Description
Peter Schell and his French born wife Magali Gely started Spinifex back in 2001 – in a short time have made a name for themselves as producers of fine elegant and sophisticated Barossa red blends. Peter hails from NZ originally but he and Magali are firm Barossaphiles with a great love of the ancient Barossa soils (100 million years old whereas in Bordeaux the soils date back to the last iceage 40,000-100,000 years) and the old vines. Inspired by time spent working many vintages in the south of France their love is the local varieties there – Mataro, Grenache, Shiraz and Cinsault. What sets them apart is their attention to detail and total hands on winemaking.
They are not interested in making blockbuster wines – they seek finesse and complexity (aromatics, line and length) in their wines…Sourcing small parcels of fruit from small family growers and their use of multiple small fermentation tanks allows them to ferment small parcels separately rather than pooling them – a very French technique – which means more ingredients to play with and absolute precision for blending.
‘Pete 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.
La Maline is Spinifex’s purest and most finely structured expression of Barossa/Eden Shiraz. As with the 2021, the extended growing season and comparatively cool conditions in 2022 provided fruit with the style, elegance and restraint so vital to this great wine’s DNA. This is a roughly equal split between Pete and Magali’s own Rostein Vineyard in Eden Valley and Materne Vineyard in Moppa in the Barossa Valley.
Rostein was planted in the 1950s and sits high in the valley at close to 500 metres. Materne was planted in the 1920s. Like Rostein, this vineyard is organically dry farmed by hand. The fruit fermented with indigenous yeasts in small, open-top stainless-steel tanks over 12 to 35 days. Pete added a bucket of Viognier halfway through the ferment to lend lift and complexity to the wine. Maturation was in French oak barriques and 700-litre barrels (approximately 35% new) on light lees for 22 months before blending and bottling.
This is killer Shiraz. Highly aromatic and savoury, its muscular frame is underscored by a sense of agility and lifted perfume. Dark blue fruits, warm brown spice and earthy notes float like a butterfly, while the svelte structure, stylish power and sweetly enveloping close stings like a bee. It’s all class.
96 points, Dave Brookes for Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion “A blend of two shiraz vineyards: the old Materne vineyard in Moppa (1920s) and the Rostein vineyard in High Eden (1950s). As close to a Barossan Hermitage as you’re likely to get. Deep, dark and black plum and berry fruits, leather, dark chocolate, roasting meats and crushed granite, flecked with herbs. It feels stony and deeply resonant on the palate. Tannins fall chalky and toothsome, laying out in a sedimentary fashion below the fruit, which shows great depth and length of flavour. Finishes long and satisfying.”
93 points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front “Interesting wine this. Has an almost Chokito bar character to it, you could say chocolate, dark and milk, popcorn, caramel, indeed. Oh, the Chokito bar is my favourite of all chocolate bars ever. There, I said it. Quite a dark shiraz, if you get the drift, sooty, ferrous tannins lend more weight literally to that statement, a spicy, dusty, bitter herb and peppery finish concludes things. Very nutty too, lots of walnut and hazelnut here. It feels quite baked and warm, too. A bolder, old school feel.”
95 points, Stuart Knox, The Real Review “Very deep ruby red colour. Blackberry, violet and vanilla pod aromas. A big, rich entry, black fruits and florals with sweet vanilla and mocha notes adding character. Tannins are silky but ensure length without cutting into the richness of the texture. Great length and persistence: a textural delight that still manages to finish cleanly.”
RRP $88 Our Special Price $71.99 when you buy 6 or more of this wine
