Swan Valley is Western Australia’s oldest wine region. It is only a 25 minute drive from the city. There are more than 40 excellent wineries, 10 breweries, 5 distilleries, a meadery, gourmet producers, markets and art studios.
The first winery we visited was RiverBank, established in 1892 on the banks of the Swan River. They have an award-winning restaurant with beautiful views over the vineyard and the winery scored a 5 star rating in the 2022 Halliday Wine Companion.
I was most impressed by the lovely stone walls at the entrance.
The views over the vineyard are lovely.
We left with a small selection of their excellent wines. There was a party happening so the restaurant was unavailable…next time.
RiverBank Estate,
126 Hamersley Road, Caversham, WA
(08)933771805
https://www.riverbankestate.com.au
Next stop was Sittella Winery established in 1998, one of WA’s newest, privately owned wineries. It is named after a small Australian bird, the Sittella, which frequents the Swan River.
The Cellar Door is very well set up and the restaurant looks amazing. We were very disappointed to find that it was booked out for lunch, forcing us to move on, with a few more bottles of wine in hand.
These photos are taken from their website.
We really need to book ahead next time.
Sittella Winery,
100 Barrett St, Herne Hill, WA.
(08)9296260
https://www.sittella.com.au
Nearby was Faber Vineyard established in 1997, with vines planted in 1998-2000 and in 2016-2017. Their vines are Shiraz, Verdelho, Brown Muscat, Petit Verdot and Chardonnay.
We all enjoyed our wine tasting and watch the restaurant fill up quickly…time to move on again.
Faber Vineyard,
233 Haddrill Rd, Baskerville, WA.
(08)92960209
Upper Reach was our next stop, another gorgeous looking estate with a great looking restaurant with tables under a huge tree. Unfortunately this too was totally booked out.
As well as cellar door and restaurant there is a cottage where you can stay overnight.
The excellent cellar door also had a selection of local produce as well as delicious wines.
Upper Reach Winery,
77 Memorial Ave, Baskerville, WA.
By this time we were seriously ready for lunch and called a few wineries until we were able to find a table at Wild Swan at Mandoon Estate.
The food was excellent.
Mandoon Estate,
10 Harris Rd, Caversham, WA.
We visited Swan Valley on a Saturday. Clearly we should have called ahead to book a place for lunch. We were lucky to find a table at the end of a sitting. We will be better prepared next time. There are lots of excellent estates to visit.