Why it matters
The producer
Wirra Wirra Vineyards sits in McLaren Vale, the warm-climate red wine country south of Adelaide, where Shiraz and Grenache have been grown since the nineteenth century. The estate was founded in 1894 by Robert Strangways Wigley, a cricketer who built a winery producing Shiraz exported to England and the Empire. When Wigley died in 1926, the property deteriorated and was eventually abandoned. In 1969, Greg Trott and his cousin Roger rebuilt it from the remnants of two walls and some slate fermenting tanks.
The house style Wirra Wirra has developed from that rebuilt base is classical, fresh and perfumed, holding the generous fruit of a Mediterranean climate within fresh aromatics rather than pushing toward concentration. The estate holds James Halliday 5-star winery status and a Star Cellar Door award from Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
McLaren Vale runs between the Mount Lofty Ranges and the Gulf St Vincent, where warm days and sea breezes from the gulf keep the growing season from tipping into excess heat. Shiraz and Grenache thrive here in the warmth, producing generous, fruit-forward wines.
Wirra Wirra sources fruit for its premium white wines from Adelaide Hills, the cooler, higher-altitude region inland of McLaren Vale. The 12th Man Chardonnay draws from vineyards in Lenswood, Piccadilly Valley and Lobethal, sites that sit high enough to give Chardonnay the cool growing season and bright acidity the variety needs for complexity and ageing potential. The two regions serve different purposes in the range.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
All estate and managed vineyards carry NASAA biodynamic certification, achieved in 2013. The six named McLaren Vale blocks, Bell Tower, Nocowie, Chook Block, the '73 Block, Woodhenge and House Block, contribute fruit to the red wine range. Biodynamic management means the farming calendar follows natural rhythms and prohibits synthetic inputs, pushing the vines to root more deeply into the local soils.
The 12th Man Chardonnay is aged in French oak, which adds textural weight and spice to the fruit from the Adelaide Hills sites. The broader winery runs on renewable infrastructure: 400 solar panels cover the roof, installed as part of a refrigeration update completed in 2014, and the revegetation programme has planted approximately 5,200 native trees on the property.
Wines to know
The range in view
The red wine range is built around McLaren Vale Shiraz and Grenache, with the estate blocks providing the fruit. Church Block, the Grenache and Shiraz blend that has been in the range since its 1972 debut, sits at the accessible end: fresh, fruit-forward and drinkable without extended cellaring, the everyday expression of the house style.
The 12th Man Chardonnay sits at the other end of the range in both origin and style. It comes from Adelaide Hills rather than the home valley, sourced from Lenswood, Piccadilly Valley and Lobethal vineyards, and aged in French oak. It is a white wine with the citrus brightness and mineral drive of cool-climate Chardonnay rather than the richer, warmer character that McLaren Vale itself would produce.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Choose The 12th Man Chardonnay. It is Chardonnay from three Adelaide Hills sites, Lenswood, Piccadilly Valley and Lobethal, aged in French oak and built for cool-climate character rather than McLaren Vale warmth. The nose delivers citrus and white stone fruit with a light oak spice underneath. In the mouth, the acidity runs firm and clean through the mid-palate, with a finish that extends on mineral and citrus notes. This is where Wirra Wirra has pushed farthest from the warm-valley character McLaren Vale produces, and the bottle shows what that commitment produces.