The colony of South Australia was proclaimed in 1836 and three years later John Wingate McLaren was appointed to survey the lands south of Adelaide. Approximately 40 kms south of Adelaide he came across a wide sprawling valley which he named McLaren Vale, the boundaries were defined by the Onkaparinga River to the north, the Willunga Hills to the south and the Mount Lofty Ranges to the east.
The west is bordered by the Gulf of St. Vincent. The area that is known today as the McLaren Vale Wine Region was amongst the first to be planted with vines in South Australia. John Reynell is credited as being the first to establish a vineyard in the area in 1838 at 'Reynella'.
His efforts were successful and other pioneers joined him. The area under vines rapidly expanded and included plantings by Dr Rawson Penfold whose name has become synonymous with great Australian red wine.
In 1850, George Pitches Manning established a vineyard and winery called Hope Farm. In 1861 Dr Alexander Kelly established Tintara Vineyard Company on land in what is today the town of McLaren Vale.
During economic hard times he was forced to sell the vineyards to Thomas Hardy whose wine business has now become one of Australia’s most successful international wine companies. Today the region is known for cutting edge viticulture and winemaking techniques and the 2000 vintage saw McLaren Vale become South Australia’s second largest grape growing region.
Now there are 5,200 hectares under vine of which 44% (2300 hectares) is planted to Shiraz. McLaren Vale has a strong sense of the place it occupies in the history of winemaking in South Australia and Australia as a whole.
