McLaren Vale
Vineyards running down to Gulf St Vincent, cooled by a sea breeze that arrives most afternoons. Shiraz and Grenache are the backbone, and no Australian region has pushed harder into Mediterranean varieties.
Known for
- Shiraz
- Grenache
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Vermentino
Why McLaren Vale tastes the way it does
Warm days cut by an afternoon sea breeze off the gulf, on soils that change markedly over short distances. Shiraz and Grenache hold their freshness better than the temperature suggests. The region has planted more Mediterranean varieties, Fiano, Vermentino and Nero d'Avola among them, than anywhere else in the country.
January averages 21.9°C here and the growing season adds up to 1,925 heat units, which is warm, and it shows in riper, fuller wine.
A short history
Vines went in from the late 1830s, among the first in South Australia, and most early production was fortified. The shift to table wine came after the 1960s.
McLaren Vale was registered as a protected wine name in 1997, which makes the boundary a legal definition rather than a marketing one.
What your house does to a bottle from McLaren Vale
A bottle from McLaren Vale ages at the rate its temperature sets, not at the rate the vintage chart says. Barello's model is the physical one: every 10°C above 13°C roughly doubles the rate, and at 25°C or more you are not ageing it, you are cooking it. Pick where you live and where the bottle actually sits.
Choose a city and a spot, and this line will tell you how much faster the bottle is ageing than it would in a cellar.
This is the same model that dates every bottle in Barello. Open the app to run it against your own wine. Or read how to store wine without a cellar, or the wine temperature chart.
McLaren Vale in numbers
| Planted vineyard | 7,172 ha | number 5 of 64 in Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Region area | 433 km² | 16.56% of it under vine |
| Grapes crushed | 34,603 t a year | 4.8 tonnes a hectare |
| January average | 21.9°C | number 36 coolest of 64 |
| Heat units | 1,925 | warmth added up over the growing season |
| Land in the GI rises | 0 to 417 m | the boundary, not where the vines are |
| Registered | 1997 | as a protected name |
Nearby
- Adelaide Hills34 km north east, known for Sauvignon Blanc instead
- Currency Creek40 km south east, also Shiraz country
- Langhorne Creek47 km east, known for Cabernet Sauvignon instead
Distances are between the registered centres of each region, so they are as the crow flies rather than as the road goes.
Where these numbers come from
Boundaries and figures: Wine Australia Geographical Indications register, used under CC BY 4.0. Climate figures are the register's own long-run averages, measured in the vineyard. The history and the tasting notes above are Barello's own.