From the desert to the sea

Margaret River is the centre of WA’s South West – well the South West as defined to tourists anyway. The area is the most popular weekend away for people from Perth or visitors with some spare time because its only 3 hours from Perth, cooler and stays green year-round.

Metaphors such as “Perth’s holiday home”, “WA’s backyard” or “the garden of the state” are used liberally on tourism websites as it's an area full of farms, wineries and providors for the gourment traveller, artists and artisans for the collectors, or beaches and some of the best waves on the planet for the bums and surfers. But it’s full to bursting on weekends and school holidays, overpriced accommodation, meals and fuel, plus overdeveloped in some areas.
Since I've always stayed with friends down south away from the tourists I've come to view Margs and its surrounds through "local" eyes and look at the tourists with disdain. It’s lost some of its original attraction as a relaxed escape from the rat-race or a hangout for hippies and surfers chasing a back-to-nature lifestyle where work came second when the swell was up. Now people would rather import builders from Perth to build their houses on time rather than embrace the “down south” attitude.

Despite having a love-hate relationship with the area its still beautiful especially when you can get there without the crowds and enjoy it at the pace its meant to be taken at, and those hosting you have the time to talk about their lifestyle with you. So as a winter getaway it was perfect - too cold for swimming, true, but plenty of wine tasting, touring through misty forests and relaxing in front of a log fire.
I always love tasting new wineries and thinking I've been one of the first there. I've tasted most of those around Dunsborough on previous trips so since we were staying south of Margs this trip we made a point of keeping to the area SE of the town. Wine tasting notes are compulsory:

• the Cab Savs and Merlots at Brown Hill were very tasty and full-flavoured (always a good sign when the bloke pouring your tasting looks like hes had a bottle for lunch)
• excellent Pinot Noir at Cavalier Crest, very hard grape to grow so good to see a small winery was producing some. Their other reds were pretty good too
• Swallows Welcome is the epitome of "down south". Greeted by a Jack Russell it has (among other projects) a winery (Cab Merlot Franc), a hand-built rammed earth chapel and an art studio. When they aren't heading off to the bank or to play tennis that is - but they were still happy to show us around all these and explain the winemaking process.
• Cape Grace to the west is more expensive but again the Chenin Blanc, Merlot and Cab Sav were spectacular, also nice that they didn't get snobby with Bry and I being young or not so fashionably dressed. Too many wineries down here were barely polite when we turned up and in return I'll do them the favour of not spending my money there or naming them to you.
• Happs, Watershed, Vasse Felix and Capel Vale are all household names in WA so I'll just point out that they're still good. You have to check these things ;)