Why Perth's Swan Valley is the world's most stress-free stopover

Just 15 minutes from Perth airport lies Western Australia’s hottest wine region – and a gourmet paradise

The history lesson at Olive Farm Wines isn’t strictly necessary – sure, it’s nice to know that it’s the oldest winery in Western Australia, and that the original vines came over from South Africa’s Western Cape. But, in all honesty, everyone’s happy just sampling the lovely booze.

The place does plenty of unusual-for-Oz wines; a cellar door tasting session can include a punchy verdelho, an easy-drinking chenin blanc, a near-sticky traminer and a brutish, mouth-coating durif. Hunger is staved off at the Cheese Barrel restaurant next door, which specialises in gargantuan cheese platters.

It’s no surprise that Olive Farm is smack bang in the Swan Valley, Australia’s hottest wine region and Western Australia’s oldest. It also has some of the state’s most fertile soils, and has effortlessly evolved into one of those gourmet regions where you can pootle around for days at a time, filling your face with dish after dish of outstanding fare.

Hand-painted roadside signs advertise fresh fruit, maps mark out craft breweries and side streets lead to chocolate factories. It’s incredibly difficult to have a bad day hopping between producers and pigging out on whatever samples they’re doling out.

But what really makes the Swan Valley a standout choice is its proximity to a major international airport – Perth’s is a 15-minute drive or taxi ride away. And with Qantas’s new direct flights from Heathrow to Perth launching on 25 March, this makes it a rather unusual – and delicious – stopover option.

The stopover is usually a city thing. Two days of haring around museums or temples, surrounded by honking traffic and busy pavements. The Swan Valley, however, gives connecting through Perth something that Dubai, Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong and co can’t compete with: an indulgent, countryside journey breaker.

The wake-up call comes at Yahava Koffeeworks, which was set up by an intrepid motorcyclist. He liked biking around mountainous tropical regions that just so happened to grow coffee, and hit upon a plan. Yahava now imports fine coffee beans from the likes of Java, Guatemala, Ethiopia and Papua New Guinea, then sells them on to Australia’s ever-growing band of coffee nerds.

Mandoon Estate offers tastings and accommodation (Mandoon Estate)

The chaps hosting the tastings and doing the demonstration roastings are keen to emphasise that coffee can be approached in the same way as wine – the climate, the soil and how it’s made create big taste differences. Some are smooth and chocolately, some are more akin to jet lag-crushing rocket fuel.

This sense of terroir also applies, it seems, to honey. The House of Honey is a labour of love for beekeepers Rupert and Kim Phillips. They spend much of their lives in the south-western corner of the country, painstakingly gathering honey that their bees have made from the nectar of specific native trees and plants.

The sunset-coloured honey from the banksia, for example, has sweet citrus hints and makes a superb alternative to sugar in teas. The blackbutt, meanwhile, is dubbed “the Guinness of honeys”, with a rich, thick, molasses-like texture and strong taste.

The real prize, however, is the jarrah honey, made from the nectar of the tall, sturdy trees that were once used to pave the streets of London. It’s Australia’s answer to New Zealand’s manuka honey. Amber-coloured and malty tasting, this medicine in a jar has extraordinarily high antibacterial and antimicrobial properties.

Immunity boosted, it’s time to move on to the hard stuff. Handily, Australia’s champion distiller is at hand. James Young of Old Young’s has a passion for gin, but it’s his vodka that won the Best International Vodka at the American Distilled Spirits Awards. The secret to the Pure No 1 is using Swan Valley grapes and Australian sugar cane rather than the usual wheat or potatoes. There’s an exceptional smoothness to the taste, followed by warmth across the tongue.

Indulge your sweet tooth at The House of Honey (David Whitley)

But it’s clear that James’s true enthusiasm is reserved for his range of gins. “The 1827 is a hot summer day gin. It’s the one I’d take to a desert island if I was only allowed one.”

The citrus content is high, the juniper has been sourced from Tuscany, and extracts of the native lemon myrtle plant have been added to the botanicals mix. It’s enough to win over even a hardened gin sceptic.

At this point, it’s probably best to stop pretending this jaunt around the Swan Valley is educational, and pull in to the last stop for the day. The sprawling and scenic Mandoon Estate has handy split-level apartments on site, which is useful once you’ve ploughed through the wine list at the cellar door, then shambled across to the in-house brewery/ restaurant for dinner and a beer-tasting paddle.

By the time my head hits the pillow, the feeling is warm and fuzzy rather than frazzled. It’s exactly what a stopover should be, but rarely is: discovery without distress, and hedonism without hassle.

Travel essentials

Getting there

Direct Qantas flights between London Heathrow and Perth cost from £791 return.

Staying there

Doubles in the Colony at the Mandoon Estate cost from AU$199 (£109), room only.

More information

westernaustralia.com