WA Flashcards
What is the hottest GI in Australia?
Swan Valley in Greater Perth
What is the most famous GI in Western Australia, and what is it known for?
Margaret River
Red Bordeaux-style blends, white Bordeaux-style blends, and Chardonnay
What are the zones of Western Australia?
Greater Perth Central Western Australia South West Australia West Australian South East Coastal Eastern Plains
What are the 3 regions of Greater Perth?
Swan District
Perth Hills
Peel
What is the subregion of Swan District?
Swan Valley
When were the first vineyards planted in Western Australia, and where? What are two of the oldest wineries?
1829, Planted by Thomas Waters in Swan Valley
Houghton (1836), and Sandalford (1840)
What are the 6 regions of South West Australia?
Geographe Margaret River Blackwood Valley Manjimup Pemberton Great Southern
What are the 5 subregions of Great Southern?
Frankland River Mount Barker Porongurup Albany Denmark (clockwise from top left)
What major European wine region can Margaret River be compared to?
Bordeaux
What longitudinal parallel does Gladstones line follow? What natural feature runs along it?
115º 18’E
Whicher Range
When did John Gladstones proposed subzones for Margaret River? What were the divisions based on?
1999
Catalogued by drainage direction of the various rivers and creeks, which also corresponds to the direction of airflow. Soils were not a consideration.
What are the unofficial subzones of Margaret River?
(north to south) Yallingup, Carbunup Wilyabrup, Treeton Wallcliffe Karridale
How are the “first five” producers distributed amongst the subzones?
Wilyabrup: Vasse Felix, Cullen, Moss Wood
Wallcliffe: Leeuwin Estate, Cape Mentelle
What is the Gingin clone?
The chardonnay clone popular in Margaret River, known elsewhere as Mendoza. Prone to millerandage.
What was the first winery in Margaret River, and what was the inaugural vintage and wine?
Vasse Felix, founded by Dr. Tom Cullity
1971 Riesling
First red was 1972 Cabernet Sauvignon-Malbec
What are the two capes of Margaret River?
Cape Naturaliste (north) Cape Leeuwin (south)
Margaret River: Major natural features
Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge, rolling hills running north south from Cape Naturaliste to Augusta (Cape Leeuwin) Geographe Bay (north) Indian Ocean (west) Southern Ocean (south)
Margaret River: Soils
Gravelly or gritty sandy loam over granite and gneiss
Who is Jack Mann?
Winemaker at Houghton for five decades, an early and vocal proponent of Western Australia and in particular Great Southern.
Geographe: unofficial subregions
Harvey: northerly, coastal; relatively warm climate moderated by the ocean
Capel-Busselton: southerly, very maritime, similar climate to Margaret River but richer soils
Donnybrook: inland, cut off from the coast by the Whicher and Darling ranges, continental, large diurnal shift (think Rutherglen)
Ferguson Valley: North of Donnybrook, also on the inland side of the Darling Range
Geographe: Key Producers
Capel Vale, Willow Bridge Estate
Geographe: major natural features
Indian Ocean
Whicher and Darling Ranges
What is the stylistic focus of Geographe?
Historically red table wine, but whites (SSB) have been gaining ground as they gain popularity in Margaret River
What is karri loam? And what is marri loam?
Karri loam is a fertile red soil found in Pemberton and Porongurup
Marri loam is a poor, gravelly loam found in Mount Barker
Both are named for the species of Eucalypt that they support.
How does the climate change as one moves from Geographe to Blackwood Valley to Pemberton to Manjimup?
The climate grows steadily more continental
Pemberton: major natural features
Warren and Donnelly Rivers
Manjimup: major natural features
Warren River Valley
Blackwood Valley: unofficial subzones
(west to east)
Nannup
Bridgetown
Boyup Brook
Great Southern: Climate and Grape Distribution
Albany and Denmark: coastal, moderated by cool ocean breezes, minimal diurnal shift, focused on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay
Porongurup and Mount Barker: inland, more continental, warmer, focused on Riesling and Shiraz
Porongurup is named for which geographical feature?
the Porongurup Ranges
Mount Barker: major natural features
Plantagenet Plateau (central) Mount Barker Hill (west)
What are the soils and major grapes of Frankland River?
Red soils derived from granite and gneiss
Riesling, Shiraz, Cabernet
Peel is shared between what two zones?
Greater Perth and Central Western Australia
Halliday speculates the boundaries were extended to the east to take in additional acreage to fulfill the legal minimums.
What is the climate of Swan Valley, and why did it originally rise to prominence?
It is a flat alluvial plain with deep, fertile, well-draining soils, and a very hot climate, making grapes ripen easily and early. Therefore, ideal for the production of bulk and fortified wines, which were sold locally to the large Yugoslav population (and sometimes exported).
What is the mountain range that runs down the center of Greater Perth?
the Darling Range, running down into Geographe
Compare the climates of the three GI’s within Greater Perth
Swan District: hot (especially in the Swan Valley sub region) and dry, very flat
Perth Hills: also very hot and dry, but moderated by elevation and slope
Peel: heavily influenced by the Indian ocean, Mediterranean.
