Spinifex Papillon 2025

Pete Schell's Papillon, 'the butterfly' was one of the first of the mod-Barossa wines to show that ripeness and depth of flavour needn't come at the expense of freshness and vineyard clarity. All these years later it remains at the very top if its game. If anything, it has never been in better form. Crafted from a range of old vine, dry grown Grenache and Cinsault (90 years of age on average), located in the east and far northern reaches of the Barossa Valley. Each vineyard is hand harvested when just ripe to "...ensure natural acids, freshness, spice and the fresher, edgier tannins are preserved." Incredibly perfumed with lifted blueberry, strawberry and lavender notes. The palate is super pure, vibrant and juicy with those same, red and blue fruits and southern French florals. Grenadine as well. Really bright and racy, this a wine built of fragrance (on both the nose and the palate). It would do a top southern Rhone producer proud. A deliciously crunchy texture, cleansing acidity, and savoury grip, is somehow perfectly integrated with the wine's generous fruit giving a surreal sense of balance. As always, the wine is naturally fermented with a portion of whole bunches (30% in this case for heightened fragrance and more freshness) and pulled out of old wood after six months with the same logic.