Western Australia feels like it looks on a map; boundless, great, flat, open, and like the rest of Australia, a little wild and barbaric. The Great Southern Wine region is every bit of this and more. It doesn't take more than a few clicks out of town to realise just how remote it is - you're living out there, a little remotely and a little ruggedly. You know you're in serious country when retired folk pull up in town in a beige four cylinder sedan, stained with red dust and kitted out with a 'roo bar. Belt along any of the highways in the region and you see bush that's so thick, tight and rough that roads kind of stuff up the landscape. Like someone's sliced through the bush and peeled back a layer to reveal the red raw flesh, the guts so to speak, of Australia. Patched up with tar, the red dirt at the edges of the road seep out, like blood at the edge of a bandaged wound. Take it to the coast and you're on the wild edge of Oz; where winds tear off the Southern Ocean and belt onto the coastline; where deep, cold, arctic swells thunder onto beaches; and where the beach only ends when the horizon disappears into the mist that floats off the waves. This rugged slab of Australia also has a history that evokes brutal and unforgiving images. There's the whaling station and the slaughtering process which was barbaric for both man and beast; the settlers who came here to clear the land that broke their backs and wounded their spirits; the wool and dairy industries that boomed before sending families broke. Even the sadness knowing that this was the last place the ANZACs left Australia from. Many, as we all know, for good. But we Aussies are a resourceful bunch and when faced with woe, know how to pack up our troubles and shove them you know where. And that's what happened here in the Great Southern; when faced with a downturn in the primary industries that the land once thrived on, they found another: wine. It was helped along by a couple of insightful chaps, Jack Mann, Harold Olmo and Dr Gladstone, who at different times suspected the land was ideal for more than animals. So as the last sheep were being shorn and the final teats milked, paddocks became vineyards and sheds became wineries. Now the region is the second largest producer of wine in the state and is turning out some of the most distinctive styles of wine in the country. Dr John Gladstone made a right name for himself in the '60s when, in his famous Gladstone report, he recommended Margaret River as an area with enormous potential for grape growing. And look what happened then. Dr Gladstone just reviewed his report and this time, the money's on Frankland. This place is about to explode.

When you travel down south, what you see now is just the predecessor of the Great Southern wine region to come. WINE The Great Southern as a wine region encompasses a large area; Denmark, Albany, Mt Barker, the Porongurups and the Frankland River area. It's a whopping slab of wine country and because of this it can accommodate a bit of everything. It has a spread of varieties though most success with cabernet sauvignon, riesling, pinot noir, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and shiraz. This much space also covers varying climates - places like Albany and Denmark which are closer to the sea have more temperate weather patterns (called a maritime effect). Those places tucked further inland, like Mt Barker, the Porongurups and the Frankland River area are all subject to cooler climate temperatures and so make wines that reflect this. The Great Southern is getting people giggling over a lot of things, but it's the riesling, cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir that are igniting passions the most. You see, where many rieslings are often pretty little things, those made down south are fabulously hard, taut, super-buffed, steely little things, loaded with acid kicks and mineral hits. It's as much about sensation as it is about taste. Because of all this acid, they age well, but if you can't wait that long, at least give them a year or so to open up a sniff. Although there are many, you should at least have a go at those from Howard Park, Wignalls and Castle Rock. Cabernet sauvignon is another from this region that's making people a little toey. It's the most planted red grape and busts out with intense, elegant wines. Try those from Alkoomi, Plantagenet, Howard Park and Frankland Estate. Pinot noir was spearheaded in the region by Bill Wignall who, with his son Rob, has been turning out sensational spicy and gamey versions of the wine ever since. A lot of fruit grown in the Great Southern leaves the region to be crushed and packaged under other West Australian wine labels so don't be surprised if you see these flavours rock up in a wine from another region. continue >