and savoury expressions. Clarendon wines are more tinged with cooler climate influences, displayed by their fragrant clove, aniseed and graphite complexity, and more manicured tannins. The coastal vineyards, at lower altitudes, are where the richly proportioned wines are found: robust, dense and chocolatey wines that fit the mainstream consumer’s classic perception of McLaren Vale. All these wines have their place, as do blends that bring together the best elements of each. At a quality level, McLaren Vale remains one of the country’s top wine regions, thanks to a strong core of local icons: d’Arenberg’s Dead Arm, Coriole’s Lloyd, Kay Brothers Block 6, Hardy’s Eileen Hardy, Wirra Wirra’s RSW, and Clarendon Hills Astralis, to name a few. These leading labels have put McLaren Vale on the international wine map. And there are certainly other newer wines in the same class from Bekkers, Koomilya and Ox Hardy. But for a region where the potential is clearly visible, it was a little surprising that there were not more wineries going for broke, pulling out all the stops to craft a local icon. If there is a local Achilles’ heel, it may be a hesitancy among some wineries and winemakers to back
McLaren Vale
39
Powered by FlippingBook