VINO VOLTA - A Passion for the Swan Valley

RAY JORDAN WESTERN AUSTRALIAN WINE REVIEW 2026

Vino Volta’s Garth Cliff champions the Swan Valley as a world-class warm-climate wine region.  He makes textured chenin, fragrant grenache and savoury reds that balance flavour and freshness. His philosophy is simple: match the right grape to the right site and let authenticity shine.

RAY JORDAN spoke to Cliff.

Vino Volta’s Garth Cliff is passionate about the Swan valley. That's probably an understatement. He believes the valley should be spoken of in the same breath as the world's great warm-climate wine regions. That belief isn't born of regional loyalty alone. It's the result of more than two decades in the wine industry, working across Australia and the United States, and a keen eye for how site and style can work together to produce something exceptional.

I confess I hadn't tasted these wines for a few years. Big mistake one I corrected after coming across a bottle at a restaurant. One sip was enough to convince me I needed to revisit the range and, more importantly, sit down with Cliff to hear where the Vino Volta story had gone since we last spoke.

Cliff's wine journey began around 2000. After an early start working in retail while studying, he moved into winemaking roles that took him from the Hunter Valley to South Australia's Stonehaven and Tintara. He also ventured abroad, completing two stints in the United States, working vintages in both Napa and California's Central Coast, and clocking up time on Australia's east coast before returning to Western Australia, where he joined Houghton.

While there, he recognized that many in the Australian industry had stopped considering that the Swan Valley and its surrounds could produce premium wine capable of standing alongside the best from cooler zones. He saw potential in specific parcels of chenin blanc and later grenache, often from older vines, and worked to coax the best from them.

“I spent years trying to convince them to do some premium stuff out of the Swan Valley and from tine Gingin and Upper Swan vineyards," Cliff recalls. "The aim was always to challenge that conventional wisdom that Australian wine is only about cool climate."

By 2018, with changes looming at Houghton, he began shaping a new label. The first Vino Volta releases arrived in 2019, and the philosophy was clear from the outset: warm climates can produce world-class wines if you match the right varieties to the right soils and take advantage of vineyard maturity.

"The Swan Valley is warm to hot, sure, but there are plenty of other warm-climate regions around the world making great wine," Cliff says. "The key is finding good terroir, the right soil and variety combinations, and working with that, not against it.” Vino Volta sources fruit from both leased vineyards and trusted independent growers. Two leased sites near the Darling Scarp sit on classic gravelly sands, a perfect home for grenache and other reds. Chenin blanc, meanwhile, often comes from loamier soils, which suit its growth and flavour profile.

While the Swan Valley forms the heart of the operation, Cliff occasionally looks further afield to nearby warm areas such as Geographe for dolcetto and vermentino, and to the Perth Hills for varieties that benefit from slightly cooler nights. The decision to work across these sites is deliberate. "We're focusing on varieties that not only cope with the heat but thrive in it," Cliff explains. "Grenache is one, chenin another. They've been here long enough to prove they belong. And once you get the right match between grape, site and vine age, you can build something distinctive."

In the winery, Cliff blends traditional winemaking with low-intervention methods. "We embrace wild yeast and don't use enzymes," he says. "If you go back enough years, that was pretty much the norm in Australia. We've kept sound winemaking principles but use them to make wines that express their variety and place. It's not about chasing the most radical version of natural winemaking. Cliff resists extremes, preferring a style that builds texture and flavour without sacrificing freshness or balance. He uses skin contact, higher solids, and longer maceration, especially for reds, to create layered, interesting wines. Italy is perhaps the closest stylistic influence; Cliff often benchmarks against its best examples, admiring their combination of flavour, texture and a touch of rustic charm.

The approach also reflects a healthy scepticism about chasing trends. "We drink a lot of European wine in Australia," he said. If it's because it's genuinely more interesting, great, but if we're just trying to copy the old world, then we're missing the point. The real challenge is to take the lessons that work and adapt them to our environment." For Cliff, balancing a wine goes beyond the standard checklist of sugar, acid and alcohol. "Flavour and savouriness are just as important. You want a wine that has presence and complexity, but still feels harmonious."

I describe the wines as interesting. And I'm not damning with faint praise. Interesting means the wine holds your attention; it makes you think while still being a pleasure to drink. That was my experience across the range, wines that invite you back for another sip, not because they're showy, but because there's detail to discover. The portfolio is broad for a small producer. Textured whites like chenin blanc sit alongside fragrant, medium-bodied reds such as grenache and dolcetto. There's even a fortified Verdelho in the mix. Across all of them, there's a consistent  thread: generosity of flavour, savoury complexity  and fruit purity held in balance.

While vintage conditions have played a role in shaping the wines since the first release, Cliff says the evolution is as much about refining both vineyard and winery practices. "We came out of Houghton with a pretty sound winemaking base and enough experimentation to get things closeto right the first time," he said "Some wines have improved through changes in the vineyard, others through tweaks in the winery. The grenache, especially, has become more complex and refined."

Grenache is a variety where this progress is obvious. From the first vintage to today, the base quality of the fruit has lifted, the tannins have become finer, and the flavours show more depth and nuance: Cliff says, "knowing when to take a risk and when to stick with what's proven."

Running a small wine brand comes with its challenges. The restaurant market can be fickle, and retail is competitive. Vino Volta's distribution reaches across Australia, with strong relationships in about 15-16 independent stores in WA.

The modernisation of Australian wine, the move away from formulaic winemaking towards greater expression of site, texture and savouriness, is in Cliff's view, being led more by smaller, hands-on operations. "We're starting to see a lot more of those interesting wines where there's complexity, savoury elements, the kind of things we used to think only European wines could do."

In the Swan Valley, that shift is particularly significant. For too long, the region has been pigeon holed as a place for fortifieds or simple, fruit-forward table wines. Cliff's work with Vino Volta is part of a broader movement to reframe Australian wines can have depth, nuance, and longevity.

Ultimately, Cliff is not trying to make Swan Valley wines that could pass for something from the Rhöne or Sicily. He aims to create wines that are unmistakably from here, but which share the qualities of the best from anywhere: balance complexity, and the ability to engage the drinker from first sip to last. As he puts it: "If you grow good grapes or source good grapes, you can make world-class wines here. You just have to match the variety to the site, respect what the vineyard gives you, and make the kind of wine you'd want to drink yourself."

VINO VOLTA INTIMATIONS OF

IMMORTALITY LIQUEUR VERDELHO

($100)

Not only is this one of the great wines of the Swan Valley, it is one of the great wines of Australia. Liqueur verdelho has found a home in the valley many years ago, and this example is absolutely stunning - a perfect example of the fortified style that the warm climes of Western Australia do so well. The aroma is bursting with that typical raisiny fruit character, but then there are other notes of candied orange, marmalade and creamy coffee mocha. This is a superb example of

one of the state's great wine styles.

98/100

VINO VOLTA PEZZONOVANTE

GRENACHE 2023 ($50)

I do like this example of an old bush vine-

generated Swan Valley grenache. It was an outstanding year, and it has been captured so well. The nose is highly perfumed with scented rose petals and raspberry. In the winery, it was naturally fermented with some whole bunches using a pinot technique, and then matured only in old oak. So, this is about expressing the fruit, which it does quite beautifully. The tannins have a degree of suppleness, and yet they harness perfectly and shape the palate through to its sustained finish. A first-rate wine.

96/100

VINO VOLTA LA CHINGADERA

TEMPRANILLO TOURIGA SHIRAZ

GRENACHE 2021 ($35)

This combination of varieties has come

together so well. The fruit came from

Margaret River, the Swan Valley and

Geographe. It is designed as a buoyant,

bright and fruity wine with whole bunch

and carbonic maceration before maturation in old barriques. It captures the plummy rose petal notes that you expect, with lifted raspberry and dried herb characters.

93/100

VINO VOLTA FUNKY AND FEARLESS

CHENIN BLANC 2023 ($35)

The fruit comes from Rockets Vineyard,

planted by Tony Mann many years ago.

Cliff has used a combination of whole bunch pressing with a very high solids component, adding deep, rich complexity, with natural fermentation further contributing to that layered feel. It has had some time in older barriques, and the result is a combination of citrusy, slightly tropical passionfruit character with a little lamb's wool-like texture.

95/100

VINO VOLTA SO WELL THEN FIANO

2024 ($32)

Fiano is a variety that has found a home

most areas of the state. This one is

interesting. It has had a little time with skin contact and was naturally fermented, which has given it that deeper, richer intensity that is so appealing. The wild ferment certainly additional palate and aromatic complexity. It is sort of nutty and creamy, but fine acid and citrus edge controlling as it extends through to a nice long finish. There is plenty to like about this wine,

93/100

VINO VOLTA SOLE BAMBINO

VERMENTINO 2024 ($32)

This is sourced from the Geographe

region and is a slightly fuller, richer and

more complex version of this famous Italian variety. On the nose, punchy, spicy apple crumble fruit characters emerge, while on the palate, there is richness and intensity, albeit held with typical vermentino precision. There is a dry savouriness on the palate, With just a little creamy, lemony, almost lemon meringue-like richness adding complexity.

It is a tidy little wine and great with food.

cellar

92/100