2023 Spinifex Grenache Gris

92 pts
Spinifex |Barossa Valley |Grenache Gris
The debut release of Grenache Gris from Spinifex's own Dominion Vineyard. Textural, deliciously fruit-forward - exciting stuff!

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Description

This is the debut release of Spinifex Grenache Gris, and it's a wine that we should all be very excited about.

When Pete Schell purchased the Dominion Vineyard in 2018, they quickly set to work planting varieties they believed suitable to this unique path of land, including the scarce Southern Rhone white variety Grenache Gris.

This marks the first official release of this wine, and it's a beauty.  The fruit spent a few hours on skins, before fermentation in old oak puncheons, followed by eight months’ maturation on lees in foudre.

It's packed with glorious white and yellow fruits, with some creamy texture from the winemaking influence, and a pithy, salty finish that pulls it all together.  Great with food or on its own, and a statement about the suitability of this variety to the Barossa Valley.

92 points
"Time in old oak was important here because it’s added texture to what is, at heart, a structural white wine. It’s a wine of skin and bones, stones and spices, its dryness a key part of its appeal. We’re almost into brine territory here, or stones sitting in a saline solution, perhaps. It knows what it wants, and it wants for food. This is a good, interesting wine, worth buying and drinking, and future releases will be worth following."
- Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)

92 points - "Time in old oak was important here because it’s added texture to what is, at heart, a structural white wine. It’s a wine of skin and bones, stones and spices, its dryness a key part of its appeal. We’re almost into brine territory here, or stones sitting in a saline solution, perhaps. It knows what it wants, and it wants for food. This is a good, interesting wine, worth buying and drinking, and future releases will be worth following." - Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)

Pete and Magali purchased their Dominion Vineyard near Vine Vale in the heart of the Barossa Valley in 2018. The low-fertility, four-hectare site sits at 285 metres, giving small crops marked by intense flavour and remarkable aromatic depth. Centurion Grenache and Shiraz vines (planted in 1908 and 1918) live in these sandy, gravelly and red clay soils, and in 2020, a small plot of just over an acre was planted to Grenache Gris. Old-vine Grenache has an exemplary track record around Vine Vale―neighbouring vines include Cirillo’s from the 1850s and Yalumba’s 1898 plantings―so, for Pete and Magali, planting Grenache Gris was a logical choice.

2023 was the first season to give a viable yield for a straight bottling of Grenache Gris. Pete left the fruit on skins for a few hours before fermentation in old puncheons, followed by eight months’ maturation on lees in foudre. There’s a lovely big whack flavour here: salty white peaches, fleshy orange citrus, some blossom and a hint of buttery richness. Then, the texture is plush and grippy with fresh, driving length. It’s a killer first release that will shine with salt and fat.

Price Bracket $31 to $40
Type White
Body Medium Bodied
Variety Grenache Gris
Country Australia
Region Barossa Valley
Australian State SA
Reviewed By The Wine Front
Critic Score 92
Size 750ml
Vintage 2023
Closure Screw Cap

Spinifex Wines

Spinifex are one of the 'New' Barossa's true pioneer producers. Husband and wife team Peter Schell & Magali Gely have extensive experience in southern France, which proves the inspiration for their unique wines made from predominantly Rhone varietals.

Spinifex was on the front line of the new wave of Barossa producers. Peter's wines brought a new sensibility to the region, they were lower in alcohol, concentrated but elegant, and balanced to perfection. He takes the art of blending into the realm of the virtuoso. There are few wineries who deliver refinement and poise from the Barossa Valley like Spinifex.

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