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Wine

Though Western Australia produces less than 4 per cent of Australia’s wine, it accounts for 25 per cent of the total premium wine produces in Australia, making Western Australia’s proud and passionate producers responsible for a much greater share of the nation’s award winning premium and super premium wines.

With a truly Mediterranean type climate characterized by warm to hot dry summers, consistent temperatures, and cool wet winter ensuring reliable water supplies, the State’s vineyards cover a vast area, in a range of climatic conditions that encompasses almost all the growing regions of the Old World.

The Western Australian industry stems from a dedicated core of small, family-owned boutique producers who meticulously craft their wines from carefully tended vineyards which produce the best grapes possible.

Thanks to the wine industry, millions of dollars have been channeled into rural Western Australia, creating numerous job opportunities in complementary sectors such as tourism, fine dining hospitality and entertainment.

There are nine wine regions in Western Australia, each producing their own unique style

Swan District

Straddling the banks of the Swan River and only 30 minutes from the centre of Perth, this region is Western Australia’s oldest. The climate is warm to hot and very dry during ripening and harvest, with most rainfall occurring during winter and spring. Winemakers produce medium to full bodied red and white table wines of high quality and value. Verdelho, chardonnay, chenin blanc, shiraz and cabernet sauvignon excel in the warm, dry growing conditions.

Perth Hills

The Perth Hills region extends along the Darling Scarp, an hour east of Perth from Chittering in the north to Serpentine in the south. This area was officially recognized as a gazetted wine region in 1999. This is one of Australia’s smallest wine regions and produces traditional grape varieties such as Semillon, verdelho, chenin blanc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and shiraz.

Peel

Peel is an emerging wine region of 200 hectares of wine grapes grown over a considerable area. Located 40 minutes south of Perth, the area has continued to develop as of the 1970s and 1980s, and is popular for lifestyle activities such as boating, fishing, crabbing and swimming. The area’s massive expanses of water ensure a consistent supply of cooling summer sea breezes to maintain cool temperatures for optimum grape ripening. Noteworthy varieties include shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, merlot, verdelho and chenin blanc.

Geographe

Formally established as a wine appellation in 1999, the Geographe wine region, two hours south of Perth, extends through the shires of Harvey, Collie, Dardanup, Donnybrook, Capel and eastern Busselton, producing some of the best wine grapes in Western Australia. With the cooling influence of sea breezes, grapes from this region are sought after by major Western Australian winemakers elsewhere, for use of their leading labels. Shiraz, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, semillon  are produced in the region.

Margaret River

Located three hours south of Perth, the Margaret River region enjoys a growing reputation as one of the most popular destinations in Australia. Following the first significant plantings in the late 1960s, these have increased tenfold and wine producer numbers have increased six times to more than 120, crushing more than 35,000 tonnes.

Wines made from cabernet sauvignon were the first to win acclaim for their consistently high quality, followed by chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, semillon and shiraz. The chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon based wines are considered by many outside the region to be the best produced in Australia. Numerous other varieties flourish in the area producing appealing wines such as verdelho, riesling and chenin blanc.

Blackwood Valley

Situated inland – east of the Margaret River wine region and north west of the Great Southern wine region – the Blackwood Valley is one of Western Australia’s most picturesque regions. With the first vineyards established in the valley in the late 1970s, there are now more than 50 vineyards in the region, producing chardonnay, cabernet and shiraz styles.

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