Coriole has been the pioneer of this variety in Australia - and for good reason! Spicy dark cherry and plum flavours, the palate is perfectly balanced with dusty drying tannins.

Entry: Velvety and plush and fragrant rich blackberrycherry fruits. Some tangy cedar and lingering cigar box characters. Middle Palate: Juicy round black cherry fruits, tempered with the soft idiosyncratic "milk chocolate" McLaren Vale Shiraz sweetness and roundness. After Palate: Lashings of trademark milk chocolate with blackberries and dark-fleshed plums and spice with velvety, smooth tannins. Finish: Juicy blackberry and mocha notes intertwined with signature lush McLaren Vale tannins. It's like taking a big mouthful of Black Forest cake.

McLaren Vale is home to some of Australia's biggest reds and here's a prize example from the bestselling 'Black Pig' - a cassis-rich Cabernet with wall-to-wall black cherry and bramble tones and a delicious lick of menthol.

Deep ruby red with a lovely youthful violet hue. A fragrant nose of fresh blueberries, a little vanillin, mixed spice, cedar and a floral hint of perfumed violets. Approachable, graceful palate of mulberry and blueberry compote. Up front, juicy flesh of plum with underlying notes of chocolate coated coffee beans, mint, black pepper, and a hint of earthy truffles. A solid backbone of supporting acidity extends these characters towards the finish.

The Hill Block straddles the ridge running through the Chapel Hill estate. The wine was then aged for 19 months in 100% tight grained French oak. The proportion of new oak was kept low to encourage the continued expression of the characters that are unique to the vineyard site.

This McLaren Vale Nero d'Avola from the talented team at Coriole has an incredible swag of awards including two Gold medals and four Trophies! In the glass: Medium density dark red. On the nose: Fresh red and dark cherry aromas with herb and violet perfume. On the palate: Medium weight yet quite intense with raspberry and redcurrant fruit freshness and lifted acidity. Very youthful, lively and Pinot-like with light, silken lingering tannins and savoury spice. Quite delicious!

When you open a Blackstrap, you know you’re heading into seriously dark, rich, red territory. It’s from McLaren Vale, so it shows all that inky, chocolatey, deep black fruit richness the region is known for. A good dose of oak tempers the richness, and fine tannins smooth it out even further, so it’s drinking well now. But it’s definitely an ultra-velvety, mouthcoating, lipstaining, rich and powerful red that you need to approach carefully!

One of our most popular customers picks here at first Choice. Church Block was the first wine the late Greg Trott produced under the Wirra Wirra label back in 1972. He took the name from one of the original vineyards, which runs next to the small Bethany Church (Est 1854) across the road from Wirra Wirras century old ironstone cellars. The wine is a blend of 50% cabernet with 37% shiraz and 13% merlot delivering vibrant colour then true cabernet blackberry and cassis aromas and dominant flavour as well, while the rest of the varietal makeup adds a sweeter fruit-cored palate, full with bright red energy and comforting, easy drinking textures. Enjoy with Beef, mushroom and red wine pie.

Beresford wines capture the timeless elegance, powerful complexity and unique essence of McLaren Vale, resulting in wines of great substance, balance and depth. Their McLaren Vale Shiraz is a beautiful example of this, rich plum and blackcurrants with overtones of mocha and spice. A rich full palate, with hints of mocha and spice. Subtle use of oak further adds complexity while the palate finishes with a firm, but soft tannins. A well balanced wine with great depth, length and resistance of flavour.

This Shiraz is sourced from the McLaren Parish Vineyard in the classic Shiraz region of McLaren Vale, South Australia. Aromas of glace cherry and poached blood plum melded with dark chocolate, leather vanillin and all-spice. A rich and full bodied wine displaying powerful concentration of juicy dark plum, dark chocolate, black pepper and earth.