Mediterranean McLaren Vale, just below Adelaide, is one of the most renowned wine regions of Australia. In this wine region near the ocean, since 1838 relatively small wine companies are specialized in dark, velvet, red wines.

Excellent reputation
Thomas Hardy was the biggest name in this wine region around 1900, in the course of time, d'Arenberg, Wirra Wirra, Paxton, Tintara Coriole contributed enormously to the reputation of McLaren Vale. For a long time the region served as a supplier for good grapes for large brands in other parts of the country, but since the Australian wine boom of the nineties, many small businesses started their own wine labels.

New generation of winemakers
This new generation of winemakers brought a 'green' elan: Many growers work, driven by experimentation and climate change, organic or biodynamic and are extremely economical with water. It also affects the McLaren Vale wine. Shiraz and Grenache are traditionally the most popular grapes, many winemakers look for other grape varieties that do well in the dry, but beautiful rolling countryside that always gets some coolness of the Gulf of St Vincent. Visit a number of cellar doors and you will have Tempranillo, Primitivo and Savagnin next to Fiano, Sangiovese and Roussanne.