Swan Valley

We started with a Merlot grape gab and some history and lore around the blackbird for which the grape is named.

Then we went to the land down under to meet the black swans, explore the history and wines of the Swan Valley on Australia's west coast, and along the way, we met a Roman poet who pontificated about black swans that he probably never even saw, as he thought them to be rare, if not an impossible thing.

This week, we're back up in France, but on the eastern border in Alsace.

Alsace is mostly known for its excellent white wines, but also its white storks.

won't have the opportunity to go to Margaret River, what are the other options? And I thought, well, I'll wait till you come on because the clear option, if you're flying into Perth but you can't necessarily go down south, that three-and-a-half-hour trip down to Margaret River, what would you recommend? Where would you recommend?

Well, look, I mean, right on the doorstep of Perth is the Swan Valley.

Swan Valley.

We've just spoken about the White Classic, which is a Chenin Blanc-based wine, which is pretty much synonymous with the Swan Valley.

It's 40 minutes out of the CBD.

And, you know, you've got some terraristic wineries up there.

They've got old vine Grenache up there going back 100 years.

So they often talk about the South Australian old vine Grenache, marvellous old vines that contributed some fabulous fruit.

Loved WA wines, loved wines from all of our regions.

I first started out and did a vintage in the Swan Valley and one in the Perth Hills.

Bloody love those regions, the Swan Valley.

I just think it's such a special, special place.

I mean, talk about history.

We're joined today by one of Australia's most highly awarded distillers.

He's been described as a vocation flipper of extreme proportions after launching a distillery in Western Australia's beautiful Swan Valley in 2016.

This followed a career in graphic design, hockey coaching in Lithuania, and heading up WA sports organisations in netball and swimming.

I know him best as the founder and creative force behind Old Young's Distillery.

And so I came in and said, let me take this problem off your hands and realized exactly how many problems I took off his hands.

But like that was.

And so then when you're in the Swan Valley, which is a great spot for a distillery, but you can't call it gin, gin, gin.

Yeah.

So we're still getting geeky with cork dork meets bird nerd in this episode and in this region, which brings us to this week's episode as I try to do Australian wine a solid here and talk about one of their, oh, I don't know, 65 regions.

the Swan District, or a sub-region of the Swan District called the Swan Valley.

First, to paraphrase Tourism Australia's awesome but controversial 2006 campaign that I mentioned back in the Rutherglen Stickies episode, where the bloody hell are you? Now, I personally loved it, but we also know I'm not a marketing expert, and my marketing teachers, well, I'm sure they are sorely disappointed in me on many levels.

Regardless, where the bloody hell is the Swan District or the Swan Valley? Well, It's where the swans are.

The end.

Except it's not the end.

But you'll see Margaret River in the southwestern corner of the continent.

But alas, there are nine districts in the state of Western Australia, and the Swan District is the furthest north of them, just under a half-hour drive north of Perth, and also a major metropolitan destination in its own right.

Okay, I didn't realise.

So from the Swan Valley.

Okay.

It's by a maker called Bombak.