It was in Margaret River after visiting a good handful of wineries (and starting to get exhausted) that we were picked up by this gentleman, Mr. Nigel Gallop, who proceeded to drive us to Fraser Gallop Estate, his stunning (almost Napa-esque) vineyard and winery surrounding his tasteful, stately manor on a small, man-made lake.

We didn’t know much about his wines (only recently Appelation Wine Marketing has been bringing them into Vancouver,) but knew that Clive Otto, his well-respected winemaker, had spent 16 years previously building Vasse Felix into the force-to-be-reckoned-with it is today. Clive’s assistant winemaker Kate Morgan, certainly no slouch, got her chops via a who’s-who of Margaret River wineries from Coldstream Hills to Stella Bella.

As storm clouds rolled in, we sat around the winery as Nigel went through his philosophy (terroir-driven wines, intensive attention to detail, expressive fruit) and we swirled, sipped and (yup!) spat their wines.

The 2011 Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc had amazing minerality with perfumed clementine oranges, the 2010 Estate Chardonnay had integration, finesse and nutty notes reminiscent of Burgundy, while  the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon proved sturdy, stylish and complex, a good example why Cab is king in Western Australia.

Beyond all of the tasting notes I jotted down, and there were plenty, there was a common thread of distinct purity of fruit. The wines all carried this pristine clarity, zooming right into the heart of each grape’s individual nature.

Think of wearing glasses, or sunglasses, and wearing them often throughout the day. The odd time you’ll get a fingerprint or a mark on them, microscopic splashes from eating and drinking occasionally, your average wear. Now- you can see fine, and if anyone asked you’d be pretty confident your glasses were rather clean. But then you take them off and hold them up to the light. Whoa! They are kind of dirty. So you give them a quick rinse, and then a quick polish. Now- when you first put those glasses back on, THAT!

THAT is what sipping these wines were like. The colour, the flavour, the soul- so vivid, bright and intense. After tasting probably a hundred wines that day, many of them amazing, the wines of Fraser Gallop were a revelation.

Do follow them up in Vancouver, they’re in private wine stores. The Cab-Merlot’s around 30 bucks and the straight Cabernet Sauvignon is well worth a 50.

In fact, do yourself a favour and hit up House Wine’s Pioneers & Superstars event on January 27th, a showcase of Australia’s most illustrious fare, with Fraser Gallop Cabernet Merlot and a host of other well-curated jaw-dropping, myth-busting bottles. They’ve assembled some pretty cool stuff and tickets are going quick. If it’s been a while since you’ve visited Australian wines, this is certainly the time and place.