Margaret River
Margaret River teaches maritime influence. The ocean on three sides keeps summers mild, ripening slow, and Cabernet elegant rather than enormous. Once you taste the sea in the structure, you can spot a maritime wine anywhere on earth.
Three days in Margaret River
Day one. Wilyabrup, the heartland.
Morning. Start at Vasse Felix, the region's first vineyard and still its best introduction. Book the cellar door tasting rather than the tour, and arrive at ten when it opens. Afternoon. Lunch upstairs at the Vasse Felix restaurant, then ten minutes down Caves Road to Cullen for biodynamic Cabernet and the Diana Madeline, the bottle this region is judged by. Evening. Dinner at Settlers Tavern in Margaret River township. Order whatever is on the blackboard and a glass of something you tasted that morning.
Day two. The south and the tall trees.
Morning. Drive Caves Road south through Boranup Forest, karri trees a hundred feet over the car. Stop at Lake Cave if the day is hot. Afternoon. Leeuwin Estate for the Art Series Chardonnay, one of Australia's great whites, tasted a few hundred metres from where it grows. Book the restaurant lawn for lunch before you go. Evening. Sunset at Surfers Point, Prevelly. Bring the bottle you bought at lunch. There are worse cellars than a car boot at the beach.
Day three. The quiet producers.
Morning. Moss Wood or Woodlands in Wilyabrup, both small, both serious, both happier to talk when you have two days of context behind you. Afternoon. Lunch at Wills Domain looking over the vines, then one last stop at Cape Mentelle for the Sauvignon Semillon you will drink all summer. Evening. Easy drive back towards Perth, or one more night in Dunsborough and dinner at Yarri.
Know before you go
When to go. March and April are harvest and the light is unreasonable. November to February is beach weather and busier cellar doors.
Getting there. Three hours south of Perth by car. There is no useful train. Hire the car.
How many days. Three. The region is a hundred kilometres long and people consistently underestimate it.
Cellar doors. Book the serious ones a week ahead. Tastings run ten to twenty five dollars and are usually waived with a purchase. Spit, nobody minds, the driving distances are real.
The mistake first timers make. Treating it as one town. Wilyabrup, Wallcliffe and Karridale are different days, not different stops.
Drink it before you go
Vasse Felix Filius Cabernet Sauvignon. The region's signature in its everyday clothes.
Leeuwin Estate Prelude Chardonnay. The Art Series' younger sibling, same DNA, weeknight price.
Cape Mentelle Sauvignon Blanc Semillon. The blend Margaret River does better than anywhere outside Bordeaux.
Margaret River is one of twelve places in The Grape Atlas. Learn it in five minutes, free.