TRAVELTRAVEL ++ LEISURE / JANUARY 2017LEISURE / JANUARY 2017 7577
Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park—a constantly
shifting landscape of granite cliff s, scrubby
forests, and golden sands—the beaches are
pristine. “Surf culture runs deep here,” said
Will Berliner, when we met at his winery,
Cloudburst. “If there’s a big swell that day, your
plumber might be late to fi x your sink.”
An expat who fl ed New York and his
fi lm-industry job in 2003 to become a winemaker,
Berliner now makes three exquisite bottlings
using biodynamic farming practices. (You
can fi nd his wines in top US restaurants like
Alinea and the French Laundry.) As Berliner
drove me in a pickup truck around his
250-acre property, he sent gangs of kangaroos
scattering. “There’s a real wildness here,”
he said. On cue, Australian ringnecks yakked
above us in a karri tree. There’s really
no industry—except wine and tourism.”
That evening, Berliner and I shared a bottle
of his 2013 Chardonnay, which had incredible
apple and lemon blossom fl avours, at Morries, his
favourite restaurant in the town of Margaret
River. The co-owners, Anthony Janssen, Alex
Brooks, and Tony Howell (who is also the
executive chef) have that singularly Australian
knack for creating a familiar, casual atmosphere
while quietly delivering major sophistication—
here in the form of dishes like beet gnocchi with
citrus ricotta and almond-garlic purée.After dinner, I drove half an hour on Caves
Road to the serene Injidup Spa Retreat, which is
perched high on a bluff overlooking the cobalt
Indian Ocean. (Most of the top hotels are just to
the north of the wineries.) When I fi rst checked in
and had trouble connecting to the wonky Wi-Fi,
manager Lisa Maclaren smiled and said, “Good
luck with that.” But I soon discovered that you’re
not here to troll Instagram (though I did manage
to post a few photos). You’re here to stare at the
coast from your private plunge pool. Injidup’s
romantic, isolated setting soon made the rest of
the world seem irrelevant.
Leeuwin Estate, which is Margaret River’s
most famous winery and is renowned for its
rich and complex Art Series Chardonnays, also
feels worlds away from reality. Set on a former
cattle ranch, the wood-and-adobe building
with a corrugated-metal roof appears a bit dated
at fi rst. The modernised interior, however,
has both a farm-to-table restaurant and a gallery
showing paintings by Aussie artists.
“People like an adventure—they like to fi nd you
at the end of the road,” says Tricia Horgan, who
founded Leeuwin in 1974 with her husband, Denis.From above:
Morries, an upscale
tavern in Margaret
River; grapes at
Leeuwin Estate.You’re not here to troll Instagram.
You’re here to stare at the coast
from your private pool.
FROM TOP: ELEMENTS MARGARET RIVER/COURTESY OF MORRIES; SHUTTERSTOCK