We Discovered Margaret River Wine!

Western Australia’s wine is famous — most of it is located at Margaret River. Its climate is on par with Australia’s other grape-growing centres, such as The Yarra Valley in Victoria and The Barossa in South Australia. The difference is the Margaret River locals say their wine is the best.

I was curious. Was it that good?

We jumped in our car and drove two hours to buy a bottle or three, only to discover that Margaret River had no vineyards. None at all!

What a shock!

I was puzzled. When people told me they drank wine that came from Margaret River, I anticipated it was from there. Even the labels on the wine bottles say they are from “Margaret River”. I foolishly expected to go to the Margaret River town to see lush rows of grape vines lining the banks of a meandering, lily-filled waterway and sip some local wine in a cellar.

I got it so wrong.

Margaret River is indeed a town, a river, and a region. The wine-growing region is vast. The river (not the town) is just a reference point that denotes an approximation of that region. It’s a vast area encompassing one hundred kilometres along the Western Australian coastline and then a whopping chunk of land seventy-five kilometres parallel and east of it. Much of it is nowhere near the town or the river.

Confusing?

It’s no wonder I was surprised.

Anyway, small countries can fit into this space.

It’s so large that visiting all the wineries in a day, or even a week, is impossible. Our tour needed to be trimmed down to be manageable. The visit wasn’t just about wine anyway. It was a road trip tour, too. After visiting the town for lunch, we chose a long route home, dropping into one well-known vineyard. Margo knew the label well.

Cullen’s Winery was our choice… and what a good one. After tasting a few samples in the cellar, we settled on East Block. What a drop. It’s woody and robust but smooth on the palate. Two bottles were boxed and tagged ‘special occasion’.  

Mmmmm…. now I can’t wait to plan for the next winery trip to the region!   

-Michael Forman (Author of Dark Fiction)

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