McLaren Vale Wine Region

John McLaren was neither winemaker nor gastronomic genius, but he left an indelible mark on one of the foremost food and wine regions of Australia.

Working under orders from his boss Colonel William Light, Government Surveyor McLaren was responsible for mapping the regions south to the Fleurieu Peninsula.

Under his guidance, the McLaren Vale District (just 40 minutes south of Adelaide) was born in 1839, but a year earlier the first vines were planted in 1838 by John Reynell, a Devonshire farmer who brought vine cuttings from the Cape of Good Hope and planted them at what is now Reynella.

The region (today home to such eminent winegrowers as Chester Osborn, Geoff Merrill and Andrew Garrett) has become one of Australia’s premier wine-producing districts, particularly renowned for its full-bodied reds.