"Our objective was and is to be one of the top premium boutique wineries in Australia"
We subscribe to the European belief that 90% of the winemaking is the work of Mother Nature in the vineyard. Our Biodynamic/Organic farming of our carefully selected top Eden Valley and Barossa Valley terroirs allows the creation of perfect, pure, intense, low-yield fruit which is the pre-requisite for making premium boutique wine. The combination of Biodynamic/Organic viticulture and a minimal irrigation regime allows us to achieve physiological ripeness possibly as much as 1 degree Baume earlier than would otherwise be possible, allowing us to produce wines with generally lower alcohol and greater finesse and elegance. In 2011 (the wettest harvest in the Barossa's history, when many wineries simply did not produce wine under their labels), our biodynamic farming practices and resulting vine resilience allowed us to produce and release our entire range - slightly more savoury/European in style than a normal Barossa offering but fine wines nonetheless, and proof (as if it were needed) that the Barossa can display and cope with both terroir diversity and vintage variation.
Maverick's boutique winery is situated at 981 Light Pass Road, in the heart of Vine Vale and our Vine Vale Vineyard. This picturesque village, with many houses dating from the 1840s onwards, also gives its name to the smallest of the Barossa Valley sub regions. Our wonderful 54 acre Vine Vale vineyard (much of it comprising "ancestor" vines of up to 170 years of age"), is described under the vineyard section. The winery site dates back to 1846 when the Klix family from Silesia established their new home there and planted one of the first vineyards in the Barossa - vines from this vineyard are still in production. This early settlers house was used by the Klix family from the 1840s until the 1950s when they built a more modern dwelling which is still used as the winery office and Maverick's visitor centre. The venerable 1840s house is still (just!) standing. In the early 1970s Marco Literini established his Barossa Ridge winery on this site, which Maverick purchased and subsequently developed. Maverick's vineyards and winery are therefore situated in the very heart of Barossa, equidistant from the 3 Barossa townships (Nuriootpa, Angaston and Tanunda) and steeped in history and tradition.
Our winery is small but state of the art, with the very latest in terms of equipment and technology. However, as with everything to do with the Maverick philosophy, the winery has been hand-tailored to reflect our careful crafting of individual wines produced in small lots in accordance with time-honoured European traditions. Equipment is primarily of Italian origin, including a Zambelli “Aton” basket press, pumps and crusher, as well as a cross section of small and variable capacity fermentation tanks including approximately 20 former milk vats which are ideally suited for small-batch fermentation (0.5 tonnes – 3.0 tonnes).
Our oak is 100% French, mainly from Francois Freres (whose 228 litre "Delas barriques" are imported specially for us to Australia) and Seguin Moreau Even in our very top offerings, we never use more than 50% new oak, and generally use seasoned barrels, some imported from France and some reconditioned locally reflecting the Maverick philosophy that the oak regime should be the optimum "fit" for the wines in question, and that oak should complement rather than dominate the wine.
