McLaren Vale is a very important region with vineyards sharing the warmth of the inland tempered by the closeness to the cooling sea.
It is the perfect foil to the Barossa Valley and the two regions tussle for supremacy over shiraz. One is by the seaside the other inland and how blessed are we to have both.
Barossa shiraz explodes with sweet mid-palate fruit while McLaren Vale shiraz is leaner, less exuberant with a more traditional and often longer palate. With that said they are not so easy to separate on the tasting bench.
There are other fascinating tiny sub-regions several due to the rise in altitude around the northern rim, or the Onkaparinga rim. I call the vineyards along Seaview Road the golden mile. Then there are valleys that push north as they rise from the flat floor such as Blewitt Springs and areas like Clarendon.
I have the feeling we can expect a lot more from McLaren Vale as winemakers explore the possibilities of varieties such as sangiovese and nebbiolo that are better off the ‘flat of the vale’ with its at times fierce heat than from vineyards located in gullies at higher altitudes. Indeed the seaside setting of McLaren Vale is not dissimilar to Italy.
Further detail can be found HERE
See HERE for details of other South Australian wine regions
