Description
Peter Schell and his French born wife Magali Gely started Spinifex back in 2001 – in a short time they 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.
This is a terrific example of this variety, sourced from a one-acre vineyard growing on hard, ironstone-rich soil in one of the highest parts of Koonunga Hill in Barossa’s extreme north. Vermentino is a rugged and hardy variety that Schell tells us ripens relatively slowly here, retaining acidity while delivering generous texture.
Regarding the winemaking, whole bunches were cooled overnight before being placed in a small, enclosed stainless steel tank for a natural ferment for 12 days prior to pressing. Schell enjoys the aromatic frequency, enhanced texture and the grip of skin contact that this ‘carbo blanc’ method brings to the wine. Schell then blocked the malolactic, and the wine rested on full lees in old wood, developing texture for ten months. Bottled without filtration, this would challenge many a top Italian example. Expect a fabulous fleshy texture that is nonetheless mouth-watering and vibrant with tangy acidity and powdery grip from the subtle, whole-bunch ferment notes.
RRP $32 Our Special Price when you buy 6 – $27.99
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