A man is pruning a small vineyard in Swan Valley while his dog is watching.

'€œI could spend days here, going from one winery to another,'€ said a colleague as we left Swan Valley in West Australia for Jakarta.

After having a lunch and wine tour, savoring many bites of chocolate and sipping various coffees from around the world, it was hard to leave this part of the world.

The Jakarta Post and five other media outlets recently had the chance to enjoy a three night weekend gateway courtesy of Garuda Indonesia, Tourism Australia and Tourism Western Australia. Starting from June 28, flag carrier Garuda Indonesia offers direct flights from Jakarta to Perth. It only takes four hours to reach Perth.

Swan Valley, which is around 25 minutes drive from the city of Perth and 16 kilometers from the airport, is not only a home to 150 wineries, but also a number of distilleries, breweries, cafes and a chocolate factory.

After trying some Arabica coffees in Yahava Koffee Works, which gracefully faces a small lake and is located next to a vineyard, we devoured various flavors of chocolate from the Margaret River Chocolate Company.   

A visitor is walking pass some decorative oak barrels in Sandalford'€™s Cellar Door, which also provides a wine tasting event and tour.

The last destination was Sandalford Wines, which was one of the oldest winemakers in the state that was established in 1840.

A line of Platanus trees greeted us as our tour minibus entered the winery. Most of the palmate leaves of the trees and the grape trees in the vineyard had fallen off in winter, but the combination of bare branches, warm sunlight and blue sky framed a beautiful picture. You may find a good selection of wines in some restaurants with serious sommeliers, but clinking wine glasses while sitting back and enjoying a view of the vineyard that produced the wine you are drinking is a must.

The history of wine in Australia began around 200 years ago with grapes imported from Europe, as the country had no native grapes appropriate for wine making. Today, there are around 60 wine producing regions in the country, including Margaret River and Swan Valley in West Australia.

According to Swan Valley and Regional Winemakers Association, both the shiraz and cabernet sauvignon varieties of wine have been very successful in the region.   

Cellar Door manager Daniel McCarthy Lopez said Sandalford Margaret River, which was developed in 1970, contributed a much bigger fruit production than the old vineyard in Swan Valley.

'€œThe fruit in Margaret River is very high quality and very intense in flavor, while Swan Valley'€™s is very light and easy to drink,'€ he told the Post, adding that international visitors would not need to travel four hours to be able to experience and taste Margaret River wines as Swan Valley was closer to the city.

Wine bottle gifts displayed on the Sandalford'€™s Cellar Door are decorated with ornamental shapes of professions, such as soldiers and musicians.
The winery building comprised of outdoor wooden tables with a natural plant roof, indoor dining with open fires and candles, the wine making facility and a vast backyard.

Lopez showed us a stainless steel maturation tank for red wine that demonstrated the modern part of wine making, and then showed French oak barrels that still reflected tradition.

'€œIn this tank, we are placing a mixture called '€˜must'€™. That is a combination of the skin, the seeds, the fruit pulp and a very light amount of juices,'€ he said.  

He said there were two important things that happened to juices during the process. First, the red wine got its color from the skins of the grape. Second, they also bleed chemical compound found in the skin, which is tannin.

Lopez explained tannin by comparing it to the sense of dryness experienced when eating an unripe banana.  

'€œThe longer we leave it in this tank, the more color and tannin will bleed,'€ he said. He said Sandalford did not oak all of its wines because that was only needed to add a little extra flavor. He told us the story of the heavy use of oak in the wine industry, which happened to the chardonnay wine variety in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

'€œSo much so that it permanently damaged the reputation of Chardonnay. A lot of people who drank Chardonnay now don'€™t want to try it anymore. Oak should complement and enhance the experience, not define it,'€ he said.

A wall full of chocolate bars with various stuffing and tastes are displayed on Margaret River Chocolate Company in Swan Valley.
When asked about the best year in the past five years, Lopez said wineries in West Australia had enjoyed many good years except in 2008, which saw weather, climate and humidity inconsistencies.

He said it was a hard time for a lot of wineries in the state, including in the Margaret River region, a coastal region known for its premium Australian grapes.

Although the winery now used machine harvesting due to expensive labor costs, Lopez said 10 percent of the premium wines in Sandalford were hand harvested.The unforgettable wine I managed to sip before we headed to Perth Airport was Sandalera, which turned out to be an award winning fortified wine in Swan Valley.

Sandalford'€™s official website says the base for the wine was Pedro Ximinez, which was the sherry variety grape. It was hand harvested, fortified (added to with a distilled beverage) and cellared for up to 25 years.

Unlike deep purple red wines, Sandalera'€™s color was shiny light brown and sweet. The delicious smell gave us an inkling of the 18 percent alcohol content. As the very sweet, fruity and nutty wine washed the palate, all that crossed my mind was being in the middle of a flowery field under the warm sun. It had a pleasant, long finish that smoothly brought me back to reality.

Tips

'€¢ Prepare sunglass, lip balm and sun block for your outdoor activities.  

'€¢ There is no regular public bus service. A shuttle service from Wednesday to Sunday is available, but it is subject to availability. If you prefer to go around by bike, wear a helmet because it is illegal to ride a bicycle without a helmet in Australia. Over 20 tour operators are available to take you around the area.

'€¢ Accommodation prices range from US$35 to $297.

'€¢ Winter is pruning time in the vineyard. Come in Spring to see the green vineyard.

'€¢ For more information, please visit swanvalley.com.au and swanvalleywinemakers.com.au

'€” Photos by Indah Setiawati