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This is just the third release of Spinifex’s Chenin Blanc, but these vines have been around for almost a century. Pete and Magali have been working with the old bush-vine Grenache and Shiraz from this ancient site in the Angaston foothills for well over 10 years, all the while eyeing an opportunity with the small Chenin block on the property. They harvested their first crop in 2022, and the wine is now a tenured addition to the Spinifex portfolio.
The one-acre block is nestled at the highest point of the vineyard. The exact age of the vines is unknown, but it’s widely accepted that these gnarly, dry-grown vines are tipping the 90- to 100-year-old mark. Even in ideal growing conditions, a tonne of fruit is about the best yield you could hope for from the entire block. The Chenin holds natural breadth and intensity of flavour, so Pete picks early to capture natural freshness and preserve balance. The fruit is crushed without destemming and pressed to French oak for fermentation, followed by partial malolactic conversion and maturation for ten months in demi-muids.