Hi Friends,
Welcome to the third season of the Thoreau Wine Society. Thanks to our readers, we have grown into a small collection of impoverished writers who have spent the majority of our lives reveling in the mysteries of great wines, stuck with years of blind tasting notes, we've come up with a way to communicate our educated fascination to our gentle followers.
This, the year of great tumult and excitement.. In the sultry Australian month of January, with a glass of 85 Jean Gros Richebourg in hand, I kicked off 2009 overlooking a glorious display of fireworks in the Sydney Harbor. I’ve learned that while the best Sydney-siders are no strangers to the miracle of French wines, they are also enthused by the wonders of their own wines. Unfortunately, most people are familiar with Yellow Tail, the most successful wine brand in the history of the world. As DuBeouf did for the reputation of Beaujolais, the image of Aussie wine has been essentially destroyed in the international market by this massive conglomerate which has, as 2-Buck Chuck in California, has reduced their billion gallons of wine to a monolithic product.. destroying the mystery of wine for impressionable drinkers.
But like Beaujolais, Australia is home to a wide range of terroir – stretching from the Hunter Valley (renowned for their wonderful rieslings) through the Yarra, Barossa, Mclaren Vale over to the Margaret River – there is a whole continent of diverse styles and soils and if I may jump off the anti-Australian bandwagon, there is to be found incredibly complex nuanced, subtly haunting juice, as proven to me, not only by my generous hosts in Sydney who opened a number of older bottlings which resembled great Hermitage, but also by leg-work, rolled-up sleeves, pencil in ear, asking the questions, tasting the wines.
On this discovery route, as it was my first journey into South Australia – I began with an appointment to taste at the fabulous Torbreck estate in the Seppeltsfield area of the Barossa Valley. I could write a novel about what makes the Barossa so historical and geologically diverse. But I’m often told my wine emails are long-winded enough. Torbreck wines are magnificent – and towards the end of our few hours spent together, I asked the million dollar question – who is doing some of the best work in the region – who do I need to know about? I was given a short list of names and numbers and none came with a higher endorsement than Pete and Magli Schellof a little winery called Spinifex. Spini-what?
Hot dusty mid-summer day, encouraged further by the Chris Ringland circle, I rolled up to this tiny barn-like winery near Angaston. A contrarian to the tragic modern wine-making movement, Pete greeted me with those wiley eyes shared by obsessively consumed artisans. Through old French oak foudres, he explained his careful philosophy that combines minimal interventionism with viticultural dexterity. He buys fruit from the best farmers and carefully works with them to produce the finest balance (why domaine bottle, when others have better vineyard holdings?). These farmers are not a gilded nimbus, but the ancestry of poor Silesians who planted vines in the hope of retaining a certain element of European culture those hundred and fifty years ago.
Getting around to the point, if you are a fan of the great wines of the northern Rhone, these will not disappoint you. As a general Francophile, I fully stand behind these wines.
Spinifex ‘Esprit’ 35% Mataro, 31% Grenache, 30% Shiraz, 5% Cinsault. Red clay over quartz. Sourced from the cooler, northern Barossa vines, aged in large oak foudres – light on it’s feet, but rich and ripe, sexy plump aromas of garrigue, stewed cherries, fresh thyme, red twizzlers, pill bottle and that je ne sais quoi of the Barossa terroir. This is the real thing – not clunky chunky boring juice, don’t be a slave to anti-Aussie fashion, there’s a reason this region has 150 years of wine growing history and many a fine palate that has fallen under it’s spell.
$40 per bottle. Extremely limited.
First come, first served.
Wine will be available within 2 weeks time.
Please reply with desired amounts. And if you have yet to set up an account, I will reply with painless account set-up info.
I hope you enjoy these missives. We are ramping up our fall season… please spread the word!
Slainte,
Mary Taylor
Founder
ThoreauWineSociety.com
