Vinistory Français

Australia

Margaret River

5 800 ha under vine

Soils
Ancient lateritic gravels over granite and gneiss — some of Earth's oldest land surface
Climate
Maritime Mediterranean on a cape between two capes — ocean on three sides, no real frost

On the map

Margaret River — 5 800 haMendoza — 150 000 haCentral Valley — 120 000 haNingxia — 40 000 haMarlborough — 29 000 haColumbia Valley — 25 000 haSonoma County — 24 000 haNapa Valley — 18 000 haPaso Robles — 16 000 haStellenbosch — 15 000 haWillamette Valley — 11 500 haBarossa Valley — 11 500 haMaipo Valley — 11 000 haSwartland — 10 000 haCanelones — 7 500 haMcLaren Vale — 7 000 haCasablanca Valley — 6 000 haNiagara Peninsula — 5 500 haClare Valley — 5 500 haCoonawarra — 5 700 haHawke's Bay — 5 000 haFinger Lakes — 4 000 haOkanagan Valley — 3 000 haHunter Valley — 2 500 haYarra Valley — 2 500 haTasmania — 2 000 haCentral Otago — 2 000 haConstantia — 450 haMargaret RiverMendozaCentral ValleyNingxiaMarlboroughColumbia ValleySonoma CountyNapa ValleyPaso RoblesStellenboschWillamette ValleyBarossa ValleyMaipo ValleySwartlandCanelonesMcLaren ValeCasablanca ValleyNiagara PeninsulaClare ValleyCoonawarraHawke's BayFinger LakesOkanagan ValleyHunter ValleyYarra ValleyTasmaniaCentral OtagoConstantia
Blob size ≈ vineyard area · approximate locations · coastlines from Natural Earth

A wine region conjured by agronomy. In 1965 the scientist John Gladstones published a paper identifying this remote surfing cape in Western Australia as a climatic twin of Bordeaux — without the rain at vintage. Vasse Felix planted the first vines in 1967; Cullen and Moss Wood followed, a striking number of the founding estates started by doctors trading medicine for viticulture.

Isolation is its vineyard hygiene: the most remote wine region in the world has been spared many of the pests and diseases of older ones. It produces only around two percent of Australia's wine but a fifth of its premium tier — restrained Cabernet Sauvignon and tightly wound Chardonnay that argued, earlier than most, that Australia could do elegance.

The vineyard

Indicative share of plantings

The wines

Margaret River Cabernet Red wine

Through time

Indicative presence index, 0–100Origins & Antiquity — 0The Monastic Middle Ages — 0Exploration & the Fortified Age — 0Classifications & the Golden Age — 0Phylloxera & the World Crises — 0The Modern & New World Era — 60Antiquity0500150017001875195060
The Modern & New World Era 1950