WHERE ARE WE?

Jinnunger vineyard is about 18km east of Western Australia's most southerly city - Albany, at the western end of the Great Australian Bight.

WA map We are on Nanarup Road, 300m east of the Hunton Road corner.
Jinnunger is in the Albany division of the Great Southern Wine Region, and Albany has a cool climate and a history of producing good Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Although those red dots look quite close together, Albany is 400km from Perth (5 hours drive, or a 1 hour flight).
Map reference: Location 1936(4), Sheet 2528-III S.W., Two Peoples Bay S.W.
Front gate: Latitude 34º 56' 53"S  Longitude 118º 00' 37"E Detailed map

Our region is one of Australia's finest. Far from large cities and polluted sea lanes we enjoy a spectacular coastline, pristine beaches, National Parks protecting great natural biodiversity and a wide selection of seafood and horticultural products.

The vineyard is on the north facing slope of Mt Mason with magnificent views to the Porongurup and Stirling ranges. This gives the property its name. In the local aboriginal (Nyungah) language jinnunger means 'good views'.
The northerly aspect gives the grapes great exposure to the sun, and the proximity of the sea ensures cool and reliable weather. Frosts are virtually unknown.

The district is known as Kalgan, corrupted from the aboriginal name, kalganup for the nearby river, which runs from the Stirling ranges into Oyster Harbour. The name means 'place of fishes' and there are still the remains of aboriginal fish traps to prove the point.
The region had been visited by a succession of French explorers who recorded its potential, but did nothing more than give us a wonderful selection of French place names to remind us of our history. A good example, is how Two Peoples Bay, at the end of our little road, was named:

The Kalgan River was visited in 1803 by the French explorer Baudin in the Geographe who anchored in Oyster Harbour. Baudin while exploring the Kalgan River and recording the fish traps, dispatched his Midshipman Ransonnet in a longboat to explore the coast to the east of Oyster Harbour. Ransonnet rounded Cape Vancouver to find a beautiful protected bay, and was undoubtably surprised to find another ship in such a lonely place.
An American, Captain Pendleton, on a commercial sealing expedition had brought his ship the Union into the bay and dropped anchor.
Local historians tell us that Pendleton joined Baudin aboard the Geographe for dinner that night. Over a glass of French wine they agreed to name the bay to record the meeting, Port du Deu Peuples.
Little did they know that the region would become a high quality producer of two of France’s famous grapes; Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Nanarup beach is 6km from Jinnunger, and is a magnificent Southern Ocean beach with good beach fishing and a protected rock pool for safe swimming and snorkeling. Two Peoples Bay is 20km away and remains beautiful and as unspoilt as it was at the time of the famous dinner. The Nature Reserve is famous for the preservation of some of our endangered animals. To the south Gull Rock reserve has recently been declared a National Park and is a fine example of our coastline and unique landscape. Gull Rock is a popular fishing place.