Appellation · Australia
Margaret River
Western Australia’s premier region, known for Cabernet Sauvignon and Semillon–Sauvignon Blanc blends.
Cabernet Sauvignon with a cedar-and-bay-leaf structure closer to Bordeaux than to warmer Australian regions, and Chardonnay that is concentrated but bright. Also a distinctive Sauvignon Blanc–Sémillon blend, grassier and more textured than either Bordeaux or Marlborough.
About Margaret River
Margaret River Cabernet is structured and refined, frequently compared to Bordeaux for its balance of ripeness and firmness.
Its Chardonnay is among the best in the southern hemisphere, and the Semillon–Sauvignon Blanc blend (locally SSB) is a regional speciality.
A narrow strip of land with ocean on three sides, which gives it one of the most maritime climates of any serious wine region — the annual temperature range is smaller than Bordeaux’s and the growing season is long and remarkably even. Ripeness is reliable; what varies is rain at flowering.
It produces about three per cent of Australia’s wine and a far larger share of its expensive wine, and the Cabernet–Chardonnay pairing that defines it was chosen on a 1965 climate study rather than arrived at by trial.
What the name means
- Legal name
- Margaret River GI
- Type
- Australian Geographical Indication (GI)
- Set by
- Wine Australia
- Recognised
- 1996
- Regulates
- Origin only. It sets no rules about varieties, yields, ageing or winemaking.
The boundary of the named zone, region or sub-region and the proportion of fruit that must come from it. Like an AVA, it does not prescribe varieties or methods.
Grapes
Wines from here
white
Australian Chardonnay
A category deliberately reset from heavy and oaky to taut and citrus-driven — now one of the best-value serious whites in the world.
red
Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon
Structured, refined Cabernet from a strongly maritime corner of Western Australia — the New World region closest to Bordeaux in balance.
Climate
- Latitude
- 33.9° S
- Temperature
- Moderate
- Day–night swing
- Narrow
- Rainfall
- Falls mostly in winter
- Frost risk
- Low
Ocean on three sides gives an annual temperature range narrower than Bordeaux’s. The growing season is long, even and unusually free of extremes.
Strongly maritime, surrounded by ocean on three sides, giving a very even growing season with little vintage variation by Australian standards.
Vintage variation
Vintage matters little
Reliable sunshine, low disease pressure and — often — irrigation to smooth out what rainfall does not deliver. The grapes ripen every year.
- Latitude. At around 34°, there is more heat available than the vine needs in most years.
- Rainfall timing. The rain arrives outside the growing season, so harvest is usually dry. This removes the largest single source of vintage variation.
- Maritime influence. Nearby water lengthens the growing season and brings cloud and rain with it. Ripening is slower and less certain, and the spread between years is wider.
Derived from the climate above, not from anyone’s view of particular years. Why there are no vintage scores here.
These are influences on how a wine turns out, not determinants of it. Picking date, yield, vine age and every winemaking decision sit between the climate and the glass.
What to eat, and how to serve it
Derived from this region’s signature styles. Each is listed separately, because a region does not have one serving temperature.
Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon
Serve at 16–18°C (cool room temperature).
Try with roast chicken, fillet steak or grilled chicken.
Australian Chardonnay
Serve at 10–12°C (lightly chilled).
Try with lobster, fillet steak or grilled chicken.
Sources
Sources consulted
- Wine Australia — regions, GIs and market information — Wine Australia