Description
‘Pete Schell and his partner Magali Gely operate what I think is the best new-wave of small-scale Barossa wine companies to emerge at the beginning of the 21st century… These weren’t big, blockbuster, showy wines designed to impress. They were wines that managed to take the best of the Barossa’s sometimes forgotten varietal traditions and fuse them onto a very European flavour sensibility.’ Max Allen, The future makers
‘It seems that Spinifex wines can do no wrong.’ Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front.
Pete Schell’s Papillon (the butterfly) was one of the first of the mod-Barossa wines to show that ripeness and depth of flavour needn’t come at the expense of freshness and vineyard clarity. All these years later it remains at the very top of its game. If anything, it has never been in better form.
Papillon is crafted from a range of old vine, dry grown Grenache (75%) and Cinsault (25%) vineyards, located in the east and far northern reaches of the Barossa Valley. The average age of these low yielding vines today sits at 90 years old! Each vineyard is hand harvested when just ripe to, In Schell’s words, “…ensure natural acids, freshness, spice and the fresher, edgier tannins are preserved”.
It’s a wine that would make a top southern Rhône producer proud. It sports a deliciously crunchy texture, cleansing acidity, savoury grip, and is somehow perfectly integrated with the wine’s generous fruit giving a delicious sense of balance. As always, the wine is naturally fermented with a portion of whole bunches and pulled out of large format old wood after six months with the same logic.
Pretty and aromatic – bright red currant, raspberry, red rose petal and dried spice perfume. Light, fresh palate – spiced red cherry and tart red plums fruit flavours lead dried spice and delicate dried herb and spice notes on a finish kept nervy and fresh with plum skin like acids and fine, light tannin.
New release … review for previous 2023 release – 95 points, Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion “Pete Schell’s Papillon and I have had a thing going for a while. If I spy it on a wine list it’s often what I’ll go for as it consistently delivers a great drinking experience and matches a range of foods. This year it’s 66/31/3% grenache/cinsault/counoise 3%. Spacious, sapid and energetic, it’s all raspberries and cranberries daubed with exotic spice, rose petals, sour cherry, dried herbs and stone. That whoosh of sour red plum at the end gets me every time. So good!”
RRP $35 Our Special Price $27.50 when you buy 6 or more of this wine
