SW Western Australia first time visit

[ChrisV]

Long time between posts on here. Hope everyone is keeping well.

I'm headed off to WA for a week on Tuesday. The plan is a loop from Perth through Margaret River and Albany, out to Esperance, and an all day drive directly back to Perth stopping only for a squizz at Wave Rock. Or the opposite direction perhaps. Not sure. I've only been to WA twice and my only time outside Perth was a daytrip to the Swan Valley.

Any recommendations for a first timer through the Margaret River, Pemberton and Great Southern regions? Broadly speaking I'm more interested in finding good value propositions and secret gems than I am in worshipping at the altar of Leeuwin or Moss Wood, but I'd be up for a visit to a big cellar door if they are scenic or have some other drawcard.

Also any non-wine recommendations for the area are appreciated. I've done a bit of research and am all set for well-known drawcards like Valley of the Giants, Cape Le Grande etc, so looking more for advice on secret stuff that won't be uncovered by Googling.

Also any thoughts on which direction I should do the loop? I feel like doing Margaret River first avoids the weekend crowds and that going to Esperance last I'm saving the best beaches for last, but I'm open to argument.

Many thanks in advance.

[Waiters Friend]

G'day

I agree with your logic of weekday in the MR region, but it is also school holidays, so it will be populated anyway. Do you have accommodation booked?

I'm sure Margaret River and its wineries / attractions are well documented. For me, and if you want to avoid the 'showcases', I'd look at McHenry Hohnen, Ashbrook, Killerby, and Redgate. I realise there is a mix of old and newer in there. Also Capel Vale should be a mandatory first stop (at Capel, not surprisingly) in the way down from Perth.

I'm more excited by the Great Southern. Forest Hill, Old Kent River (great for lunch), Lake House (great for lunch too), Harewood Estate. If you go through Mount Barker, then Plantagenet. If you're staying in the GS, then I recommend Denmark, and preferably along Ocean Beach Drive (so you have views and walking access to the inlet).

Albany - I recommend the Earl of Spencer pub, and a visit to the whaling station - allow half a day for the interactive tour.

Esperance? There's a couple of good restaurant in town, but I also recommend the Taylor St restaurant out on the west point of the bay. Good food and great views especially at sunset. There also is /was a winery just north of Esperance (I think Dalyup Estate?) and you may find some pretty good reds in local restaurants.

Please let us know how you get on.

Cheers
Allan

[Matt]

Brown Hill for best value imo. Great, concentrated wines sub $20.

[ChrisV]

Hi Allan,

I dont have any accom booked but am travelling solo and have just turned 35 so I can still stay in hostels without appearing creepy. Or whatever cheap accom really, I'm not fussy.

Thanks for all the winery recommendations. I have not heard, or have barely heard, of a lot of those so it seems that's the sort of advice I am after. Will probably skip the whaling station though - that sort of local history exhibit isn't my cup of tea

If you know the area well, do you think it's worth me hiring a 4WD? I'm not a 4WD enthusiast (I'm actually not sure if I've ever driven one, embarrasingly enough) but I understand there are some beach drives that are nice. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks for the reply, much appreciated.

[Rocky]

Chris

forget the 4wd, it is not necessary. I did a 5 day winery / family holiday) tour a couple of months ago.

Day 1: Perth to MR (Woodlands, Flametree, Voyager Estate, Vasse Felix). Accomm at Augusta as getting a single night in MR was tough.
Day 2: Augusta to Walpole ( via Pemberton stopping at Salitage winery)
Day 3: Walpole to Albany (old Kent Rd, Single file which I thoroughly recommend, Howard Park
Day 4: Albany to Porongurups (dukes, castle rock estate)
Day 5: drive to Perth.

Forget Esperance unless you have 7-8 days available.

email me if you want any further details.

regards

[Pej]

Some good suggestions in here but no one has mentioned the Margaret River Venison Farm. The venison chorizo makes me salivate just thinking about it.

[kryst1]

Make sure you go to Peel Estate wine in the Peel region - it's a good stop on the way back from MR or on the way to MR - nice place with something a bit different than your MR mega wineries

If you do go further south, West Cape Howe is nice.... also Wills Domain is a top spot for some food

[gbader]

+1 on the Woodlands suggestion (my favourite, small/friendly and love their wine)

Also, Aravina Estate (the old Amberley I think) - been there a few times now. You get the full experience here, the sights, the smell and that lingering after taste of desire = magical - but that is me and I love cars (evidently they do wine as well, no idea what its like though, never tried) - http://aravinaestate.com/pages/sportscar-gallery

[ChrisV]

TRIP REPORT

Well, I've returned from the trip. I took some suggestions on board (from Waiter's Friend mostly as I had time to note down his reply before reading) but ended up haphazardly doing my own thing at the time as well, which is how it should be

I stopped at Capel Vale from the way down from Perth. Nice spot. I tasted through most of the range and it was one of those wineries where everything was quite nice but nothing was inspiring. I like to buy from every place I visit unless the wines are really bad, so I ended up with some cellar door only viognier sticky, which distinguished itself with a bit more acid and less sweetness than a lot of dessert whites.

Onwards to Ashbrook, which was really good. For a winery I think I'd never heard of, they were obviously pretty well-established and made a really nice range of wines. I ended up with the Semillon and the Chardonnay. 2014 and 2012 I think. Semillon in general was a surprise package of the region for me, which I guess is silly given that SSB is a fixture of the region, but this trip left me wishing they'd stop pouring nasty Sav Blanc into it .

Driving back onto a main road, I went past Vasse Felix, a fave for me in the region, and was like "OK, sure, why not?". Beautiful grounds and to my surprise they were tasting the whole range, including the Heytesburys. The wines were good across the board but then I hit the 2013 Heytesbury Chardonnay, which stopped me in my tracks. WOW. What a wine. Relying on a tasting pour can be dangerous but on the strength of what I had it'd be pushing 97 for me. It was the only wine all trip to really give me goosebumps. Top shelf stuff.

As a result of enjoying Vasse Felix I figured I'd switch plans and actually visit some of the big names. First though, I headed up for lunch to a brewery called Duckstein that a lady at Ashbrook had recommended for lunch. The setting was beautiful but the beer was ordinary and the food nothing to write home about. I proceeded to Carpe Diem wines, a smaller outfit doing Italian varietals recommended by the guy at Vasse Felix. I didn't like the wines overall and they also committed the grievous sin of putting their Nebbiolo in 100% American oak. Is there no God?

Onwards to another brewery, Colonial I think? Some good beers there. That's about all I remember.

I was running out of time at this point so I headed to Voyager, the other big name recommended by Vasse Felix. I really enjoyed it. Sit down tasting where I got to taste back vintages of the Chard (the killer 07 in this instance) and the Cab Merlot. The tasting was some brutal price but waived with any purchase. What I ended up buying was the straight Semillon, I think cellar door only. Really good. The other thing that struck me about Voyager was the giant Australian flag out front. Must be just about the biggest one in WA?

I spent the night in Augusta, which I found a bit windy and bleak. Made a quick trip down to Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse and refused to pay $8 to go look at it up close. Honestly think that's a bit cheeky. Don't want to end up like China where you have to pay to see every single thing in the country. Wave Rock later in the trip was the same thing.

Enroute to Albany I stopped off at Old Kent River for lunch. The marron was weirdly tasteless but the lamb pasta I had was good. I enjoyed all their wines and bought the sparkling, a 2008 with plenty of time on lees.

Futher down the road Lake House was just OK, with a couple decent wines. Forest Hill was closed. Harewood I didn't make it to.

Day after that I hit up Plantagenet on the way out to climb Bluff Knoll (which is a great hike but a bastard of a climb). Really enjoyed their wines. Unfortunately, they offered to freight the wines I had collected thus far back home as part of a dozen filled up by Plantagenet wines, so I intended to come back from Albany the next day and do that. Upon counting the wines I'd amassed though, I soberly decided that if I stopped buying at that point I could just carry the stash back to Adelaide. I already have more wine stashed than I know what to do with right now. The guys at Plantagenet were great though and the wines almost all excellent.

Another bit of the trip that deserves a mention is Little Beach near Albany. One of the best beaches I have been. I think my advice to others would be not to go as far as Esperance (someone earlier in this thread said forget it "unless you have 7 or 8 days", which I did, but it was maybe a bit far anyway). The drive back to Perth and then flying out the same day was punishing. Albany seems like a great base, a lot of really good daytrips from there: Torndirrup, Little Beach, Bluff Knoll, the Mt Barker region, the Great Southern wineries, etc etc etc.

Thanks to everyone who posted.