In vino veritas, right?

Ten years on from launching South by South West Wines, Livia Maiorana and Mijan Patterson remain on a journey of discovery. Story by Simon Collins.

Despite growing up as a first generation Australian surrounded by wine-loving Italians, Maiorana’s family encouraged her to explore more solid terroir via a chemical engineering degree.

However, after meeting life partner Patterson, a town planner by trade, Maiorana inevitably heard the call of the grape.

In 2013, the pair embarked on a “wine safari”, a fact-finding mission taking in stints at vineyards in California’s Napa and Sonoma Valleys, the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, as well as in France and Italy.

A vintage in the latter country connected to her Sicilian heritage, as Maiorana accumulated winemaking know-how in situ and plans for their own project began to ferment.

On a post-vintage road-trip through California, Maiorana and Patterson heard a radio presenter bang on about a massive annual music festival in Texas, and the music-loving duo had the label for what would consume their lives: South by South West.

Don’t think of the southern states of the good ol’ US of A but rather an ode to WA’s wine-making regions.

With a mission to produce approachable small-batch wines, true to place and time, Liv and Mij launched SXSW in 2016.

The upstarts sourced grapes from local growers, before leasing organic vineyards in Wallcliffe and Witchcliffe, the burgeoning Margaret River town where you’ll now find their cellar door.

SXSW are now driving towards an even split of bought and grown fruit, according to Maiorana, who also had a former life as a saxophonist before hearing the siren song of vino.

She says her previous gig as a chemical and organic engineer complements Patterson’s more creative strengths.

“I love growing the grapes and making the wine, while she’s all about the passion of creating a product and connecting it with people,” Maiorana offers.

She adds that the wine safari combined their shared passion for travel as well as real-world (and perhaps old-world) training in wine-making techniques from around the world.

And while that vintage in Sicily cemented her desire to focus on Italian varietals, the foundation of SXSW was always their corner of the planet.

“Our wines are based on tradition, mostly from Italy, but we make them in Australia,” Maiorana explains. “We want to make them sing from our land – it’s a special place.”

Several of SXSW’s best drops use fruit sourced from small vineyards in the Geographe region, including Montepulciano and Barbera grapes grown in the hills outside of Harvey.

Maiorana laughs that some of those vines may have arrived Down Under hidden in Nonni or Nonna’s suitcases – biosecurity, be damned.

“If people want a really good Italian varietal but made in an Australian way, they should come to SXSW,” she adds.

Don’t expect a classic Barolo, just enjoy a Margaret River Nebbiolo.

Their “Monty”, made with grapes from a Hoffman winery in the Harvey Hills, is also worth a crack.

“It’s a playful red. It’s a nice alternative for Shiraz drinkers and it’s better for the WA climate,” Maiorana says, adding that many Italian grapes need less water and therefore grow well in WA conditions.

SXSW’s other greatest hits, so far, include a vibrant, textural Fiano, a fun orange wine called Arancia and Super Margs, a cult Cabernet Sauvignon paying tribute to the bold Super Tuscan style.

Their Pemberton Pinot Noir is a great example of an underrated world-class subregion.

Despite the overall focus on Italian wines, Maiorana admits that “if I had to choose my baby” it would be SXSW’s Chardonnay.

Why not? Margaret River loves Chardonnay, and vice versa.

“It’s hard to make a Chardy stand out because there’s so many bloody good ones here,” she says.

Maiorana reveals the winery is poised to unveil a single vineyard Chardonnay range highlighting sub-regions.

“It took us about eight years of playing but we got there,” she says, adding that the first release showcasing Yallingup “smells like Margaret River and tastes like Margaret River, but finishes with this oyster shell briny minerality”.

South by South West has flourished thanks to putting a fresh spin on an old trade but zigging while others zag doesn’t guarantee an easy run.

“The wine business is always a struggle,” Maoirana concedes. “I didn’t come into this industry to make money. The past few years have felt tougher, in terms of sales and traction.

“We’re doing OK but we have noticed that we have to put in more effort… (The recent downturn has resulted in) a good rationalisation for the industry. It’s made us look at all our cogs and work out what we want to do with the brand.”

When they started, Liv and Mij struggled to get the best fruit because they were newcomers chasing small volumes. “At one point, we had to make a straight Merlot,” Maoirana laughs.

“It’s taken us 10 years to get to where we want to be straight away,” she says. “Our 2025 vintage, we got the fruit and volumes we wanted.

“I’m still learning. We made a lot of mistakes at the start. That’s what you do at the start. You’ve got to make mistakes to keep improving.”

Thankfully, Maiorana adds, there were plenty of established winemakers willing to share knowledge.

“Everyone works together. The older school winemakers are not as old school as other regions of Australia. They work with everyone and I could ask questions over a pint of beer.”

The region’s challenges are “papercuts compared to the rest of Australia”, according to the winemaker.

“It all comes from the ground. We’ve got the best conditions in the world,” Maiorana says.

“You hear about the Yarra Valley, one in four vintages is good. In Margaret River, one in four vintages is good and the rest are fantastic.

“We are very lucky in WA. Margaret River is so special.”