McLaren Vale
Shiraz country on the Fleurieu Peninsula — powerful and ripe but sleek in structure, with a dramatic lift of spice, black olive, menthol and dark chocolate.
About the region
In a blind tasting the shirazes from McLaren Vale always seem relatively easy to pick out: first for their powerful and ripe character but sleek structure, and second for their dramatic lift of spiciness, black olive, menthol and dark chocolate. Clarendon Hills' Astralis Shiraz and d'Arenberg's The Dead Arm Shiraz are perfect examples. The small region — a mix of hills and valleys with ironstone and loamy clay soils — lies just 22 miles (35 kilometres) south of Adelaide on the Fleurieu Peninsula, bounded on the northwest by the Onkaparinga River and on the west by Gulf St. Vincent, giving at least some of the vines a bit of cooling maritime influence, which may help account for the wine's structure and elegance. Grapes were first planted here in 1838 by John Reynell and Thomas Hardy, who started Seaview and the Hardy Wine Company respectively. Shiraz accounts for more than 50 percent of the wine made in McLaren Vale.
