When you think if West Australian wine, thoughts usually go straight for the beautiful, big-bodied Cabernets of Margaret River. But just twenty minutes from Perth’s Harbourside streets, the Swan Valley wine region is running its own race.
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Western Australia holds a special place in my heart. It was the first place my feet touched Aussie soil and was the beginning of a trip around this great land that changed almost everything in my life.
It was also here that I had my first wine-tasting experience.
Far from the coach-load of backpackers rumbling up the highway, my latest trip to the Swan Valley was with a small group of (fairly) discerning friends, somehow packed into a maxi-taxi with questionable driving skills.
Unfolding from the car’s confines, we ventured out into the Swan Valley’s sweeping vines.
What is the Swan Valley Wine Region Famous For?
Probably the closest wine region to a major Australian city, Swan Valley offers amazing convenience to the travelling wine-lover who’s short of time.
With its (comparatively) low latitude, Swan Valley is warmer than the other major regions like Margaret River or the enormous Great Southern, and is also further north than the Hunter Valley in NSW.
This makes ideal growing conditions for bigger-bodied, ‘juicy’ wines like Shiraz, but also wines known for their medium body and drier finish like Grenache.
But we’re here for the Swan Valley’s real jewel in the crown: Chenin Blanc.
Often mistaken for much more expensive and exclusive iterations from Burgundy and alike, the Chenin Blancs of Swan Valley are crisp, fresh and zingy, but with lots of texture and are fruit-forward.
Chenin Blanc From 3 Swan Valley Wineries
Mandoon Estate
Low key and friendly, Mandoon‘s cellar door has a huge dining space as part of its cellar door and is also home to a great little brewery and beer garden.
Mandoon’s Wild Bunch Chenin Blanc is a Swan Valley classic with pear drops and melon on the nose, juicy lemon-lime citrus and mineral notes on the palate, and long, balanced finish.
There’s a lovely structure and sherbet acidity to the wine suggesting good cellaring potential too.
Sandalford Wines
Probably the most established and definitely the most commercial winery in the Swan Valley, Sandalford’s cellar door is a slick machine, and even has a full merch and interiors shop as part of the experience.
The wines are good though and the service at the tasting bar is affable and fun. Some of the vines at Sandalford are the oldest in WA. And if you don’t know why old vines are important, you should check out our story on old vines here!
Sandalford’s 1840 Chenin Blanc is an excellent food wine. Put this with a good cheese or charcuterie board — or a pile of prawns or oysters — and you’re winning.
Much better slightly warmer, this wine needs to be out of the fridge at least 20 minutes before you open it. Do that and you’ll be rewarded with peaches and pears on the nose, and a tingly acidity, lemon curd and overripe pears on the palate.
This wine doesn’t have quite as much texture or weight as Mandoon’s Wild Bunch, but is still very enjoyable.
Corymbia Vineyards
Full disclosure, I didn’t try this in the Swan Valley, but in the excellent Nacara Bar and Cellar in Balmain, where it’s a steal at $17 a glass.
Beautifully layered with velvety texture underlined with a firm acid minerality, Corymbia‘s Rocket’s Vineyard Chenin Blanc is pretty special. Crisp pear and light citrus backs up against a long luscious finish edged with savoury salinity.
Mitch from Nacara told us that, in a blind tasting, this wine was mistaken as one of the top Chenin Blancs from Burgundy and considered among the best in the world at a recent European wine judging.
Not bad for an unassuming family-run winery in the Upper Swan that only makes around 1,000 cases a year.
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