Just south of Adelaide, where the vineyards run down to the sea, McLaren Vale is one of Australia's oldest and most characterful regions — warm, maritime and blessed with some of the oldest vines and soils on the planet. Shiraz is its calling card: rich, velvety and generous, softer and more seaside than Barossa's power.
Old-vine Grenache and Mediterranean varieties thrive in the warm sea air, and a wave of adventurous growers has made it a hotbed of both classic and experimental Australian wine. It is Shiraz country with a gentler, saltier accent.