 50th degree of latitude, in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Grapes will sometimes ...

s are almost entirely situated in the cooler climate of its south-western tip. Western Australia produces less than 5% of the country's wine output, but in quality terms it is very much near the top, winning 30 percent of the country's medals.T. Stevenson ''"The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia"'' pg 589 Dorling Kindersley 2005 Australian Wine and Brandy corporation - Western Australia
/ref>

History

The Swan Valley established in 1829 by Thomas Waters is the historical centre for wine production in Western Australia. However, the state's cooler climate south-western wine regions such as

Margaret River The Margaret River is a river in southwest Western Australia. In a small catchment, it is the eponym of the town and tourist region of Margaret River. The river arises from a catchment of just 40 square kilometres in the Whicher Range. The ...

, and The Great Southern are considered to be more significant due to the Swan Valley being noted as one of the hottest viticultural regions in the world. Partly because of this, and as a reaction to the emergence of the Margaret River and Great Southern regions spanning the far south western corner of the state a large number of producers have deserted the area with the numbers of vineyards shrinking. In the year 1970, 90 percent of the state's wine was made from grapes grown in the Swan Valley; by 1980 the figure was 59 percent; by 1996 it was 15 percent and still falling.winepros.com.au, ''The Oxford Companion to Wine''
Western Australia
/ref> In the late 1960s, winemaking grew in the southern regions of Western Australia with the influence of Antarctic currents and onshore westerlies offering a more temperate climate for grape production. Despite having only around 7 percent of Australia's vineyards and a mere 3 percent of grapes crushed, the winemaking regions of the South-West of the state attract a large amount of media attention.

Appellation Classes and Divisions

Australian wine labelling

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

s are classified into legal wine-producing areas under the Wine Australia Act. These appellations, called Australian

Geographical Indications A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, ...

(AGI), are designated by the as either a zone, region, or sub-region that has a particular quality, reputation, or characteristic attributed to it; as defined by the regulatory government authority

Wine Australia Wine Australia is an Australian Government statutory corporation that promotes and regulates the Australian wine industry. It was created as the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation (AWBC) in 1981 to replace the Australian Wine Board by the ...

. To protect the reputation of each Geographical Indication, if a wine is labelled as from a specific appellation then 85% of grapes must be from that appellation. If it is a blend of grapes from two or three appellations, then 95% of grapes of the grapes must be from the appellations listed and the proportions of the blend have to be displayed as a percentage. Western Australia has 3 zones with active wine industries, two of which are divided into nine regions and six sub-regions: * Central Western Australia – Includes a handful of boutique cellar door wineries over a 600 km² area. * Greater Perth – Includes the regions of

Perth Hills Perth Hills is a term used primarily for marketing purposes to identify the part of the Darling Scarp and hinterland east of the scarp that lies within the Shire of Mundaring, City of Swan, and the City of Kalamunda and as part of the constitue ...

and Peel, along with the Swan District region and its Swan Valley sub-region. * South West Australia – Includes the regions of Margaret River, Pemberton, Manjimup,

Geographe Geographe is a suburb of the Western Australian city of Busselton. At the 2021 Australian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 3,622. ''Sandylands'', one of the first houses built in Busselton, was constructed in the area beginning in ...

, and Blackwood Valley, along with the Great Southern region which is further divided into the sub-regions of Albany,

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, Frankland River, Mount Barker, and Porongorup.

Wine regions

Great Southern

The Great Southern is Australia's largest wine region a rectangle 200 kilometres from east to west and over 100 kilometres from north to south. The vineyards spread throughout the area have significant variations of

terroir (, ; from ''terre'', "land") is a French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, these conte ...

and climate dictated in part by the distance, however, the region is the coolest of Western Australia's viticultural areas; with a similar maritime influenced Mediterranean climate to Margaret River although with slightly less rainfall. This diverse region is known for

Riesling Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling wh ...

, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon,

Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As o ...

, and

Malbec Malbec () is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. In France, plantations of Malbec are n ...

.J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 326 Oxford University Press 2006

Margaret River

The Margaret River wine region to the south of Western Australia, receives its temperate climate from the cooling influence of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

. Predominant grape varieties cultivated include

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...

Merlot Merlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of ''merle'', the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the ...

, Sémillion,

Sauvignon blanc is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in ...

, Chenin blanc and Chardonnay.

Swan District

The Swan District, of which the Swan Valley forms part, is the hottest

in Australia, with the grape harvest usually beginning in January. The Swan Valley is among the largest sources of Western Australia's wine, with

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

varieties such as

Verdelho Verdelho is a white wine grape grown throughout Portugal, though most associated with the island of Madeira, and also gives its name to one of the four main types of Madeira wine. At the turn of the 20th century it was the most widely planted whi ...

, Chenin blanc, and

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * *

External links

* Wine Australia
Western AustraliaWines of Western Australia
– WA peak industry body official site

{{Wines Wine regions of Western Australia