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Surf coast and bay in the Margaret River region of Western Australia
Lasthib, CC BY-SA

Western Australia

Western Australia for wine lovers: cellar door tastings and vineyard tours in Margaret River, 15 to 65 Australian dollars per adult.

  • 1culinary experience

Culinary experiences in Western Australia

Grapevines and green grass at Gralyn Winery in Margaret RiverMark Pegrum, CC BYWinery visit45 minutes

Margaret River winery visits

Cellar door tastings and a vineyard tour in Margaret River, Western Australia: tastings from 15 to 65 Australian dollars, tour with tasting 50 dollars.Margaret RiverView

Cities and towns in Western Australia

Winery terrace overlooking vineyard rows in Margaret River under a blue skyLasthib, CC BY-SA1 listing

Margaret River

Margaret River winery visits

Map of Western Australia

Western Australia is the largest Australian state, with Perth as its capital on the Indian Ocean coast. Its wine region in this guide, Margaret River, lies in the south-west corner of the state, between the coast and the forests.

The two wineries compared in this guide, Voyager Estate and Vasse Felix, show the range of a visit there: a tasting at the bar for 15 Australian dollars, a vineyard tour with a private tasting for 50 dollars, or a private tasting of six wines with paired snacks for 65 dollars. The region is known for Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, and seasons are reversed: harvest runs from late summer into autumn, roughly February to April.

Getting there

Perth has the state’s international airport. From there, Margaret River is a road trip: hire a car, and plan a driver who skips the tastings, or book a tour with transport.

How Margaret River became a wine region

The regional wine association dates the modern story to 1967, when Dr Tom Cullity planted the first commercial vineyard at Vasse Felix, after reports by agronomist Dr John Gladstones in 1965 and 1966 had identified the area's potential. Moss Wood followed in 1969, Cape Mentelle in 1970, Cullen Wines in 1971 and Leeuwin Estate in 1973. By 1980 there were 20 vineyards, and 164 wine producers at the region's fiftieth anniversary in 2017.

The lie of the land

  • A long, narrow strip hugged by the Indian Ocean to the north and west and the Southern Ocean to the south, its northernmost point 230 kilometres from Perth.
  • A Mediterranean climate of warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters, with 850 to 1,200 millimetres of rain a year and cooling afternoon sea breezes during the growing season.

Beyond the cellar doors of Western Australia

The association counts 100 cellar doors in the region, more than 130 kilometres of coastline and 75 surf breaks. Tourism Western Australia notes that the World Surf League holds championship rounds at Surfer's Point each year, reached by turning off Caves Road, the road that also leads to the older wineries. Margaret River town holds a farmers market on Saturdays.

Coaches and airports

Transwa, the state's regional coach operator, runs the SW1 coach line from East Perth Terminal to Augusta and Pemberton via Bunbury, with stops in Busselton, Dunsborough and Margaret River (Charles West Avenue). Tourism Western Australia puts the drive from Perth at about three and a half hours, and the region's main airport at Busselton, 45 minutes by road from Margaret River town.