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Improving Western Australian wines

Media release : 24th February 2009

A Department of Agriculture and Food project is assisting Western Australia’s wine industry with ways to improve its reds by selecting better clones for yield, vine health, climatic suitability and wine quality.

The department’s premium wine project manager Glynn Ward said current research was helping to identify the best Cabernet Sauvignon clones for local conditions.

“All Cabernet Sauvignons are broadly similar, but natural variation occurring between vines allow us to identify individual vines that differ significantly at least for discerning palates,” Mr Ward said.

“Clones were first selected by the department at Houghton’s Swan Valley vineyard in 1968 when the South West wine industry was first taking off.” 

Local wine maker Jack Mann, his son Dorham and viticulturalist Ian Cameron made the selections, which were distributed to wine grape producers in the South West through the late 1960s and 1970s.

Mr Ward said trials also established at Gingin and Frankland included 20 clones from Houghton plus SA126, a highly rated clone from South Australia.

“Until recently it was thought that SA126 was the best choice to produce top wines, but there is thought now that some of the selected clones might be better,” Mr Ward said.

“To clarify the matter, both grapes and wine produced from eight of the best clones grown on vines from the Frankland trial, now 35 years old, are being evaluated,” he said.

Last year a panel of assessors from the department used blind tastings to rate the grapes from different clones at varying sugar levels.

Wines made from the grapes in the department’s small scale winery at Bunbury were also rated by Houghton and 20 top winemakers at Margaret River in December.

Mr Ward said opinions varied, however wines made from the South Australian clone did not rate as well as the best of the locally selected clones.

“About five clones stood out from the rest, showing a range of characteristics in the wine that should be valuable to the industry.”

Mr Ward said that over the next two seasons the department would make wine from the best performing clones to ensure results were not caused by particular seasonal conditions.  More blind tastings involving wine makers were also planned.

“We should then be able to define the wine qualities produced from the different clones, so the industry can plant with more confidence to produce the style of wine it is seeking, continue to produce prize-winning drops and keep wine lovers coming back for more,” Mr Ward said.

Winemakers including Virginia Wilcox from Vasse Felix taste test Cabernet Sauvignon in Margaret River.

Media Contacts

Glynn Ward, wine project manager	9368 3568 or 0439 523 024
Katrina Bonser/Lisa Bertram, media liaison	9368 3937/9368 3325