Vineyards
The Scarpantoni vineyards at McLaren Flat
Scarpantoni Wines pride themselves on making wine from almost their own vineyards maintained by Filippo, with the occasional tiny percentage of other grower’s fruit being used sometimes. The Scarpantoni vineyards are scattered around the McLaren Vale region, all of which have their own differences in soil, aspect and exposure to the elements which all has an effect of the grapes from each site, which in turn shows up in the wines we make; some perhaps more than others.
Our main sites are:
Maslin Beach
On the coastal fringe, with the vines growing on hard limestone rock soil, producing intense, spicy fruit with unique tannin structure.California Road
Close to the centre of the region, not far from the main street of McLaren Vale, with terra rossa on limestone (similar to Coonawarra) with a broad range of varieties grown, including two different clones of Cabernet Sauvignon (one French and the other Italian).Pedler Creek
In the heart of McLaren Vale on the site of the region’s first settlers, featuring three different clones of Shiraz growing mostly on grey soil.McLaren Flat
The winery site, featuring multiple soil types and multiple grape varieties including amongst others, our very best Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Gamay and Chardonnay. . Amongst the vineyard sites there are certain blocks of fruit that show distinctly different characters each vintage as a result of what the French knows as terroir; the coming together of soil and climate (or to be more specific the microclimate) and two of our most famous wines come from particular blocks.The Block 3
The family very much prides itself on making wines from their own vineyards, all of which have been planted by the family except for just one, the Block 3. This Shiraz block was planted back in the 1940’s at some stage (the exact year is not known) and since 1980 a single vineyard Block 3 labelled Shiraz has been made by the Scarpantoni’s. The Block 3 runs along the right hand side of the winery and cellar door on a patch of sandy soil, and produces classic McLaren Vale Shiraz fruit each vintage, with the Block 3 being somewhat of a benchmark style for the region, winning both the Great Australian Shiraz Challenge and Winestate Magazine’s Shiraz of the Year in 2008.
The very first Block 3 (1980) through to the current Block 3 label
The Brothers Block
Very close by is the Brothers Block Cabernet Sauvignon site, which runs at 90 degrees to the Block 3 on a gentle slope towards the west and is located directly behind the winery on ironstone soil. Michael and Filippo hand planted the block back in the mid 1970’s as teenagers, and have carefully maintained the vineyard ever since. The Brothers used to give the block the nickname of ‘The JW Block’ in the hope that one day their Cabernet block would produce a wine that won the highly prized Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy at the Royal Melbourne Wine Show, which to the family’s amazement, they did in 2007.
The Brother's Block, then and now
