Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Wine & the Cellar Door
Wine is a big deal, with the focus firmly on the quality end of the market. For example, the
Margaret River region produces only 3% of Australia's grapes but accounts for over 20%
of the country's premium wines.
The first wineries began in the southwest in the 1960s, and Vasse Felix was a notable
early player. Because the southwest has always focused on low-yield, quality output, it
wasn't as influenced by the problems of oversupply that beset the Australian wine industry
in 2005 and 2006. Fortuitous combinations of rain and warm weather also produced con-
sistently excellent Margaret River vintages from 2007 to 2011.
Aside from Margaret River, other key winery regions are the Swan Valley, the Great
Southern (Frankland, the Porongurups, Denmark, Mt Barker) region, Pemberton, and the
Peel and Geographe regions. These all uphold WA's reputation as a world-class wine pro-
ducer.
