Spinifex Rose
Current Vintage: 2019
Is this Australia's finest Ros? In spite of the relentless proliferation of Ros on the market, Peter Schell's wine-now into its second decade of production-keeps coming up, well, roses. It's simply a wonderful example that stacks up brilliantly against the best French examples. The complexity and interest here derives in part from the varieties used: 31% Mataro, 29% Grenache, 16% Carignan, 14% Cinsault and 10% Ugni Blanc. These vines are all dry-grown Barossa vineyards, "mainly bush vines, all hand-picked-old school," chuckles Pete. In short, sites selected for their ability to produce outstanding quality ros material (the average age of vines is 65 years old although the oldest parcels range up to 120 years of age).
Bottled without filtration, the resulting wine offers the kind of vibrant perfume (of red fruit, nectarine and white flower), texture and crunchy line that were once the exclusive domaine of Proven¤al Ros.
Region
Home to some of the oldest grapevines on planet Earth, the Barossa Valley is perhaps Australia’s most renowned wine region. In 1842, German settlers planted vines and the rest is history!
On the red wine front, it’s all about the big reds like Cabernet and Shiraz here - with full bodied Barossa Shiraz being sought out around the world. It is rich, muscular, and super sexy - Aussie 'ocker with distinctive finesse.
But the Barossa isn’t a one trick pony. In a salute to the region’s rich German heritage, the Eden Valley (which falls within the broader region) produces some of Australia’s finest rieslings - crisp, fresh, but still balanced.