Secret Vines Blog

The Great Southern

19th May, 2010

Today I wanted to share a little more information about Harewood Estate and the Great Southern region of Western Australia. In case you couldn't already tell, I'm a massive fan of the wines from this remote area on the Southern tip of W.A.

I first got really interested in the area when I heard Maurice O'Shea (probably the most influential Australian winemaker of all time and somebody I idolise) said if he had his time again, this is where he would plant his vineyards.

If you're not familiar with Maurice, this is him on the right.

Another big name Australian winemaker and Grange creator, Max Schubert, says of him, "although I was never given the opportunity of knowing or speaking to Maurice O'Shea in person, the wines he left behind have spoken to me on many occasions and made me feel humble in their presence, not only for their all-round excellence but for their amazing longevity..."

Maurice was in many ways the father of dry Australian table wines and possibly the most tenacious man to ever follow the dream - so if the Great Southern was good enough for him, it's certainly good enough for me too!

The area comprises five sub-districts which are Frankland River, Mount Barker, Albany, Denmark and Porongurup - which is what you'd usually find identified as the region on the wine label.

Across the Great Southern district, Riesling, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz and Cabernet do particularly well. Although, because of the vast dimensions of the area there is a fair bit of variability so it's hard to generalise ( it's a massive 150 kilometres East/West and 100 kilometres North/South).

Which brings me to Harewood Estate - the owner of Harewood, James Kellie, formerly the head winemaker of Howard Park (the other great Denmark winery) knows the Great Southern area like the back of his hand!

James is the sub-regional specialist of the Great Southern and has the best access of anyone to all the premium vineyards in the area. This is widely acknowledged in the industry, and is why he rightly has the highest ranking from James Halliday of five red stars (like most of our wineries).

This is what we look for at Secret Vines - it's a bit of an old cliche', but the best wines always come from the best vineyards. Each vineyard is unique and you just can't replicate quality flavours from any old plot of dirt.

So along with Frankland Estate, James and his family at Harewood are our Great Southern guides. Be sure to have a taste of his wares and do let us know what you think.

James is the star of our new offer 'Home is where the wine is'.

Click here for our $99 mixed half-dozen or here for our $149 mixed half-dozen.

As always, please get in touch if you have any questions about Secret Vines, the Great Southern or wine in general.