Spinifex - Barossa Valley

Spinifex was conceived by Magali Gely and Peter Schell in 2001 with the ambition to hand make wines from ultra-select vineyards in the finest terroirs of the Barossa Valley. Magali and Peter, partners in both life and business, have lived in the Barossa since the early 90’s and worked with some of the Valley’s leading small wine producers. Magali has a family history of wine growing near Montpellier spanning over ten generations, while Peter’s ancestors were among the earliest to settle in the Barossa Valley. This gives their union and commitment to premium wine production a sense of history and place. Peter, a trained oenologist, has made wine in Burgundy, Switzerland, Provence, the Minervois, the Languedoc, Bordeaux, New Zealand and Australia. These experiences have been central in forming the belief of the absolute primacy of the vineyard in the production of unique, ultra premium wines, and the requirement for a fastidious approach to vineyard selection based on old vines and distinguished sites.

Spinifex wines are produced from old vines of 50 to 120 years of age and low yielding Shiraz, Mataro (Mourvèdre), Grenache and Cinsault vineyards in the Barossa and Eden Valleys. The focus of winemaking is to produce harmonious, richly textured wines with complex ripe fruit flavours for which the great wines of the Barossa are renowned.

Sometimes I despair at the herd mentality in Australian winemaking, but then I’ll stumble across imaginative, thoughtful wines that restore my faith in our grape-treading community - such as those made by Pete Schell and Magali Gely under their Spinifex label.
Max Allen, The Australian Financial Review

2006 Spinifex Esprit - 96 points - I like this wine. A lot. In fact, of the 6000-odd wines I tasted for the Penguin Wine Guide this year, I awarded this the Wine of the Year. I also awarded Spinifex Winery of the Year in the same book.
Nick Stock, November 2008

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