Grapevine: The Great Southern Region

Regions like Porongurup, Frankland River or Mount Barker may not be household names or sit in the common vernacular when thinking about wine from Western Australia – the conversation too often starts and finishes with Margaret River.

The aforementioned names are three of the five sub-regions of what is known as Great Southern, the other two being Albany and Denmark. Across all five sub-regions there only 55 producers, most of whom are small family-run vineyard without the scale or budget to get their wines in front of everyone, but it may also be the reason that the average level of quality is so high across the area.

The region covers a massive area of southern Western Australia, starting around four hours south of Perth they cover an area 100km tall and 150km wide reaching right down to the southern coast, which makes it easy to miss or even ignore when there are simpler, more familiar names to reach for. But, it’s getting harder to ignore with so many producers making undeniably great wines that are demanding attention both near and far.

In recent times acclaim has been seen for the Swinney vineyard; named vineyard of the year by the ‘young gun of wine’ panel, and one of the top handful of international wine writers – Jancis Robninson lauded the Frankland Estate Riesling (2019 vintage) and Shiraz (2017) for their value, being ‘too good for their price’, high praise from a top wine writer who sees wines from, literally, all over the globe.

A string of great vintages is providing great raw materials to take this attention and really cement the reputations among a broader spectrum of wine drinkers. You’d be hard pressed to find better examples than the two from Frankland Estate below, to start uncovering the layers of this exciting region.

Frankland Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 – $29

2018 has been widely heralded as a great vintage for both whites and reds across Western Australia and this is no exception. The value on offer here is immense and given the price point it is a great option to pop a six-pack in the cellar and forget about them for five to 10 years without breaking the bank. Frankland River Cabernet offers similarly perfect pitched ripe black fruits that you often get from Margaret River too, but without the eucalypt of the latter. There is classic tobacco, dried herbs, dark chocolate and graphite framed by chalky, ripe but firm tannins to complement the intensity of the fruit.

Frankland Estate ‘Isolation Ridge’ Shiraz 2019 – $45

On the back of the immense 2018 wines, 2019 had a hard act to follow, it did so with charm and class. The quality of the wines is certainly comparable but for different reasons. 2018 is full of serious wines that will likely age very well for a very long time, whereas 2019 is offering wines that may not be as firmly structured but have a charm that may make them easier to enjoy young. Frankland River and WA Shiraz more broadly can be hit and miss, but at its best, as this is, it is a glorious glass of Shiraz – the aromatics of flowers, pepper and spice draw you in instantly (likely thanks in part to a splash of viognier in the blend) followed by the spread of juicy, brambly black and blue fruits. It has a generosity and breadth to the flavours, but it never feels heavy thanks to the lively fresh acidity and fine-grained persistent tannins.