expand all
collapse allMargaret River Winery & Region
The MadFish winery and cellar door is located in the Wilyabrup sub-region of Margaret River just outside the small town of Cowaramup, the birthplace in the 1970’s of what is now the Margaret River wine region.
Margaret River is one of the worlds most vibrant and popular premium wine growing regions. The region stretches just over 100 kilometres from north to south and is up to 27 kilometres wide in parts, comprises the rolling hills of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge, between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin and is bordered by the Indian and Southern Oceans.
It may be the maritime climate, it may be the soil, it may even be the clones of the varieties chosen, but whatever it is, the wine loving doctors who founded the Margaret River wine region in the late 1960’s on the advice of America's Professor Harold Olmo and Western Australia's own Dr John Gladstone’s, found themselves in a viticultural paradise.
Climate
Bounded by oceans on three sides Margaret River is blessed with a Mediterranean climate offers something for everyone. Overall the climate is similar to that of Bordeaux in a dry vintage: hence the widely regarded high quality of its Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The region is strongly influenced by its proximity to the coast, more so than any other major Australian wine region. Margaret River has the lowest mean annual range of only 7.6 degrees C and the most marked Mediterranean climate. Only 200 mm of the annual 1160 mm of rain falls between October and April. The low variation in temperature means an unusually even accumulation of warmth.
The avoidance of extremes in temperature and near perfect humidity levels during the growing period combined with ideal soils leads to wine of consistently high quality fruit of intense flavour.
The Soil
The region’s soils are deep gravelly loams which allow grape vine roots to penetrate and survive characteristically dry summers. Most of the regions vineyards are located on sloping sites which are highly permeable, and shed moisture quickly. Features which produce low yielding vines and grapes with a high concentration of flavours. Hence the regions wines are known for their depth of colour, intensity and robust full flavours combined with the Margaret River varietal character.
Best Grown Varieties
Margaret River is one of the world's magical areas for chardonnay, producing powerfully intense wines of great length and elegance. They take longer than their Australian peers to evolve, but when they do, they are universally agreed to be Australia's finest.
The region is perhaps even better known for its cabernet sauvignon and cabernet blends. They are arguably the nation's best and are renowned for their incredible depth of fruit flavour, layers of complexity, extraordinary length and performance in cellaring.
Shiraz, a relatively rare variety in Margaret River, does particularly well in the more northern half of the region producing rich, powerful wines. Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Semillon Blends is truly becoming a star of the region with MadFish sourcing cool climate fruit from the southern vineyards of the region for their Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blend.
Vintage
Vintage occurs between February and May, depending on the weather and the resultant ripening. The region uses a combination of hand picking and machine harvesting to ensure the fruit is removed in a timely manner at optimum ripeness.