In vino veritas! Just outside of the city of Perth lies several valleys well-known for their beautiful vineyards and the delicious wines that are produced there. And while you can sample some of these in the city’s bars and restaurants, there’s nothing quite like tasting it where it’s made.
Perth Hills
Just half an hour south-east of Perth city lies the Perth Hills, with over 30 wineries dotted across the different valleys, and each one producing fantastic bottles of wine. Though the region has been known to practice viticulture on-and-off for more than a century, with the first vineyards planted in the 1880s, the earliest of today’s wineries only date back to the mid-1970s. Despite its relatively young age, only gaining official status in 1999 as a gazetted wine-growing region, the valleys of Perth Hills are just as good as the more venerated areas on this list. The area is generally divided into the Bickley Valley, Chittering Valley, Heart of the Hills and Serpentine.
The Bickley Valley is home to most of the region’s wineries, with gems like La Fattoria Perth Hills, a Sicilian and British family-owned and -run trattoria, where they showcase how their Italian wines and fare are an integral part of Italian family, culture and tradition. For a more modern touch, the Fairbrossen Winery and the Hainault Vineyards are excellent places to get boutique wines as well as a cellar-door experience.
Swan Valley
The Swan Valley is Western Australia’s oldest wine region - the first grapes were planted in the area’s uncommonly fertile soil as early as the 1830s, just after English settlers arrived. Today the Swan Valley is home to the state’s largest winery and is a popular destination for wine-lovers looking to taste some of the best vinos Australia has to offer, and there are many ways for you to enjoy this region.
You can start your journey to Swan Valley by going up the Swan River, either on a simple ferry ride, or a cool cruise where you can start your wine tasting a little early. Keep an eye out while you’re on the water - you might just see some of the famous black swans which the river is named after.
When you reach the Swan Valley, there’s no shortage of activities, ranging from cellar door tours like the ones at the Sandalford Estate’s Swan River branch and Talijancich Wines, wine tastings like the ones at Harris Organic Wines, Perth’s only certified organic winery and Australia’s only certifies organic brandy distillery, themed trails like the ‘Wine and Art, Off The Beaten Track’ trail and the ‘Sweet Temptations’ trail, and everything in between. The food you’ll find is fantastic as well, especially considering that it’s likely made from locally grown produce, plucked straight from the paddock and prepared for your palate.
And you’re pretty much guaranteed to have the perfect wine pairing for whatever you’re eating the rest of the day, wherever you are in the valley. From luscious sparkling wines and fortified wines to crisp Verdelho and Chenin Blanc, to rich Petit Verdot and Shiraz, you’ll be spoilt for choice.
Margaret River
With over 200 wineries in the region, Margaret River is one of the most well-known wine regions not only in Australia but in the world. Sitting right near the Indian Ocean in Australia’s southeastern corner, a three-hour drive from Perth, this wine region is known for its diverse range of wineries and breweries, as well as the diversity of the people living there.
From simple yet elegant cellar doors like Flametree Wines’ beach house, to upscale estates like the Leeuwin Estate Winery, which also has their own private landing strip for visitors, pioneering wineries, like Cape Mentelle, one of the region’s founding wineries, and the organic and biodynamic Blind Corner, to wineries that benefit from generations of expertise, like the Arelwood Estate and Glenarty Road & Kerfuffle Wines, the Margaret River region has it all. If you’re looking to diversify your trip, the Margaret River region also has the highest concentration of microbreweries in Western Australia - “an oasis of beer in a desert of wine”, as the Bootleg Brewery, the first in the region, put it.
Aside from wining and dining, there are a whole host of activities to be done in the Margaret River Region, everything from water activities like fishing, boating and surfing, to adrenaline thrills like rock climbing and ziplining, to relaxing spa days and retail therapy, learning more about the region’s culture and history, and more.
Bonus: Peel
If you love Shiraz, the Peel region is a must-see. Although the region’s first vines were planted in the mid 19th Century, it wasn’t until the 1970s with a planting of Shiraz at the Peel Estate, the region’s first commercial vineyard, that Peel became a wine destination. And while most other varieties have been planted since then, Shiraz remains their flagship variety.
