Great Southern Wine Region
Encyclopedia
The Great Southern Wine Region in Western Australia's South West is Australia's largest wine region a rectangle 200 kilometres from east to west and over 100 kilometers from north to south. It has five nominated subregions for wine, the Porongurups
, Mount Barker
, Albany
, Denmark
and Frankland River
under the Geographical indication
s legislation as determined by the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation
. The vineyards spread throughout the area known for production of high quality vines have significant variations of terroir
and climate dictated in part by the distance however the region is the coolest of Western Australia’s viticultural areas; with a similar maritime influenced Mediterranean climate to Margaret River
although with slightly less rainfall. This diverse region is known for Riesling
, Chardonnay
, Cabernet Sauvignon
, Pinot Noir
, Shiraz
, and Malbec
.
in 1955 during a government-sponsored trip to Western Australia. Olmo spent eight months in Western Australia at the invitation of the Western Australian Vine Fruits Research Trust, whilst on leave from his post as Professor of Viticulture
at the University of California. When he published his report in 1956, one of the recommendations put forward was that Mount Barker
and the Frankland
area of Western Australia showed great promise for making table wines in the light traditional European style. This was further backed up by Agricultural and viticultural scientist Dr John Gladstones in 1963, and endorsed by the Western Australian Grape Industry Committee (1964).
A year later, Jamieson and Houghton's
celebrated winemaker Jack Mann
, went to Mount Barker and the first experimental cuttings were planted in 1965 at Forest Hill.
Porongurup, Western Australia
Porongurup is the name of a small mountain range in the Shire of Plantagenet in Western Australia and of a small village on the northern slopes of the range. At the 2006 census, Porongurup had a population of 370.The name is derived from the Aboriginal place-name, and consequently arrived with no...
, Mount Barker
Mount Barker, Western Australia
Mount Barker is a town on the Albany Highway and is the administrative centre of the Shire of Plantagenet in the Great Southern region of Western Australia...
, Albany
Albany, Western Australia
Albany is a port city in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, some 418 km SE of Perth, the state capital. As of 2009, Albany's population was estimated at 33,600, making it the 6th-largest city in the state....
, Denmark
Denmark, Western Australia
Denmark is a town in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, south-south-east of the state capital of Perth. At the 2006 census, Denmark had a population of 2,732.-History:...
and Frankland River
Frankland, Western Australia
Frankland is a small town in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia. The town is in the shire of Cranbrook and is situated approximately 360 km from the State's capital, Perth, 42 km west of the Albany Highway, 83 km southwest of Kojonup, 19 km north of Rocky Gully and...
under the Geographical indication
Geographical indication
A geographical indication is a name or sign used on certain products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin...
s legislation as determined by the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation
Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation
Wine Australia , is an Australian Government authority that promotes and regulates the Australian wine industry. It was created in 1981 to replace the Australian Wine Board after the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Act 1980, now the Wine Australia Corporation Act 1980 was passed...
. The vineyards spread throughout the area known for production of high quality vines have significant variations of terroir
Terroir
Terroir comes from the word terre "land". It was originally a French term in wine, coffee and tea used to denote the special characteristics that the geography, geology and climate of a certain place bestowed upon particular varieties...
and climate dictated in part by the distance however the region is the coolest of Western Australia’s viticultural areas; with a similar maritime influenced Mediterranean climate to Margaret River
Margaret River (wine region)
Margaret River is the foremost Geographical Indication wine region in the South West Australia Zone, with nearly 5,500 hectares under vine and over 138 wineries as at 2008. Margaret River wine region is made up predominately of boutique size wine producers; although winery operations range from the...
although with slightly less rainfall. This diverse region is known for Riesling
Riesling
Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally...
, Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...
, Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...
, Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir
Pinot noir is a black wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes...
, Shiraz
Shiraz
Shiraz may refer to:* Shiraz, Iran, a city in Iran* Shiraz County, an administrative subdivision of Iran* Vosketap, Armenia, formerly called ShirazPeople:* Hovhannes Shiraz, Armenian poet* Ara Shiraz, Armenian sculptor...
, and Malbec
Malbec
Malbec is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are long known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. The French plantations of Malbec are now found primarily in Cahors in the South West...
.
Subregions
- Albany is a subregion of the Great Southern region of Western Australia. Albany’s climate is maritime, strongly shaped and moderated by the Southern Ocean; the standard description is that it is Mediterranean, with moist, cool winters and warm, dry summers. Diurnal temperature range is minimal, and moderate humidity in summer assists ripening by reducing stress on the vines. Soil types of the region are either lateritic gravelly, sandy loams or sandy loams derived directly from granite and gneissic rocks.
- Denmark the coastal neighbor of Albany is one of the five subregions of Great Southern. Marginally wetter and cooler than Albany, although the differences are not of significant magnitude. The climate is broadly similar to Albany; the varieties being grown and the wine styles are also similar.
- Frankland River is one of the five subregions of the Great Southern in Western Australia. It is situated in the northwestern corner of the region, its western boundary touching the eastern side of Manjimup. It is the most northerly, inland subregion of Great Southern, still Mediterranean in terms of dominant winter-spring rainfall, but with greater continentality. The soils are chiefly derived from lateric gravelly sandy loams or sandy loams derived from granite or gneissic rocks, and so are typically rich, red in color and of uniform depth with some areas carrying marri and karri loams. The climatic influences for the area favor medium-bodied, Bordeaux style red varieties, and with the excellent adaptation of slightly earlier-maturing Shiraz.
- Mount Barker this cool subregion is generally regarded as the most important subregion of the Great Southern. Ripening month and average temperatures in the established Mount Barker vineyards are significantly lower than in the MédocMédoc AOCMédoc is an AOC for wine in the Bordeaux wine region of southwestern France, on the Left Bank of the Gironde estuary that covers the northern section of the viticultural strip along the Médoc peninsula. The zone is sometimes called Bas-Médoc , though this term is not permitted on any label...
, and significantly lower than in the lower warmer Bordeaux appellations such as Saint Emilion and PomerolPomerolPomerol is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.It is located near Bordeaux.-Population:-Wine:The mostly small-sized producers in this area of about produce red wines. As in the neighbouring appellation of Saint-Émilion, the predominant grape variety is Merlot,...
. Average ripening period sunshine hours at Mount Barker together with the whole season measure of sunshine hours are nearly identical with those of Bordeaux. Situated in the middle of the Great Southern, with strong continental aspects together with marri soils and lateritic gravely and sandy loams provided from the granite rock backdrop the region is suited to Riesling, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir. - Porongurup is the fifth of the subregions of the Great Southern, just East of Mount Barker; and especially, the slopes facing north and north-east. The Porongorups are a small, isolated range of intrusive granite, of which slopes enjoy outstanding air drainage. The Porongorups ranges has one of the richest concentrations of plant species worldwide and is one of only 34 internationally significant hotspots for biodiversity. The Porongurup range is one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world, dating roughly around 1.1 to 1.4 billion years old which places its formation in the ‘Proterozoic’ Eon. It owes its formation to the massive tectonic forces that have shaped the southern and western coasts of Australia, a likely result of a collision between the Australian and Antarctic landmasses. The climate is Mediterranean with cool to mild winters and warm, sunny summers. While conditions are cooler and more humid higher up in the ranges with occasional snow on the taller peaks for short periods during winter and spring. The soils are ancient, deep karri loams derived from weathered granite. The porongurups is strongly indicated for all high quality white wine varieties such as Riesling, Traminer, Chardonnay, and red wine varieties such as Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier.
History
The international definition and recognition of this area as a distinct and unique wine growing area goes back to 1859, when original settler George Egerton-Warburton planted vines on his St Werburgh's property near Mount Barker and bottled his first vintage two years later. However, the first real commercial foundations were laid in the late 1930s by horticulturalist Bill Jamieson. His extensive knowledge of the area's soils and climate was augmented by the research of Californian Professor Harold OlmoHarold Olmo
Dr. Harold Olmo was a pioneering viticulturalist and professor at the University of California, Davis where he created many new grape varieties known today as Olmo grapes. In the 1950s, he helped to establish California's first quarantine facility on the UC-Davis campus to permit California...
in 1955 during a government-sponsored trip to Western Australia. Olmo spent eight months in Western Australia at the invitation of the Western Australian Vine Fruits Research Trust, whilst on leave from his post as Professor of Viticulture
Viticulture
Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...
at the University of California. When he published his report in 1956, one of the recommendations put forward was that Mount Barker
Mount Barker, Western Australia
Mount Barker is a town on the Albany Highway and is the administrative centre of the Shire of Plantagenet in the Great Southern region of Western Australia...
and the Frankland
Frankland, Western Australia
Frankland is a small town in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia. The town is in the shire of Cranbrook and is situated approximately 360 km from the State's capital, Perth, 42 km west of the Albany Highway, 83 km southwest of Kojonup, 19 km north of Rocky Gully and...
area of Western Australia showed great promise for making table wines in the light traditional European style. This was further backed up by Agricultural and viticultural scientist Dr John Gladstones in 1963, and endorsed by the Western Australian Grape Industry Committee (1964).
A year later, Jamieson and Houghton's
Houghton Winery
Houghton Winery is one of the earliest established vineyards and wineries in Western Australia. It is situated on Great Northern Highway in the Swan Valley near Upper Swan....
celebrated winemaker Jack Mann
Jack Mann (winemaker)
Jack Mann MBE was an influential winemaker in Western Australia and devised Houghton White Burgundy, a wine that became the flagship of the Western Australian wine industry. He was chief winemaker at Houghton Winery in the Swan Valley, from 1930 to 1974 and is considered one of the pioneers of the...
, went to Mount Barker and the first experimental cuttings were planted in 1965 at Forest Hill.
Wineries
- Goundrey Wines
- Howard Park WinesHoward Park WinesHoward Park Wines is Western Australia's largest family-owned winery owned by the Burch family, which is responsible for such brands as Howard Park, MadFish, and Marchand & Burch. With two established Wineries based in both Margaret River, Western Australia and Denmark in the Great Southern...
- Houghton WineryHoughton WineryHoughton Winery is one of the earliest established vineyards and wineries in Western Australia. It is situated on Great Northern Highway in the Swan Valley near Upper Swan....
In the Media
- The Porongurup wine region was featured on the ABC Television ABC TelevisionABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....
programme LandlineLandline (TV series)Landline is an Australian national rural issues television program broadcast on ABC1. Presented by Anne Kruger, the program discusses rural issues regarding farming, mining and fisheries from around Australia...
" in the July 2010 episode "Great Southern Land".
External links
- Wine Australia: The Great Southern wine region
- Margaret River Visitor Centre: The Great Southern
- Australia's South West: Great Southern region