McLaren Vale is a wine region approximately 35 km south of Adelaide in South Australia. The flats of the McLaren Vale are compared often with the Mediterranean climate, warm sunny days with fresh sea breezes from the nearby Gulf of St Vincent.
With a population of about 2,000 McLaren Vale is home to over 65 cellar doors and is internationally renowned for producing some the best wines in the world. McLaren Vale is home to some of Australia’s most well-known wineries and some of Australia’s most famous Shiraz wines – including names such as Chapel Hill, d’Arenberg, Hardys Tintara, Mollydooker, Pertaringa, and Wirra Wirra.
About McLaren Vale Shiraz
McLaren Vale Shiraz is by far the most important variety for the region, accounting for about 50% of the total crush. The area’s thin soils, limited water, and warm summers harness Shiraz’s natural vigor and produce intense flavored fruit, and wine with a deep purple color that can last decades in the bottle. McLaren Vale Shiraz wines are distinguished by their ripeness, elegance, structure, power and complexity. McLaren Vale Shiraz accounts for approximately 3,218 hectares of the region’s vines.
McLaren Vale Shiraz is harvested from late February to early April. McLaren Vale Shiraz displays pronounced berry and spice characters with some dark chocolate and liquorice, while Shiraz from cooler sub-regions exhibits defined ripe raspberry characters. McLaren Vale Shiraz is renowned for its great softness and rolling palate. Many winemakers in McLaren Vale choose to blend their final Shiraz from a variety of sub-regions to add complexity. McLaren Vale naturally produces Shiraz that has very small berries. Smaller berries have a higher skin to pulp ratio. Berry skin contains flavanols (Anti-sunburn in grapes, ‘flavour’ in wine), Anthocyanins (colour) and other complex molecules that add to wine complexity.
Within McLaren Vale and its subregions – Blewitt Springs, Seaview, McLaren Flat, Willunga, Sellicks Foothills, and McLaren Vale itself – there is a diversity of soil types, clones and winemaking philosophies, which has led to a huge range of McLaren Vale Shiraz wine styles being produced. Most McLaren Vale winemakers produce at least one Shiraz wine.