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If Albany is the commercial heart of the Great
Southern, then Denmark is its soul. The town is a
40-minute drive west of Albany on the South Coast
Highway, but the more scenic Lower Denmark Road
is full of diversions. It’s punctuated by turn-offs to lush
pastures, karri forests and white-sand beaches, such as
Bornholm. The region and its legendary surf breaks
star in the screen adaptation of Tim Winton’s 2008
novelBreath, due for release in May.
Timber and dairy sustained the town for a long
time; these days it’s tourism and sea change. Among the
newcomers is Jason Jujnovich, an alumnus of London’s
River Café and the former owner of Divido in Perth,
aGTone-star restaurant known for its seasonal,
wood-fired Italian cooking. Jujnovich moved south
a few years ago with his wife, Elena, and young sons,
Brando and Renn. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done,”
he says. As the executive chef of Boston Brewing, a huge
brew-pub on the outskirts of town, he has streamlined
and spruced up the menu. The wood-fired pizza is crisp,
the fish and chips a cut above, and the wood-roasted
asparagus a pleasing reminder of his Divido days.
Our lodging for the night is Aiyana, a four-villa
retreat on the southern fringe of Denmark. The town’s
space and tranquillity prompted Lalita and Gadi Barak

• a Swiss artist and massage therapist, and a wind-
  surfer from Israel, respectively – to settle here. It’s the
  little things – freshly picked wildflowers, a single
  pomelo-grapefruit hybrid grown in their orchard placed
  on a table – that appeal as much as open-air showers
  connected to bathrooms and the bushland setting.
  Space to experiment encouraged renegade
  winemaking. The first commercial vines were planted

Clockwise from

top left: Due

South butcher

Martin Morgan;

The Wardroom

Cottage, Cape

Howe Cottages;

The Good Food

Shed, Bornholm.

Opposite:

wood-fired pizza

and beer-tasting

paddle at Boston

Brewing Co.

in the Great Southern in 1965, and its cool-climate

pinot noir, riesling and chardonnay are well

established. A growing band of maverick winemakers,

however, is throwing caution to the wind. “We might

not have as many producers, but the quality is right up

there,” says Yoko Luscher-Mostert of Brave New Wine,

the label she runs with her husband, Andries Mostert.

With similarly freewheeling producers such

as Andrew Hoadley of La Violetta, and Express

Winemakers’ Ryan O’Meara, Brave New Wine is

challenging accepted wisdom about Western Australian

wine. In a former wildflower-sorting shed in Denmark’s

industrial estate, the couple ferments riesling grapes

with native botanicals to produce a subtly spiced

Australian version of vermouth. They’re working on

pétillants naturels, and a full-bodied rosé made with

pinot noir and chardonnay.

“The experience down here is a bit more authentic,

I think,” says Luscher-Mostert. “One of the recurring

comments I hear from people is how untouched the

Great Southern is.”➤

GOURMET TRAVELLER 147