McLaren Vale is a wine region in the Australian state of South Australia located in the Adelaide metropolitan area The region was named after either David McLaren, the Colonial Manager of the South Australia Company or John McLaren (unrelated) who surveyed the area in 1839. Among the first settlers to the region in late 1839, were two English farmers from Devon, William Colton and Charles Thomas Hewett. William Colton established the Daringa Farm and Charles Thomas Hewett established Oxenberry Farm. Both men would be prominent in the early days of McLaren Vale. Although initially the region's main economic activity was the growing of cereal crops, John Reynell and Thomas Hardy planted grape vines in 1838 and the present-day Seaview and Hardy wineries were in operation as early as 1850. Grapes were first planted in the region in 1838 and some vines more than 100 years old are still producing.

Geography

The wine region, which is located within the southern end of the Adelaide metropolitan area, runs 30km down the coastline of the Gulf St Vincent in the west and stretches to the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges in the east. Its northern boundary commences at the coastline in the suburb of Hallett Cove and finishes in the foothills in the suburb of Chandlers Hill. however, some wineries promote their vineyards as being in particular subregions with terroir peculiar to that part of the region. The McLaren Vale Grape Wine and Tourism Association has identified 19 distinct districts based on climate and geology.

Statutory protection of parts of the wine region

In February 2011, South Australian Premier Mike Rann announced that the state government would "look at ways that we can protect the unique identity and integrity of the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale." Premier Rann said: "Barossa and McLaren Vale food and wine are key icons of South Australia. We must never allow the Barossa or McLaren Vale to become suburbs of Adelaide (sic)."

Legislation to protect the character of the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale was reported in the media as being passed by the South Australian Parliament in 2012 and came into force in January 2013. The statutory change consisted of an amendment to an existing item of legislation, the Development Act 1993, to create protection districts (also called Character Preservation Districts) within the relevant local government areas to replace the interim protection districts put in place on 11 April 2012. The intention of the amendment is to ensure that the requirements for a protection district will always prevail over other development requirements where there is conflict.

In the case of the McLaren Vale wine region, a character protection district with the name McLaren Vale District was created within the boundaries of the City of Onkaparinga. The character protection district overlays a majority of the land within the local government area. Specifically, this is land not zoned for residential and other urban uses and consists mainly of the eastern side of the local government area extending from the Sturt Creek in the north to parts of the coastal suburbs of Aldinga, Aldinga Beach, Maslin Beach, Port Willunga and Sellicks Beach in the south.

See also

  • Australian wine
  • Fleurieu zone (wine)
  • List of wineries in McLaren Vale
  • South Australian wine

References

  • McLaren Vale & Fleurieu Coast Official tourism website
  • McLaren Vale Grape Wine & Tourism Association Inc. webpage
  • From Fields to Barrels - Gloucester and Bellevue