While the Barossa is the heart of the Australian wine industry and home to many of the big players, one has only to spend an hour traveling to the South Australia's McLaren Vale to find the home of some of the smaller players on the scene. With a microclimate heavily influenced by its proximity to the ocean and varied soils rich in iron or limestone, McLaren Vale Shiraz tends to exhibit more savory notes on the nose, adding olives and spice notes to its dark berry fruits (which take on raspberry notes in cooler vineyards). In the mouth the wines are concentrated and dense, tending to exhibit a plushness and expansiveness that conceals their structure without moving them toward ponderousness.