McLaren Vale

Today, McLaren Vale is highly regarded for its full bodied red wines, but early success was due to the production of fortified ports and sherries. But McLaren Vale also became the home of the small winery before such enterprises became fashionable in other states, and remains one of the most richly varied and highly developed areas in Australia, producing intensely flavoured and coloured red wines and similarly powerful white wines. The region is bordered to the north by the city of Adelaide, Adelaide Hills to the east, Sellicks Hill Range to the south and the Gulf of St Vincent to the West. The scenery is ever changing, though almost invariably beautiful, with rivers, hills, olive groves and forests. Prominent wine makers include d’Arenberg, Wirra Wirra Estates and Classic McLaren Vale Wines.