13 July 2011

Margaret River - Wineries

Did you know that Australia is the fourth largest exporter of wine around the world. Well, I did not know that till I did some "research" on the wine industry.

Australia’s wine regions are mainly in the southern, cooler parts of the country, with vineyards located in South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia. The wine industry is also a significant contributor to the Australian economy through production, employment, export and tourism.

Since Margaret River is one of the Australia's well known wine producing region, it would be a shame (at least for me, it would be) not to visit some of the wineries and sample their wines. The predominant grape varieties that are cultivated in this region include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sémillion, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay.


This wine region is made up predominately of boutique size wine producers ranging from the smallest crushing 3.5 tonne per year to the largest around 7000 tonne. The attraction for some of the wineries is not just the wines they produce but also their Gardens, Bed and Breakfast accommodations and Restaurants that overlook the vineyards or the gardens.



Voyager Estate is one such winery with a restaurant that has a spacious elegant place, with high timber ceilings and old fashion hanging chandeliers, featuring the best of the regions local produce with wines that compliment the food being served.

This is the winery with the huge flagpole, proudly flying the Australian flag at the entrance to the foot path that leads to the estate main building.

Xanadu is the second winery we visited. What strike me most about this place is the architecture and the timber of the building. Its cellar door provides visitor the opportunity to taste some of its wines and also to learn about the wine from the staff. Xanadu also has a restaurant with a view that overlook its garden ....but we already had lunch.

Wills Domain Winery is a family owned and operated winery. It not only operates a restaurant, it also has an art gallery, The Art Gallery at Wills Domain, that showcase the works of Australia's established and emerging artists. Next to the art gallery is the Alpaca Living and as the name suggest, showcase alpaca wool products like hand finished knitted garment or an alpaca teddy bear.

More photos of flowers in the region.



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2 comments:

  1. No, I didn't know these things and I am happy to learn about Australia. Now, those meals look scrumptious.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Rosaria! I'm learning myself as I go along. I must say that the meals taste as good as it looks.

    ReplyDelete

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