The Winery Robert Bowen of South West Australia of Australie de l'Ouest

Discovering the wine region of South West Australia

Western Australia is the largest of the eight administrative zones and territories of Australia. In 2020, it represented just two percent of the national wine production, but has previosly occupied up to 20 percent of the nation's fine wines. Covering the entire western third of the vast island continent, "WA" (as it is commonly called) spans 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) from east to west. This makes it the second-largest administrative subdivision of any country in the world – bigger than Alaska and Texas combined.

Western Australia The giant flag at Voyager Estate, Margaret River © Jonathan Reeve The Western Australian wine regions are clustered in the state's cooler, coastal, Southwest corner. The Northeastern two-thirds of WA are too hot to support quality viticulture. The northwest corner is the hottest area of Australia as a whole, with summer temperatures surpassing even those of the country's famous semi-desert "Red Centre". By contrast, the Climate of the southwest WA is relatively cool, tempered by the presence of the Indian Ocean to the west and the Antarctic Ocean to the south and east.

Although it rivals the Hunter Valley in terms of low latitude (lying at 33 degrees South), the climate around the state's southwest cape is more akin to that of Bordeaux, and the most successful Grape varieties here reflect this. It is no coincidence, that many winemakers from this area aim for a more European wine style than their counterparts further north – or those from New South Wales and South Australia. Margaret River in particular, is renowned for its more-balanced, Elegant wines, which contrast with the Powerful, fruit-driven wines of the regions further east. Geographically, the wine regions of Western Australia can be split into roughly three groups: those around the state capital, Perth (the Swan Valley, the Perth Hills and Peel); those along the south coast (from Pemberton in the west to Albany in the east); and those around the southern end of Geographe Bay (Margaret River and Geographe).