Greetings!
The winery is allowing us a 48 hour reduced case price sale, only $210 a case now!
I thought today we would share the story of Fran Kysela's finding of a Shiraz that would open the American palate to Australian wine: this is how Stone Jar became what we know today as Thorn Clarke Shotfire Shiraz.
"It was October 2001 and I was searching for and sourcing for Australian wines, as it was clear that Australia was going to become the "next big thing." After tasting about 100 assorted wines, I decided I liked the style of Barossa, Shiraz best - chocolate, cherries, mint and eucalyptus - so I started focusing on Barossa growers (years later, Barossa Shiraz would develop its reputation as the Icon Shiraz for Australia).
Late on a Thursday afternoon, the carrier delivered a beat-up box of 12 bottles from Australia, 10 of which were leaking. The box was from a guy named Steve Machin, who had just left Hardy's and was beginning work with the Clarke family on setting up a possible new brand. The samples were sticky and messy, but I popped the corks anyway...and I was glad that I did. The wine inside tasted like Christmas - mint, eucalyptus, camphor, and evergreen aromas. Great acidity, color, flavor and length of finish - very tasty. These samples were so good and so exciting, especially compared to what I had tasted prior, that I immediately called the number on the card. I didn't realize that it was a Perth number (Western Australia) and it was actually 3:00 in the morning. It turned out I was calling the residence of David and Cheryl Clarke, where a sleepy Cheryl answered the phone. I told her, you don't know who I am, but we are going to be doing business together very soon, and lots of it! After a few months of talking, faxing (yes, faxing) and sorting out the details, I began importing their wines.
That super-star wine from the busted box of samples is the wine we know today as Shotfire Shiraz. It was originally called Stone Jar, but fortunately we came up with a better name. Many years and vintages later, I'm still glad to be importing Shotfire Shiraz and other Thorn-Clarke selections... and I'm still glad that Cheryl Clarke woke up for that phone call." -Fran Kysela
Australian wine was obviously here in the US at the time, but not largely accepted, with that in mind Shotfire's 2003 vintage shot up to number 18 in Wine Spectators Top 100 wines of of the year and made the list again in 2006.
Too hot or cold to ship? We are offering cooling and warming packs as well as free storage.
Cheers,
Mike Good
Timeless Wines
800-417-7821
