0:00

Good day

0:02

you're listening

0:04

to wine

0:06

blash with

0:09

me Peter

0:11

Richards and my

0:13

wife and fellow

0:16

master of wine

0:19

Susie Barry

0:21

and you're

0:23

joining us

0:26

mid-party. Picture

0:30

the scene, warming, sunshine, deep

0:32

blue sky, everyone wine in

0:35

hand, kicking back, relishing the

0:37

sounds and sights of Margaret

0:39

River in glorious springtime. Yes,

0:41

welcome, grab a glass and

0:43

join us as we take you

0:46

on a trip round Margaret River,

0:48

one of the world's most celebrated

0:50

wine regions, but also one that

0:53

offers quite a bit in the

0:55

way of intrigue, surprises and fun.

0:57

Here's a taster of what's coming

1:00

up. Margaret River is one of

1:02

the most unique and beautiful places

1:04

on the planet. The greatest hangover

1:06

cure known to man by being

1:09

able to swim in the ocean

1:11

after a big night drinking wine.

1:13

I believe that there is a

1:15

flavor to this place. I think we're

1:17

able to create something of

1:19

beauty here, of elegance here,

1:21

that something astonishing can come through

1:24

here and does come through here.

1:26

and these wines are world-class, they

1:28

age beautifully, they're under screw cap. I

1:30

mean, what the park? These wines are

1:32

such great value for money, and I

1:34

find that thrilling. It's always good

1:36

to get a profanity or two

1:39

in early doors, don't you think?

1:41

Apologies to those of a fragile

1:43

constitution. But this is a region

1:46

where passion meets precision meets picture

1:48

perfect surroundings and some pretty forthcoming

1:50

people too. Respectively there, Virginia Wilcock,

1:53

Wilberliner and Erin Larkin. We'll be

1:55

hearing more from them as well

1:58

as a star star star. host

2:00

of top Margaret River wine talent in

2:02

this show. Yep so this is

2:04

the second and concluding part in

2:06

our Western Australia mini series and

2:09

we'd like to thank the Western

2:11

Australian government and industry for sponsoring

2:13

this two-parter. In our previous episode

2:16

on the mysterious and magical Great

2:18

Southern we set the scene in

2:21

this remote but intriguing extreme corner

2:23

of southwest Australia which is home

2:25

to some of the oldest surface

2:28

geology on the planet. and without

2:30

doubt some of Australia's finest wines.

2:32

And now we're rolling into marks

2:34

or mags. Mags. Mags. Mags. Yeah,

2:37

as it's known locally. Something like

2:39

that. Anyway, we've both been lucky

2:41

enough to visit, haven't we? You

2:43

know, it's a very... privilege peninsula

2:46

about 270 kilometers south of Perth

2:48

and what a visit it makes

2:50

welcoming wineries great foods great wine

2:52

cool beaches and surfing lovely people

2:55

as long as you don't talk

2:57

to them about cricket well I

2:59

probably wouldn't anyway and well fair

3:01

enough and of course you know

3:04

the weather the weather oh my

3:06

goodness the weather you know consistently

3:08

warm but tempered by the cooling

3:10

Indian Ocean which that's kind of

3:13

like a giant air conditioning unit

3:15

it's ideal for growing long-season grapes

3:17

to give complex, perfumed and balanced

3:19

wines. Yep, I mean we've long been

3:22

fans of Margaret River. Indeed we have

3:24

many of its wines in our cellar

3:26

to prove it. We do indeed. So

3:28

Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are the headline

3:31

grape varieties in this region. Now of

3:33

course these are two of the most

3:35

widely planted grape varieties on the planet,

3:37

but in Margaret River they come into

3:39

their own, making for bright elegant savory

3:42

styles. So in this episode we want

3:44

to ask... why that happens, how it

3:46

happens, and what is it about Margaret

3:48

River that makes the place and the

3:51

wines special? So when I was

3:53

over recently, what I loved was

3:55

this sort of juxtaposition of rural

3:58

charm, incredible forest. you

4:00

know, Wild Ocean Coast and wildlife, which

4:02

we come on to in a bit,

4:04

with a kind of some cosmopolitan, cultured

4:07

refinement, for want of a better word.

4:09

We just heard that beautiful opera, the

4:11

wonderful and very multi-talented singer, food writer,

4:14

actress, a presenter, Sylvia Kolokka, who was

4:16

performing as part of the paired festival,

4:18

which is... a very cool celebration of

4:21

wine and food at Margaret River. And

4:23

I was lucky enough to take part

4:25

in the International Cabernet and Chardonnay tastings

4:28

held at Cape Mentel and Cullen, two

4:30

of Margaret River's founding wineries, tasting. first

4:32

growth Bordeaux and Grand Crue Burgundy up

4:35

against Margaret River's finest wines. Living the

4:37

high life is ever Mr Richins. Right

4:39

at the coal face, that's me. You

4:42

know, sort of playing space invaders at

4:44

the winery cellar door with a glass

4:46

of world-class shardening and that kind of

4:49

thing. That's what I'm talking about. But

4:51

yeah, you know, the high life is

4:53

exactly what it can be. But then

4:56

you turn a corner and this happens.

5:04

Was that you after a big

5:06

night out? Or maybe just trying

5:08

to psych yourself up to going

5:10

for a swim. Sorry, like that.

5:12

You keep going with that one.

5:14

No, no, that was the sound

5:16

of some particularly raucous cooker-burger birds,

5:18

apparently. Entertaining us in the rural

5:20

serenity of the wildlife sanctuary at

5:22

Passall Estate, where Kona, Wendy Stimson,

5:24

was talking me through their fine

5:26

wines, and also the ring-tail possum.

5:28

sanctuary that they have in Rome,

5:30

which is actually amazing. It's a

5:32

really fantastic visit. And talking to

5:34

wildlife, you do actually see kangaroos

5:36

hopping around all over the place

5:38

as well, don't you? Absolutely, you

5:40

do. Sometimes in huge numbers. You

5:42

know, I went on a sunset

5:44

drive. It was like something out

5:46

of Jurassic Park. You know, sort

5:48

of giant herds of kangaroos bouncy

5:50

across the plane. But, you know,

5:52

of course, nature can be challenging.

5:54

as well as magnificent, especially if

5:57

you happen to be a wine

5:59

grower and said wildlife has a

6:01

bit of a taste for grapes.

6:03

Now I asked Moss Woods... Keith

6:05

Mugford for his honest and unfiltered

6:07

opinion of kangaroos. Well they're a

6:09

fucking pun in the ass, you

6:11

know, they love grapes, you know,

6:13

they will eat grapes and vine

6:15

leaves to their heart's content over

6:17

any of the natural food sources

6:19

and so yeah of course they

6:21

look cuddly and furry and all

6:23

that kind of thing but no

6:25

they're not my favourite animal. Hence

6:27

big fences around the vineyards and

6:29

just going back to the birds,

6:31

you know they're another issue aren't

6:33

you know generally speaking. This is

6:35

a pretty easy place to grow

6:37

grapes, right? With relatively little disease

6:39

pressure, like other parts of the

6:41

world, but nowhere is without challenges.

6:43

And in some years, when the

6:45

local Mary trees don't blossom, the

6:47

birds will try to eat the

6:49

grapes instead. This is what Vass

6:51

Felix, why maker Virginia Wilcock, had

6:53

to say on the subject. Birds,

6:55

bloody birds. If we get no

6:57

blossom, the birds are plaid, Alfred

6:59

Hitchcock, plague proportions. It's like, it's

7:01

the scariest thing you'll ever see.

7:03

You know, Bart and I, our

7:05

viticultures, the tension that birds create

7:07

within us is so immense. He

7:09

wants me to pick, I don't

7:11

want to pick too green. We've

7:13

got to fight the birds. It's

7:15

devastating. Virginia versus the birds. Now

7:17

that's a film I'd like to

7:19

see. But of course this is

7:22

why they use netting in Margaret

7:24

River, even if it is expensive

7:26

in terms of labour costs. I

7:28

mean I think a couple of

7:30

years ago they spent the equivalent

7:32

of over a hundred thousand pounds

7:34

on netting just for one vintage,

7:36

didn't they? But either way you

7:38

get a sense of these winemakers

7:40

out there doing... battle to make

7:42

great wines. Yeah, nothing that's easy

7:44

is interesting is it? You know,

7:46

the irony of course is that

7:48

most of the time nature is

7:50

precisely what's enabling the production of

7:52

five wines at Margaret River, you

7:54

know, and that's what we're going

7:56

to be getting into. So let's

7:58

start with a little bit of

8:00

history. Margaret River is a relatively

8:02

young... wine region but one that's

8:04

had the immense benefit of having

8:06

its foundations in science and data.

8:08

So agronomist Dr John Gladstone has

8:10

published a well-research report in 1966

8:12

noting the potential of Margaret River

8:14

for fine wine. This is off

8:16

the back of some pioneering work

8:18

by Dr. Harold Olmo in the

8:20

wider region and this kind of

8:22

planted the seeds. If I may,

8:24

you know, for Margaret River wine

8:26

today. Now we should say wine

8:28

had been made in the region

8:30

before that, but it was pretty

8:32

basic stuff. And when another doctor,

8:34

Dr. Thomas Cullity, a Perth cardiologist,

8:36

planted Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz Malbeck, and

8:38

Reesling in 1967, the ambitions were

8:40

altogether lofty. Now those vineyards would

8:42

later become Vas Felix and other

8:45

plantings followed shortly after it. Moss

8:47

Wood, Cape Mentelen Cullen, which we've

8:49

already mentioned. who we've already mentioned

8:51

and Lewin. Yeah now I asked

8:53

Keith Mugford a co-owner of Mosswood

8:55

one of the founding wineries what

8:57

it was like back in the

8:59

early days of Margaret River. Well

9:01

it was it had a pioneering

9:03

feel which was part of the

9:05

excitement there was Margaret River was

9:07

a blank canvas we were learning

9:09

about the wine styles from here

9:11

with every vintage and there was

9:13

simply no there was no history

9:15

about that we would we could

9:17

judge against and so that was

9:19

fascinating and we debated a lot,

9:21

we debated wine style, how it

9:23

should, each of the varieties, Cabernet

9:25

first of all, but Chardonnay, Pino

9:27

Nua, how should this taste? What

9:29

should be aiming for? Which wine

9:31

should we try and emulate? And

9:33

so that was great. And so

9:35

the... the very famous doctors of

9:37

that period, so Tom Cullen, Bill

9:39

Pannell, Kevin Cullen, those three guys

9:41

in particular were men who enjoyed

9:43

a vigorous debate. And so it

9:45

was not a place for the

9:47

faint-hearted when these debates were taking

9:49

place, but I can certainly assure

9:51

you that it led to, well,

9:53

striving for excellence and a determination

9:55

to produce the best possible wine.

9:57

So yeah, it was great. One

9:59

of the big differences in those

10:01

days between Australian winemaking and, so

10:03

Board O was the elegance that

10:05

the Board O won. once displayed,

10:07

Australia probably had a reputation for

10:10

making overripe slightly hot styles and

10:12

so we would determine that we

10:14

weren't going to do that. Well

10:16

I think we can safely say

10:18

they've succeeded because that elegance and

10:20

freshness is a real hallmark of

10:22

Margaret River wines now isn't it?

10:24

Yeah and Keith was quite honest

10:26

saying that. You know in the

10:28

early days Bordeaux was the model

10:30

they were aiming to emulate with

10:32

their cabinet and burgundy for their

10:34

shardeneo but it's evolved since and

10:36

that's the key thing. You know

10:38

either way. Big ambitions right from

10:40

the outset. Now, someone else who

10:42

talked about history was Vanier Cullen,

10:44

who acknowledged the traditional custodians of

10:46

this land, the Wardandi people, and

10:48

talked about why custodianship is important.

10:50

Because you look after the land,

10:52

you have healthy soils, healthy vines,

10:54

then you have the best quality.

10:56

wine and I think you know

10:58

you look back to the indigenous

11:00

culture 65,000 years of sustainable land

11:02

care and then I think if

11:04

there was a way to go

11:06

forwards it's to to look after

11:08

the land as they did and

11:10

to learn from them. But I

11:12

think that that looking after the

11:14

land, you know, what you give

11:16

to the land it gives back

11:18

and vice versa. And so you

11:20

have that sense of place which,

11:22

you know, over the course of

11:24

the biodynamic, the past 20 years

11:26

being biodynamic, I think that, you

11:28

know, the wine's becoming more and

11:30

more of place and unique. And

11:33

that's a wonderful thing to have

11:35

those differences. I think diversity is

11:37

great. And to have that, you

11:39

know, you go to a place

11:41

and you have that wine, which

11:43

is of that place. What could

11:45

be better? What have you particularly

11:47

learned from the traditional people of

11:49

this area that helps you with

11:51

wine now? I think, you know,

11:53

going biodynamic was big in terms

11:55

of saying you don't know and

11:57

you know, some things, but there's

11:59

a lot that you don't know

12:01

and that you observe and it's

12:03

more like an assessment. farming through

12:05

experience and I think the indigenous

12:07

culture deepens that. It's all of

12:09

that detail. I think great wine

12:11

is about detail and I think

12:13

detail and the natural world. They

12:15

know that better than anything. Now

12:17

Vania mentioned biodynamics there, which to

12:19

put it very crudely is sort

12:21

of like supercharged organics, taking into

12:23

account the influence of planetary dynamics

12:25

on plants, integrating animals into the

12:27

farming, spraying special preparations on vines

12:29

rather than synthetic treatments. Yeah, and

12:31

Callan's been biodynamics since 2004, which

12:33

she says, as Vania says, proved

12:35

a bit controversial. at the time,

12:37

but for her it's made the

12:39

wines more complete and connected to

12:41

the place. That place is Willy

12:43

Abrup, an area in central Margaret

12:45

River known for the quality of

12:47

its cabinet so vignon particularly. I

12:49

ask Vanier what makes such cabinet

12:51

distinctive. From the top down you

12:53

get the roses and the violets

12:56

and the red fruits, the mulberries,

12:58

cherries, blackberries, and then we go

13:00

into the red capsicum and then

13:02

the bitter chocolate and then you

13:04

go into that Einstein which is

13:06

what happens when as a base

13:08

note of the wine and I

13:10

think the wonderful thing is with

13:12

young wines in Willyabrup you get

13:14

all the fruit in the flowers

13:16

and then you go to the

13:18

old wines and you get... and

13:20

then if the wine sits in

13:22

the glass you'll get the ironstone

13:24

come up. But the old wines,

13:26

it's all about the earth and

13:28

then the fruit comes up as

13:30

it opens up. And I think

13:32

the other thing is about willy

13:34

abrupt cabinets that they had wonderful

13:36

talons and a long palate and

13:38

a different palate structure in terms

13:40

of with a talon profile is

13:42

different. So ironstone being a local

13:44

soil which lots of people talk

13:46

about both in terms of aroma

13:48

like warm earth, that kind of

13:50

thing and also. texture. When people

13:52

talk about the fine firm, drying

13:54

tannins that great Margaret River cabinets

13:56

can have, they often evoke it

13:58

by talking about iron... stone dust,

14:00

the way it might coat your

14:02

mouth and dry it, but with

14:04

a very fine texture. Now someone

14:06

else I spoke to about Cabanet

14:08

7 was Virginia Wilcock, head windmaker,

14:10

Vass Felix, so we've already heard

14:12

from briefly, but I asked Virginia

14:14

what makes Margaret River Cabanet special?

14:16

We have very light-framed cabanet, naturally here

14:19

in Margaret River, it's a cool environment.

14:21

It's a Mediterranean climate with a maritime

14:23

influence and people think Mediterranean equals warm.

14:26

But on a temperature graph, Margaret River

14:28

looks warm, but it feels like cold.

14:30

A grape feels like we do. It's

14:32

hanging out there in the breeze. It's

14:35

actually cool. So it's got all of

14:37

the Margaret River wines have a very

14:39

cool climate look about them, yet they're

14:42

ripe. Which is kind of magical. How

14:44

important is perfume in cabinet too? Perfumes

14:46

crypt. Cabanet is the most aromatic red

14:48

variety on the planet, I think. Like

14:51

nothing is more intense than Cabanet. And

14:53

right and wrong, you know, sometimes if

14:55

it's green cabinet, you know about it.

14:57

If it's over right cabinet, you know

15:00

about it. From Margaret River, there is

15:02

a, you know, there's always a herbal

15:04

element to Cabanet. If there's not a

15:07

herbal element, it's grown in a hot

15:09

climate and bland and boring. It's just

15:11

a dry red wine. It's just a

15:13

dry red wine. Who wants to drink

15:16

dry red wine? Well you can, but

15:18

that's boring wine. Dry red wine is

15:20

boring. If you want to drink wine

15:23

that has a sense of place and

15:25

a varietal characteristic, you need the perfume

15:27

of that variety. So herbal nuances are

15:29

very important. I know we're both huge

15:32

fans of Virginia's aren't we? She's so

15:34

cool, she doesn't mince her words, is

15:36

passionate about what she believes in, and

15:38

her wines are fabulous. And this is

15:41

how she describes Margaret River. Margaret River

15:43

is one of the most unique and

15:45

beautiful places on the planet. I fell

15:48

in love with it when I first

15:50

came down here to do a vintage

15:52

and found the most incredible surf beach,

15:54

the greatest hangover cure known to man

15:57

by being able to swim in the

15:59

ocean. after a big night drinking wine,

16:01

but making some of the most beautiful

16:04

wines that have never been big heavy

16:06

footed. They are elegant and fine. And

16:08

she likes to say when all her

16:10

colleagues headed off to France to learn

16:13

how to make wine, she went to

16:15

Italy to work on all these weird

16:17

and wacky varieties and focus on things

16:19

like shape and space in wine rather

16:22

than trying to recreate. Bordeaux, for example,

16:24

and I found this notion of shape

16:26

and space in wine intriguing. So I

16:29

asked her about it. You get a

16:31

big fat wine and you put it

16:33

on your pellet and it's all away

16:35

from front to back and it's all

16:38

parts of your mouth and you go,

16:40

ma'am, whatever. Yep, beauty, it's a drink.

16:42

But when you actually have an architectural

16:45

shape to wine, so it might start

16:47

on your palate quite light and then

16:49

it has this juicy sort of succulent

16:51

fruit core and then all of a

16:54

sudden the talons start building towards the

16:56

back and then you get these long

16:58

talons and you go, I've just been

17:00

on a journey. It's like looking at

17:03

a piece of art. I believe that

17:05

Cabernay has this beautiful shape and it's

17:07

not a hole in the middle, it's

17:10

actually an elegant front and it rides

17:12

into a beautiful plump sort of... background

17:14

and then the talons here quite late

17:16

and I kind of look at them

17:19

as like horseshoe talons. They happen late

17:21

and around the outside and deep. I'm

17:23

like this is cool. So I was

17:26

at this dinner and we were talking

17:28

about the shape and space of cabinet

17:30

and this one guy turned around and

17:32

said can I tell you a story

17:35

and he had goosebumps and he was

17:37

really excited and he said I'm a

17:39

landscape gardener and I think about exactly

17:42

the same thing when I'm landscaping a

17:44

garden. Because if you walk into a

17:46

garden that's full of plants, you can't

17:48

see them all. But if you walk

17:51

into a garden and there's a bit

17:53

of space, you can see more plants

17:55

and you can see more of the

17:57

flowers and you can see more going

18:00

on. And he said, I totally understand

18:02

what you're talking about because... I can

18:04

see more in this wine because there's

18:07

space to see everything else going on.

18:09

And I just fell in love with

18:11

that concept and I love gardening as

18:13

well. So there's this beautiful synergy with

18:16

space being very important to see more.

18:18

So less is more my mantra for

18:20

life. And she makes such beautiful wine,

18:23

doesn't she? You know, we've got a

18:25

couple here actually. Yes, we do. Talking

18:27

cabinet specifically, her filious cabinet 2021 is

18:29

gorgeous. It's so... perfumed and fresh and

18:32

savoury with that lovely shape and space

18:34

she talks about and great value too.

18:36

I mean it's about 14 pounds, isn't

18:38

it? Absolutely, absolutely. And she also makes

18:41

sensational shardney. The Philly of shardney 2022

18:43

we got here is sort of savoury

18:45

and creepy and nutty. Again, just great

18:48

value. So much wine for 14 pounds.

18:50

Really hard to find a shardney of

18:52

that caliber and pedigree for that price.

18:54

It's also of, of course, a former

18:57

wine of the wine of the year

18:59

of ours, former wattie. the day. And

19:01

then here we've also got we're lucky

19:04

enough to have the Vas Felix Chardonnay

19:06

22 more serious and intense style isn't

19:08

it? And then that's the straight Margaret

19:10

River Chardonnay. And then to cap things

19:13

off we've got the Hatesbury Chardonnay 20202.

19:15

They're top Chardonnay. Oh. Wow. Stunning, sort

19:17

of flinty, savory, complex wine. It's just,

19:19

just gorgeous, shut me, isn't it? Yeah.

19:22

Anyway, I think it's time to take

19:24

a breath. Share some neutral space, perhaps.

19:26

Or just an excuse for us to

19:29

chug some of this delicious wine before

19:31

we come back for more. By

19:34

way of summary so far. Margaret

19:36

River is a relatively young wine

19:38

region, but one with very firm

19:40

foundations, which have enabled it to

19:42

thrive with its unique brand of

19:44

fine cabernet and shardene. It's also

19:46

a pretty nice place to visit,

19:48

eat and drink. Even the birds

19:50

think so. Now, testament to Margaret

19:52

River's pulling power, as it were,

19:54

is just how diverse the community

19:56

there is. So many people come,

19:58

fall in love with the place.

20:00

and stay. You know, I nearly

20:02

did that, did you? Did you

20:04

do that one? Well, I would

20:06

have been happy to. Definitely. Some

20:08

reason we came back. Anyway, one

20:10

such blow in is Glenn Goodall,

20:12

a winemaker at Xanadu, originally from

20:14

New Zealand, loves his surfing, who

20:16

took me into his very neat

20:18

barrel cellar to tell me what

20:20

makes Margaret River special. It's wine

20:22

paradise. It's kind of utopia to

20:24

be perfectly honest. It's anywhere that

20:26

you can get up, particularly at

20:28

this time of the the beach

20:31

and go for a surf before

20:33

work. Then go and do your

20:35

work and enjoy some of the

20:37

best wines in the world. It's

20:39

a pretty privileged place to make

20:41

wine and to live. I know

20:43

you've made me very jealous today.

20:45

It's a beautiful place obviously, but

20:47

what does that proximity to the

20:49

ocean mean for the wines? It's

20:51

got a huge influence on the

20:53

whole heartbeat of the place from

20:55

a perspective of the wines that

20:57

that maritime sort of influence is

20:59

huge in that we've got very

21:01

consistent... winters and summers, but as

21:03

I mentioned today, we've got this

21:05

great big air conditioner called the

21:07

Indian Ocean that arcs up every

21:09

morning during summer at sort of

21:11

10-11am. And that lovely cooling sea

21:13

breeze coming through is what really

21:15

helps to give our wines, particularly

21:17

those later ripening varieties like Cabernay,

21:19

helps them to just maintain that

21:21

freshness and that vitality so that

21:23

they spend, they get full. physiological

21:25

ripeness on the vine, but they

21:27

still have that cooling effect of

21:30

their sea breeze, so it's, it

21:32

keeps them really, really fresh and

21:34

it's just the perfect combination. How

21:36

have you seen the winemaking or

21:38

the wines change over the years

21:40

that you've been here? Because you've

21:42

been at Xanadu for 25 years?

21:44

Yeah, so it's, I think there's

21:46

more emphasis on fruit. and elegance.

21:48

Stylistically I think wines are sort

21:50

of fresher, they're less reliant on

21:52

oak and they're more about, you

21:54

know, the latest force in the

21:56

glass being the vineyard, not the

21:58

winemaker, not having the fingerprint. the

22:00

wine maker but trying to have

22:02

the DNA of the vineyard that's

22:04

actually speaking. Mmm, so this goes

22:06

back to the nuance and sense

22:08

of place that Vania and Virginia

22:10

were talking about. Yeah, yeah, and

22:12

someone else saying something remarkably similar

22:14

was Tim Shand, a voyager estate,

22:16

who's made wine all over the

22:18

place in Burgundy, Bordeaux, Italy, Chile,

22:20

Oregon. He describes Margaret River's cabinet

22:22

and Chardonnay as distinctive in not

22:24

just an Australian, but also a

22:26

global context with their kind of

22:28

generosity of fruit and complexity. He

22:31

says these wines are a song

22:33

to sing to sing to sing.

22:35

loud and proud. Absolutely love that.

22:37

Now I asked Tim what he

22:39

was doing to improve. We've got

22:41

to identify very specific sites that

22:43

have a voice so we have

22:45

to find a character. Australia is

22:47

a great fatiguing boxes on quality

22:49

and if there's a little machine

22:51

that we can put our eyes

22:53

in that churns out a number.

22:55

We'll do it. We'll blend across

22:57

regions. We'll follow, you know, fashion.

22:59

We're less and less interested in

23:01

that and we're much more interested

23:03

in a voice And it's very,

23:05

it's very nebulous and it's dangerous

23:07

territory because you can start to,

23:09

it can be a bit of

23:11

a self-fulfilling prophecy that if my

23:13

one looks like this, therefore it

23:15

is great. But I think what

23:17

we're getting better at is finding

23:19

the voice and it's clonal, its

23:21

sight, its variety, its' and it's

23:23

veriital and then it's one making

23:25

philosophy and trying to have a

23:27

transparency. It's probably two things. It's

23:30

a lack of wine making artifacts.

23:32

That's important. The other one is

23:34

a sureness of fruit. There's a

23:36

convincing night. When you taste a

23:38

lot of wines from a lot

23:40

of different vineyards, some vineyards just

23:42

convince you with their character of

23:44

the fruit. It's very hard to

23:46

define. But when you taste it

23:48

in a vineyard and it says,

23:50

this is me, this is my

23:52

character, that's to me transparency also.

23:54

And you can lose that quite

23:56

quick. with wine making, but yet

23:58

some vineyards just say I'm an

24:00

almost indefinable fruit or an indivinable

24:02

character, but you know who I

24:04

am, and it's very pure. I

24:06

do know what he means about

24:08

some vineyards just being so self-assured,

24:10

so utterly convincing in the wines

24:12

they produce, almost in an eight...

24:14

confidence if you like, that's really

24:16

compelling. Now that reminds me of

24:18

talking to Yacopo or Yapo Dalikani

24:20

of McHenry-Hone, who's originally from Suavei

24:22

in Italy. You never guess it

24:24

with a name line, I don't

24:26

know, is he? He's originally from

24:29

Italy. But he's another one who

24:31

fell in love with Margaret River

24:33

and couldn't stay away. He talks

24:35

about the energy. of the wines

24:37

as being something he noticed right

24:39

from the start. This is how

24:41

he described his initial impressions of

24:43

the wines. Put your finger on

24:45

what the commonalities were in these

24:47

wines. What was the new? For

24:49

example, Chardonnes, they had that beautiful

24:51

crunchy power. They were powerful, like

24:53

the wines that I tried in

24:55

Europe from Burgundy, particularly, but they

24:57

had a salinity that was like

24:59

so unique of... of this region,

25:01

you know, to me you could

25:03

test the ocean, you could test

25:05

the gravel in the reds in

25:07

the carbonate, for example, the tanning

25:09

and the quality of those tanning

25:11

is to me, remind me of

25:13

the, you know, the dusty road

25:15

when you walk down a gravel

25:17

road, they had, they really tested

25:19

like where they came from and

25:21

coming from Soave, which is a

25:23

very strong terua driven area, like

25:25

I could see similarities, but in

25:28

a different way, you know, it's

25:30

one maker's dream to be making

25:32

one here, because it's relatively... easy

25:34

to make really balanced war class

25:36

wines in this region. It's something

25:38

that I've never encountered in other

25:40

regions and I've worked in many

25:42

places. This is very very special.

25:44

Now, McHenry-Hone is an intriguing producer,

25:46

biodynamic, tons of different grape varieties

25:48

planted, and they take a kind

25:50

of Burgundian or single vineyard approach,

25:52

and I was blown away by

25:54

Yappo's shardinase he brought for me

25:56

to taste. So I asked him

25:58

about one, the Kalkadup Brook Vineyard,

26:00

and I just loved what he...

26:02

to say about this vineyard and

26:04

wine. Calgary is only maybe three

26:06

kilometers from the water, literally from

26:08

the beach, and it's amazing. You

26:10

walk the rose in this vineyard,

26:12

you can hear the ocean on

26:14

a windy day, you can feel

26:16

that salt water almost like on

26:18

your skin, and it's like walking

26:20

at the beach. And I think

26:22

somehow that character, that salinity, that

26:24

savoryness. goes into the wine and

26:26

this is the unique character of

26:29

this vineyard is to have that

26:31

salinity. It's not a powerful big

26:33

sharder to me it's a very

26:35

elegant out of the three the

26:37

most elegant of the wines but

26:39

has got this beautiful combination of

26:41

chokef and oleks and that savory

26:43

salty margarita kind of character in

26:45

it which to me makes it

26:47

wanna go back for a second

26:49

and third glass potentially the old

26:51

bottle. Always want a second margarita.

26:53

Exactly. a margarita character. I love

26:55

it. From that description though I

26:57

can see why you'd go back

26:59

for the whole bottle. Totally, absolutely.

27:01

What a lovely idea, you know.

27:03

Talking of which, we've got exactly

27:05

this wine here, haven't we? Yeah.

27:07

But from the 2011 vintage, so

27:09

I tasted the 2023 while I

27:11

was there, which was gorgeous, as

27:13

I said, but this was a

27:15

bottle. We totally forgot about it.

27:17

We totally forgot about it. Open

27:19

it when we've been. Oh my

27:21

word! It's so good, isn't it?

27:23

It's sensational, beautiful, creamy, salty, complex,

27:25

savory, elegant wine. It's still so

27:28

fresh, testament to how these wine

27:30

taste developed so well. It's gorgeous,

27:32

isn't it? Just wow, wow. Actually,

27:34

this is something we should we

27:36

should mention. These wines, Margaret River,

27:38

reds, and whites, can age superbly.

27:40

And partly just because of the

27:42

wines themselves, they're fresh but structured

27:44

and savory, they're serious stuff, but

27:46

also because they're pretty much all

27:48

seal. with screw caps which is

27:50

just so good for preserving freshness

27:52

and in consistency. Totally agree. So

27:54

talking about details like screw caps,

27:56

I'd like to bring in Dave

27:58

Moulton of Cape Menteel here, one

28:00

of the founding wineries as we

28:02

said. We talk about sight and

28:04

transparency and whatnot, but there is

28:06

a science as well as an

28:08

art to this craft of wine.

28:10

Tim Shand mentioned clones and I

28:12

asked Dave at a rather busy

28:14

tasting, hence the background hubbub, how

28:16

their approach at Cape Menteel has

28:18

changed over the years. You can

28:20

get away with it being a

28:22

business and not using tech and

28:24

not using science because wine is

28:27

I guess full of romance and

28:29

we all know that but personally

28:31

I love the tech I love

28:33

the science it tells us where

28:35

to look so we've done a

28:37

lot of work in the vineyards

28:39

mapping precision viticulture techniques we look

28:41

at radiometrics so the natural radiation

28:43

that the soil emits and we

28:45

map it so we can see

28:47

our different soil types we look

28:49

at plant cell density imagery We

28:51

run a physiocap tool through the

28:53

vineyard, so after leaf fall it

28:55

goes through before pruning and it

28:57

measures the number of canes and

28:59

their diameter, so it's a really

29:01

accurate measure of plant biomass. So

29:03

we use all of these things

29:05

to split our cabinet vineyards up

29:07

and it tells us where to

29:09

look and it makes us understand

29:11

our sights a lot better, but

29:13

every decision is still made on

29:15

how the grapes taste. and every

29:17

wine making decision is made on

29:19

how the wine tastes because ultimately

29:21

people end up drinking it. So

29:23

science and tech is great and

29:25

it helps us make educated decisions

29:28

but it's not going to replace

29:30

us and long may that last

29:32

it takes a lot of shades

29:34

and colors to paint a masterpiece.

29:36

You can't just use primary colors.

29:38

So within our cabinet program now

29:40

we're looking at more cloner material,

29:42

we're looking at different root stocks,

29:44

we're actually doing spacings depending on

29:46

soil type. And what we're trying

29:48

to do is I guess leave

29:50

a nice legacy of lots of

29:52

different shades and depths of colour.

29:54

So root stocks allow us to

29:56

account for one seasonal variation, but

29:58

two, it mitigates risk. So we

30:00

can take that fruit off a

30:02

little bit earlier. It means about

30:04

two weeks in physiological rightness. So

30:06

we're taking those rootstock lines off

30:08

two weeks earlier. What we can

30:10

control has been controlled by that

30:12

point. So it's really us setting

30:14

the business up for the future

30:16

as well. Now this is particularly

30:18

interesting because Margaret River is renowned

30:20

for having the vast majority of

30:22

its vineyards planted on their own

30:24

roots, not on root stalks, which

30:27

is rare in wine these days.

30:29

And of course in Margaret River

30:31

you've got the famous heritage clones

30:33

of Horton for Cabernet Sauvignon and

30:35

Jinjin for Chardonnay, which gives sturdy,

30:37

structured, complex wines. Cape Mentel are

30:39

clearly planting different clones and starting

30:41

to use rootstocks too. Yeah, they've

30:43

told me a third of their

30:45

cabinet vineyard is now on rootstocks,

30:47

which is which is rare in

30:49

the region, but he's going to

30:51

be increasing that slowly too. And

30:53

I think that's probably the direction

30:55

of travel. So, you know, it's

30:57

interesting how some slightly more forward

30:59

thinking techniques are being put into

31:01

play. How did the, how did

31:03

the Cape Mentel international cabinet tasting

31:05

go, by the way? Well, it

31:07

was, it was, it was, it

31:09

was astonishing. 20 top top. top

31:11

cabinets from around the world or

31:13

from the 2021 vintage serve blind

31:15

to hundreds of tasters. I mean,

31:17

it was amazing, you know, I

31:19

must admit, hands up, that Chateau

31:21

Margot and Obai from Bordeaux was

31:23

some of my top scorers, also

31:26

Spotswood from Napa, but then... the

31:28

Cape Mentel Heritage Cabinet 7 on

31:30

2021 was also one of my

31:32

favorite wines in the day. And

31:34

we've got that here, haven't we?

31:36

We do, we do. I mean,

31:38

we're not just saying that. Those

31:40

results blind tasting and we do

31:42

have the bottom here. We do.

31:44

So lovely rugged tannins and just

31:46

polished fruit, you know, it's proper

31:48

stuff. On the evening before, we

31:50

also tried Cape Mentel's Cabinet back

31:52

to 1984, which was a real

31:54

education because the, you know... the

31:56

sense of how the wines have

31:58

become so much more precise and

32:00

nuanced and self-assured. And just to

32:02

be clear, this was the 42nd

32:04

version of this annual tasting, is

32:06

that right? Yeah, absolutely. Dave said

32:08

the first one, just... just a

32:10

picture of the scene, there were

32:12

a lot of men in sandals,

32:14

knee-high socks and very short shorts.

32:16

I'm glad he didn't share that

32:18

just going to be before I

32:20

went to be honest, but he

32:22

did add that... He loves doing

32:25

this tasting because he wants to

32:27

see where their wine sits in

32:29

kind of the global pecking order,

32:31

you know, looking at what the

32:33

rest of the world is doing,

32:35

trying to understand it and figure

32:37

out how they can best compete

32:39

and improve and not be too

32:41

insular. And how did the Margaret

32:43

River Cabanese look stylistically as a

32:45

set? Yeah, it's a fair enough

32:47

question. I mean, they weren't all

32:49

entirely homogenous, of course, but there

32:51

was often a kind of a

32:53

brightness. to them, you know, even

32:55

in the dark fruit spectrum, with

32:57

this sort of firm, fine, gravelly

32:59

tanning and juicy acidity and a

33:01

sort of herbal perfume. They're fine-boned

33:03

and sort of insistent styles of

33:05

cabinet. Now you mentioned, you've mentioned

33:07

Napa and we did hear an

33:09

American voice at the start of

33:11

the show Will Berlina of cloudburst.

33:13

Now from everything I've read and

33:15

tasted, I imagine going to cloud

33:17

burst was a rather different kind

33:19

of experience to your average... Margaret

33:21

River visits. Yes, in every sense.

33:23

I think we should just sort

33:26

of set the sound scene here.

33:28

So Will has this amazing property

33:30

on the edge of a national

33:32

park. Nature runs riot, I think

33:34

it's fair to say. His vineyard

33:36

is ultra-high-density planting. So, you know,

33:38

you've got a dense throng of

33:40

crowded, happy-looking vines, all hand-worked. which

33:42

is clearly very hard work. Will's

33:44

originally from New York. He's a

33:46

Yale graduate and a kind of

33:48

outdoorsy guy, I suppose you would

33:50

describe him. And the wines, you

33:52

know, they're magical. They taste utterly

33:54

unique, you know, totally enchanting, almost

33:56

rocking style. This is how Will

33:58

describes his approach. I'm taking care

34:00

of this piece of land and

34:02

there are many... things living here.

34:04

I'm doing my best to be

34:06

respectful of them and in the

34:08

process allowing something of beauty to come

34:11

forth. It's completely unexpected and

34:13

unplanned and I'm making it

34:16

up as I go along

34:18

which requires a lot more

34:21

of me than you might

34:23

imagine and it's been

34:25

amazing. and the proof is

34:28

in the glass because in

34:30

my opinion it tastes

34:33

like nowhere else and I

34:35

think that's a triumph and

34:37

to get it that way

34:40

meant sticking to my

34:42

guns despite many challenges

34:44

and I'm very happy

34:46

about that so You

34:48

know, we're tasting

34:51

that and that's

34:53

probably speaking through

34:55

me because I've

34:57

probably had too many

35:00

sips. It's hard not

35:02

to, it's hard not to.

35:05

I believe that there

35:07

is a flavor to this

35:09

place and I'm aiming

35:11

to taste that flavor

35:14

as it is, as

35:16

it changes, okay. I'm

35:19

looking at this place

35:21

changes. This place expresses.

35:23

Can it express itself

35:26

without my human hubristic

35:28

overlayment laying

35:31

something on everything? Can it come

35:33

through without me? Yes, it can.

35:35

How do I get out of

35:38

the way? I get out of

35:40

the way by respecting

35:42

what the land is saying

35:45

what the land is saying?

35:47

by listening, by trying to

35:49

get off of my agenda.

35:51

So what can this place

35:53

do? In my humble opinion,

35:55

I think we're able

35:57

to create something of.

36:00

beauty here of elegance here, that

36:02

something astonishing can come through here

36:04

and does come through here. So

36:06

I'm very positive on what can

36:08

happen in this region. Now Will's

36:10

wines are really good, but they're

36:12

also expensive. We are talking 500

36:14

Australian dollars or 250 pounds per

36:16

bottle for his cabinet. Now we

36:18

know that's raised eyebrows not just

36:20

in Margaret River but also around

36:22

the world. What did he have

36:24

to say about that? Well you

36:26

know when you're there and you

36:28

see the extent of the work

36:30

that must go into that tiny

36:32

vineyard, you know because of the

36:34

ultra-low-fi way he chooses to do

36:36

things you want to describe it

36:38

that way, you do start to

36:40

understand it and it does start

36:42

to make sense. But here's what

36:44

will had to say about pricing.

36:46

We're not formula one here. We're

36:48

not formula one here. We're in

36:50

a ramshackle farmhouse. I'm not complaining,

36:52

but I'm just trying to point

36:54

out something. When I started, I

36:56

looked at what it cost to

36:58

do what I was doing. And

37:00

it was like, if I can't

37:02

get this, then this is, I

37:04

will be in the black. So

37:06

I said, this is what it's

37:08

got to be. And from the

37:10

start, it's been that and more.

37:12

So the marketplace. has always accepted

37:14

that. And I actually think that

37:16

for what we have that these

37:18

are bargain prices and I think

37:20

that they won't stay at bargain

37:22

prices forever. To compare what we're

37:25

doing, I would imagine that we

37:27

put more dollars, let's do it

37:29

from the dollar standpoint, into our

37:31

tiny vineyard. than most a hundred

37:33

times or a thousand times our

37:35

size do. Because we're human power.

37:37

So when people talk about expense,

37:39

I don't know what they're talking

37:41

about. And I wish I were

37:43

a gallitarian and this were for

37:45

everyone. I wish I had wine

37:47

for everyone, but I don't. That's

37:49

not what this is. This is

37:51

a tiny, like, human-driven, day after

37:53

day. It's a seven day a

37:55

week. There's no, we don't put

37:57

our feet up. It's constant. It

37:59

is what it is. No one

38:01

goes into, you know, name the

38:03

card dealership and goes. How come

38:05

you up charging that? You know,

38:07

it only cost you this to

38:09

make. It's like, you want to

38:11

buy it? You buy it. If

38:13

you don't want it, there are

38:15

lots of beautiful wines out there.

38:17

Go buy one of those. But

38:19

for me to be able to

38:21

keep this, like, it costs what

38:23

it costs. And it does cost

38:25

what it cost. Price is always

38:27

relative, isn't it? And with wine

38:29

there's often a tension between what

38:31

I guess the producer feels they

38:33

can fairly charge and where their

38:35

wine should sit in the global

38:37

marketplace and then people asking, but

38:39

how can it be worth that

38:41

much? Is a 200 pound wine

38:43

really 10 times as good as

38:45

a 20 pound wine? Yeah, yeah,

38:47

and I suppose in that sense,

38:49

you know, trying to create a

38:52

wine style that's unique in its

38:54

own right, is the best answer

38:56

because then it can't be... compared

38:58

to so many other things, which

39:00

I think is Will's aim here.

39:02

But you know, I agree that

39:04

the price question is an interesting

39:06

one, given Margaret River makes fine

39:08

wines that often aren't the cheapest.

39:10

So I brought this up as

39:12

well with well-known winemaker Larry Cherubino,

39:14

whom we also heard from in

39:16

our great southern episode. I asked

39:18

Larry what frustrates him about making

39:20

wine in this part of the

39:22

world, and he said people's outdated

39:24

concept of Australian wine as being

39:26

just cheap and cheerful and cheerful.

39:28

Really interestingly if I went into

39:30

most markets internationally and I I

39:32

could actually turn off My accent

39:34

and I could present my wines

39:36

and people didn't ask where they

39:38

were from and I could show

39:40

them I'd probably be a lot

39:42

more successful And so that's frustrating

39:44

because people have this conception of

39:46

Australia and probably it's probably never

39:48

been a better time to buy

39:50

an Australian wine but I think

39:52

we've just got to stop and

39:54

sort of say you know what

39:56

at some point we really need

39:58

to make a point about these

40:00

things that we've got that just

40:02

naturally work extremely well here and

40:04

we just stop selling ourselves short

40:06

and you know that takes a

40:08

fair bit of self-confidence. But culturally,

40:10

I think, you know, particularly in

40:12

this country, unlike America, if you

40:14

sort of stand up and say,

40:16

this is great, we sort of

40:19

tend to keep ourselves in check

40:21

as a society and say, don't

40:23

you rise above because we're going

40:25

to, you know, the tool of

40:27

your syndrome. And you know, that's

40:29

just a function of being a

40:31

bunch of criminals, really, because how

40:33

dare you think you're better than

40:35

me, because, you know, we all

40:37

came out on the same. transport

40:39

together and you either got there

40:41

by you know illegal means or

40:43

you just think you're better than

40:45

I am and I think you

40:47

know it is there is a

40:49

bit of that and we've just

40:51

got to stop doing that you

40:53

know and we just got to

40:55

say you know what let's get

40:57

behind these people are doing really

40:59

well rather than pulling down so

41:01

you need that's frustrated Australia needs

41:03

to celebrate it's successful mmm except

41:05

on the cricket field absolutely you

41:07

know what there's nothing wrong with

41:09

saying on the greatest did you

41:11

say you're the greatest no no

41:13

no But there's nothing else. Would

41:15

you say there are some wines

41:17

from this part of the world

41:19

that are the greatest? There's some

41:21

wines from this part of the

41:23

world that are exceptionally good. In

41:25

terms of Australian wine, they are

41:27

really, really good. But I think

41:29

we're getting there. I think people

41:31

need to be more aware globally

41:33

of what's happening with wine and

41:35

sort of see where they sit

41:37

because the movement towards really laying

41:39

yourself bare and exposing only your

41:41

vineyards. in the bottle is pretty

41:43

accepted now and I think this,

41:46

you know, we've come from a

41:48

place where most of the winemaking

41:50

in this country was controlled and

41:52

dominated by four or five really

41:54

big wines. companies and they set

41:56

the tone for the flavor of

41:58

Australia and that's not what it

42:00

is. And you see that's been

42:02

redefined now? It's been redefined because

42:04

you know you've got people you've

42:06

got these big companies exiting so

42:08

the whole industry's been you know

42:10

redefined it's changing at a rate

42:12

of knots and we haven't even

42:14

seen the beginnings of it yet

42:16

so we'll just see what happens

42:18

over the next two to three

42:20

years. We're just strapping ourselves in.

42:22

I don't want to be perceived,

42:24

and I don't want to lead

42:26

into any conversations about our wine,

42:28

about Australian wine. I don't think

42:30

we should start conversations about how

42:32

cheap it is. We say it

42:34

tastes really good. And that's probably

42:36

the most important thing. And then

42:38

prices, price is always going to

42:40

be a discussion. It will always

42:42

be a discussion, but that should

42:44

be secondary. I think we'd both

42:46

agree with him that there's never

42:48

been a better time to buy

42:50

Australian wine and that the industry

42:52

there has changed dramatically in the

42:54

last decade or so. Yeah I

42:56

agree. I agree. The best ones

42:58

are unique and different and things

43:00

of beauty. As we've heard in

43:02

this show there's... much more focus

43:04

on elegance, on sight expression, on

43:06

the small details that can make

43:08

such a big difference. Larry said

43:10

something along the lines of making

43:13

wine like this is quite exposing.

43:15

You feel vulnerable as a wine

43:17

maker and there's pressure. He says,

43:19

if you're going to sing solo...

43:21

You'd better be good. Absolutely. Precious

43:23

on. But if you taste his

43:25

wines, you can see it working.

43:27

You know, we've got a couple

43:29

here. The pedestal Margaret River Cabernet

43:31

is a great introduction to the

43:33

region, rounded and perfumed, all the

43:35

way up to his top Margaret

43:37

River Cabernet and Shardney, which is

43:39

so stylish and refined. They are

43:41

things of beauty. Anyway, we'll put

43:43

all the details on our website,

43:45

weren't. Dampordo which is an interesting

43:47

thought especially you know when it

43:49

comes to these deliciously grippy earthy

43:51

talons. Anyway someone else with a

43:53

view on price is error. a

43:55

wine critic who covers Australia and

43:57

New Zealand for Robert Parker's wine

43:59

advocate. And this is what she

44:01

had to say. I think from

44:03

Australia we have a really big

44:05

underdog mentality here. And so we're

44:07

always saying how can we can

44:09

how can we be more like

44:11

Burgundy with our sharder nail? How

44:13

can we be more like Bordeaux

44:15

with our cabinet? And I think

44:17

we don't need to be more

44:19

like Bordeaux. We need to be

44:21

more like Margaret River. Because the

44:23

reason why I buy a Bordeaux

44:25

or the Bordeaux, is because it

44:27

tastes like those places. And I

44:29

want these wines to taste like

44:31

this place because that's why ultimately

44:33

as wine lovers we spend money

44:35

on wine. And so I think

44:37

Australians are still working through that

44:40

cultural cringe. Premium Australian wine will

44:42

never be as cheap as it

44:44

is today. And these wines are

44:46

world-class. They age beautifully. They're under

44:48

screw cap. I mean, what the

44:50

like. It's like I'm a buyer.

44:52

I have my own cellar. I

44:54

drink. I love. I share. These

44:56

wines are such great value for

44:58

money and I find that thrilling.

45:00

So what would your advice be

45:02

to people out there when it

45:04

comes to these brilliant, beautiful, premium

45:06

Australian wines? Just buy them and

45:08

look after them and then drink

45:10

them and love them. Oh, and

45:12

isn't that all too easily done?

45:14

I also chatted to Erin about

45:16

more new wave wines coming out

45:18

of Margaret River, which I know

45:20

you looked at while you were

45:22

there, didn't you? Erin talked about

45:24

this awesome and... exciting underbelly of

45:26

stuff going on. Does that sort

45:28

of tally with your 100%? Absolutely.

45:30

I mean there was even in

45:32

2018 a seriously cool alternative wine

45:34

scene with people doing really funky

45:36

different things. You know I remember

45:38

being there and tasting gorgeous Jeanam

45:40

Blanc, Vermentino, lovely Tureganassional or an

45:42

absolutely sensational barrel-fermented Savignan. As good

45:44

as Margaret River Cabinet and Chardonnay

45:46

are, we should not forget that

45:48

there are people doing other things

45:50

and that you can coax greatness

45:52

out of this region in more

45:54

ways than one. So I think

45:56

it's time we started to wrap

45:58

things up. We've covered a lot

46:00

of ground. I don't know about

46:02

you, but I feel that still

46:05

we haven't really done anything more

46:07

than scratched the surface of what

46:09

is an intriguing, glorious wine region

46:11

with a very bright future ahead

46:13

of it. Our advice would be

46:15

carry on the adventure yourself. Try

46:17

the wines, then try some more.

46:19

And if you listen to Larry

46:21

and Aaron and Will, buying these

46:23

wines sooner rather than later, it

46:25

may actually prove a smart move

46:27

financially too. So, by way of

46:29

closing summary, in just a few

46:31

decades, Margaret River has carved out

46:33

a name for itself with its

46:35

fresh, complex, refined styles of shardene

46:37

and cabanae, the product of a

46:39

special place, pristine environment, fine soils,

46:41

warm sun and a cooling ocean

46:43

influence. It's probably fair to give

46:45

some credit to the winemakers in

46:47

there as well who don't mess

46:49

around or mince their words and

46:51

recently have placed a big emphasis

46:53

on elegance and nuance in their

46:55

wines. The results... are compelling and

46:57

they're only just getting started. Yeah,

46:59

the future is looking very tasty.

47:01

Thanks to all our interviewees and

47:03

everyone who's so kindly hosted me

47:05

in the region. Thanks again to

47:07

Western Australian Government, an industry for

47:09

sponsoring this mini-series and of course,

47:11

thanks to you for listening. We'll

47:13

put tons of wine recommendations over

47:15

on our website show notes as

47:17

well as the odd map. We

47:19

always have to have one of

47:21

those ligatory. Just before we end,

47:23

here's what Dave Moulton said when

47:25

I suggested Margaret River was the

47:27

cosmopolitan. of Australian wine country and

47:29

a great place to visit. Yeah,

47:32

let's not tell too many people.

47:34

House prices are already going through

47:36

the roof. There's a shortage. All

47:38

right, I won't tell anyone. Yes,

47:40

shh. So we've got to promise

47:42

not to spread the word, is

47:44

that it? Don't put it out

47:46

on any podcasts or anything like

47:48

that. Something like that, don't tell

47:50

anyone anyway. Until next time, we'll

47:52

leave you with a bit more

47:54

of Sylvia Kolokka in action at

47:56

paired Margaret River. So we can

47:58

all feel those party vibes. Cheers.

48:00

Olbo Oh

48:07

vincero,

48:12

vincero

48:33

Vincero Thank

48:44

you!