Myalup Vines Winery – Geographe, Western Australia
I am always a sucker for a good story behind how a winery got its start in the wine world. Myalup Vines Winery is situated in the Geographe wine region in Western Australia. It is a small family owned boutique winery and I had a great afternoon learning about how they came about.
The story behind Myalup started around 17 years ago when Trevor and Carmel decided that they wanted to plant a rootstock nursery. After purchasing the property near Bunbury with their superannuation, Trevor studied about rootstock in Perth and that is the beginning of their adventure! Six months down the track they decided they wanted to plant vines and started to grow grapes.
Soon enough Trevor and Carmel were selling grapes to vineyards in the area and Margaret River. In the 10th year of owning the property they decided to open a cellar door. After 2 years of utilizing outsider’s help to produce their wine, Trevor decided to do some more studying and Myalup Vines has now been producing their own wine for 5 years. As Carmel put it, Trevor is the winemaker and she is the assistant. Cute!
The couple’s weekend hobby consists of 5 acres, which is planted with Shiraz, Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay. The property is quietly tucked away off Old Coast Road. It is sheltered with tall Tuart and Peppie trees. With a fantastic outdoor area I can see why they are a popular spot for outdoor summer concerts. I can definitely see why they came up with the tagline “A place to relax and wine down”.
The wine list has a great mix of wines to suit everyone’s palate from an unoaked Chardonnay, to a Shiraz Rose and of course their popular red and white fortified wines.
I have to make special mention of the fortifieds, as I have to admit I am a fussy one when it comes to Port style wines. Both the red and white fortifieds on offer are vintage Port style wines so therefore they are not as thick and strong as your usual Tawny Port. They are lighter, and approachable without that strong alcohol kick. What I especially loved is that Carmel suggested that the red is absolutely fantastic over ice-cream and that the white fortified is great as a long drink over ice with either lemon or lime. I do love versatile tipples!
Here are a couple of my favourite wines from my visit:
Rosé 2011: made from 100% Shiraz this peachy pink coloured beauty has strawberry and cranberry scents jumping out of the glass. It is fruit juice sweet on the palate laced with vanilla and a sprinkle of baking spices.
Diversion Shiraz, 2009: Black pepper and berries on the nose with a touch of bamboo. In the mouth it has licorice & blackberry notes with an erotically aggressive pepper finish….
Myalup definitely knows how to satisfy me in the glass and I am looking forward to trying their newest release – the Chenardy, a semi sweet white made from a blend of Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay.
For more information on Myalup Vines, check out their website here and make sure to like their facebook page.
