Swan District
The Swan District wine region is located north of Perth in Western Australia. The region has a warm to hot Mediterranean climate and an extremely high mean January temperature of 24.15°C.
The GI is 3,593 km2 in size and has a total of 890 hectares of vineyards. The main varieties grown in the region are Chenin Blanc, Verdelho, and Chardonnay.
890 ha
Total Vineyard Area
-32.079
Latitude (southernmost point)
0-283m
Altitude
151mm
Growing season rainfall
Chardonnay
The plantings are increasing and one or two producers have produced some very good, buttery, peachy wines from this grape.
Chenin Blanc
This is one of the principal varieties in the Swan District. In this climate the wine produced has a certain luscious richness, which responds well to bottle age, producing a full-flavoured white of voluptuous dimensions.
Top varieties grown in Swan District
Climate
- The Swan District has a warm to hot Mediterranean climate. It is very dry during ripening and harvest, with most rainfall (167 millimetres or 6.5 inches) occurring during winter and spring.
- It has an extremely high mean January temperature of 24.15°C (75.5°F), a low relative humidity of 44% and a high 1791 total sunshine hours during the growing season.
- The district is relieved from the heat by the famous Fremantle Doctor ─ the south-westerly sea breeze.
- Verdelho, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon excel in the warm, dry growing conditions.
- The Gingin/Moondah Brook area is somewhat cooler and has consistently demonstrated a surprising capacity to produce full flavoured, full bodied white whites, particularly with Chenin Blanc, Verdelho and Chardonnay.
Soil
- The soils of the Swan District are typically young alluvial soils; very deep, with excellent moisture retention capacity.
- Soil types vary widely, from deep draining sand over limestone along the coastal strip around Wanneroo to well drained gravelly loam along the fringes of the Darling Scarp, deep rich red loam around the Swan River and grey sand over clay in the Herne Hill flats of the Swan Valley subregion.
- On the lower slopes of the Darling Range is the highly suited gravelly sand to gravelly sandy loam overlying brown clay.