On Tuesday, 54 wineries and 353 wines descended on Sydney for the most significant tasting of Western Australian wines ever to take place outside of the state.
Out of these, 189 wines came from Margaret River, followed by Great Southern with 91. Geographe, Swan Valley, Pemberton and Blackwood were all also represented with less than 20 wines each.
Reflecting on its significance, Managing Director of Plantagenet Wines Tom Wisdom told Drinks Trade, “it’s been 20 years since we’ve done it, so to come back and actually do this and say West Australia’s still here, we’re still really focused on domestic markets, Sydney being a key part of that I think it’s really important. Yes, we’ll all get some commercial outcomes, but also from a brand WA, I think it’s vitally important to re-engage with the market.”
Janelle Swinney, the General Manager of fellow Great Southern winery Swinney Vineyards adds, “what we’re trying to do is show how exciting the Western Australian wine industry is, and the diversity and quality of wines coming out of Western Australia.”
After speaking with seven of the visiting producers, a number of key trends became apparent – including the state’s strong capability to deliver lighter wine styles and its immense, and in many ways still relatively unknown, diversity.
WA’s evolving varietal mix
It also became clear that Western Australian chardonnay is very much in growth at the moment, building on an already strong base.
“Chardonnay is off the chart – everyone can’t get enough chardonnay, so we’re very lucky we’ve grown more chardonnay, planted more chardonnay, so we’ve secured our holdings of chardonnay for the future,” Vasse Felix’s National Sales & Distribution Manager Tony Liversage told Drinks Trade.
McHenry Hohnen’s Winemaker Henry Wynne also says that “chardonnay’s had a bit of a resurgence. I think stylistically Margaret Rivers really found its home in the world of wine, and I think we are making world class chardonnays.”
Henry Wynne also notes a shift in demand for red wine styles from the Margaret River region: “Cabernet and Chardonnay will always be a part of the wine story, but, you know, the Rhone reds that we have go very well … People are moving away from those big structured wines. Maybe changing the way we make Cabernets is the way forward, I suppose. Making them more approachable as a younger variety.”
One of the many producers actively making this shift towards more approachability is Leeuwin Estate. “Cabernet’s been toned down a little bit, especially with the oak regime,” explains National Sales Development Manager Andrew Stephens. “They’re softer, easier to drink, because I think cabernet was very unapproachable back in the day. They were too big, too heavy, too rich.”
Swinney, which has a reputation for producing some of Australia’s best grenache, has noticed a similar shift, says General Manager Jannelle. “The main trends we’re seeing are for brighter, more elevated wines, and I think you’ll see that across the board today. Wines with an elegant, savoury poise is definitely a trend that we’re seeing.”
However, as Vasse Felix’s Tony Liversage puts it, “cabernet is the king of all varietals, so it’s always going to be there – it’s just whether the change happens as frequently as we’d like. Pinot is what everyone’s drinking, but we don’t do that in Margaret River. We stay true to what we do, and it’s going really well.”
While Margaret River doesn’t produce much pinot noir, other Western Australian regions are more associated with the grape. For Plantagenet Wines, it is one of its fastest growing varieties whereas shiraz and cabernet sauvignon are in decline.
Managing Director Tom Wisdom said, “what once was a very sought-after varietal has become less popular, as simple as that, so we’re seeing a lot more demand for lighter style reds, i.e. pinot for us, chardonnay [and] riesling.”
For Plantagenet, which is well known for its lighter-bodied, cool climate shiraz, the decline in its shiraz sales has been met with a degree of frustration: “The premium [Plantagenet Wyjup] shiraz is pretty much there still, it’s more of that entry, mid-range level, where we’ve seen a bit of a drop away. Everyone’s got a lot of shiraz, so it makes sense to talk up what we do very well, which is shiraz. It’s a consumer sentiment thing, I don’t exactly know what’s driving that, but it would be lovely to start to market the positive aspects of Shiraz a bit more, because we’ve all got lots of it.”
Tom Wisdom continues: “That whole debate around shiraz or syrah is a really good one – that sort of Rhone style is what we produce in the Great Southern, so perhaps we need to market that aspect a bit more, rather than shiraz, which has been typically associated with bigger, more alcoholic, bolder styles, which is what we are not.”
The team at Leeuwin Estate have also registered the significant potential of Western Australian shiraz. However, their shiraz expressions – which have not traditionally been their focus – are currently experiencing strong growth momentum.
“For that medium-bodied, juicy, everyday sort of style of red, which I think people are looking for, the Shiraz is just magic,” Andrew Stephens said. “It’s not over-the-top brambly style fruit, medium-bodied, food-friendly, and it’s just the style that I think people are sort of after these days. So I’d say that’s probably the biggest emergence.”
How do WA and NSW wine markets differ?
When asked what distinguishes Western Australia and New South Wales wine markets, the co-founder and Managing Director of Singlefile, a winery with a broad national and international presence, says “we’re very parochial, so we’re inclined to support our wines in WA. In Melbourne, you’ve got access to all the great wines of the world, all the great regions. Whereas in Sydney, obviously, you’ve got Hunter, but you don’t have a huge Indigenous industry here.”
Patrick Corbett continues: “We’ve just got to be here to make sure that the Sydney public are just aware of our wines, of our styles, and hopefully we can get our little share of the market. That’s really the goal. I’m not expecting to move the dial hugely, but I feel like Sydney’s the biggest market in Australia. We’ve got to be here and showcase our styles and let the market decide what it wants.”
The final key takeaway is that Western Australia has well and truly maintained both its reputation and market share of premium Australian wine, not only in WA or NSW but nationally and even further afield.
“Although we only account for 5 per cent of the production of the country, we make up over a quarter, of the fine wine sector,” says Yuri Berns, Chief Winemaker at Sittella Winery in the Swan Valley. “That’s in terms of the wine brands, but also wine show results, journalist results, and recognition, both here in Australia and abroad.”
For Berns, promoting the unique diversity of Western Australian wine is especially essential for Swan Valley producers, where the flagship grape variety, chenin, is not widely planted on Australia’s East Coast.
“We’ve got varieties that we grow over the West that aren’t consistent to New South Wales, so, it helps in terms of having things to sell and promote that,” he said.
2025 vintage report
According to Leeuwin’s Andrew Stephens, the latest vintage is shaping up nicely for the Margaret River wine region.
“‘25 Vintage, which is sort of in barrel at the moment and will come out soon: beautiful, really good, just even, long sort of ripening condition, so pretty excited for that,” he said.
Building on this, Stephens also notes that 2024 wines are also “looking pretty good. So ‘24 Vintage was really warm, so [for things] like the Savvy Blanc that we’ve got here, ideal, because really ripe, good sort of fruit.”
However, he says that vintage 2023 is showing extremely well and is “probably one of the better vintage’s to come out of Margaret River.
“If you see anything 23 at the moment, get it,” he said. “It’s in that same category of ‘18 in terms of whatever’s coming out of there is generally pretty good.”