Country: | Australia |
Winery: | Thorn Clarke |
Grape Type: | Riesling |
Vintage: | 2017 |
Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
This Thorn Clarke Mt. Crawford Riesling is a fine example of Mount Crawford climate, soil and aspect combining to display a varietal bouquet of spicy floral characters. With fresh, crisp citrus notes and a long finish on the palate, this wine can be enjoyed with a vast array of foods. The winemaker recommends enjoying this with spicy tandoori chicken.
Thorn Clarke Mount Crawford Chardonnay is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
This Chardonnay is a fine example of Mount Crawford climate, soil and aspect combining to display great varietal characters. The light green color has a vibrancy that is characteristic of the wine. Peach and tropical fruit flavors are complemented by a creamy texture from lees contact and a small amount of exposure to French oak. This also gives the wine a rich, long but clean finish with delicious white peach, pear and citrus notes.
The winemaker recommends trying this wine with chicken teppanyaki.
Thorn Clarke Varietal Collection Pinot Gris is made from 100 percent Pinot Gris.
We believe that exceptional wines are created in the vineyard and that we are custodians, rather than creators of quality. Six generations of rich viticultural and geological family history has gone into creating these wines, which truly showcase the best of the Barossa & Eden Valley.
Pale straw in color with quartz green hues at the edge. A classic Pinot Gris style with lifted nashi pear, apples and nougat aromas. The palate is a textural, medium weight style with juicy pome fruits and zesty lime and grapefruit. A refreshing style with a subtle texture and long, fruit driven finish.
Thorn Clarke William Randell Cabernet is made from 100 percent Cabernet
The William Randell range of wines were created in honor of the family ancestor - the esteemed pioneer William Richard Randell (1824 - 1911). The wines are sourced solely from grapes grown on the family estate vineyards. Wines in this range are only made in exceptional vintages.
The deep red color with purple hues of this wine draw you in. The nose is brimming with notes of fresh blackcurrant intertwined with complexing savory spice. The palate has an integrated French oak influence with notes of toasty cedar accompanied by further notes of briary fruits. A wine with great depth and drive.
Review:
"Plums and beeswax meld in this succulent cabernet, selected from Thorn-Clarke’s Milton Park estate vineyard, 250 acres of vines in the Eden Valley hills between Angaston and Keyneton. The wine holds its herbal notes to a fine complexity at the edges of ripe, gentle tannins. The cool altitude of the vines produce black-currant flavors last and last. Subtle, dark-fruited and supple cabernet joy. - Joshua GREENE"
- Wine & Spirits Magazine (Spring 2024), 94 pts
Thorn Clarke Mount Crawford Chardonnay is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
This Chardonnay is a fine example of Mount Crawford climate, soil and aspect combining to display great varietal characters. The light green color has a vibrancy that is characteristic of the wine. Peach and tropical fruit flavors are complemented by a creamy texture from lees contact and a small amount of exposure to French oak. This also gives the wine a rich, long but clean finish with delicious white peach, pear and citrus notes.
The winemaker recommends trying this wine with chicken teppanyaki.
SALE!
Thorn Clarke Shotfire Shiraz is made from 100% Shiraz.
Striking deep red-purple in color. A rich, voluptuous wine with aromas of blackcurrant and mulberries accompanied by notes of smokey oak and hints of cloves. The palate is filled with dark fruits and chocolate backed up by taut tannins and lingering oak.
Review:
This is an attractively spicy wine on the nose with red, blue and black berries all in play, as well as an earthy edge and tarry elements. Some perfume, too. The palate has quite a deep-set, blue and black-fruit core with a long, sturdy palate that holds flavor and focus well. Drink or hold. Screw cap."
- James Suckling (November 2021), 92 pts
"Destemmed, pressed approximately 7 days later, 14 months in American oak (40% new). Rich, layered, mocha/chocolate overtones to the black berry fruits are obvious."
- Halliday Wine Companion (August 2020), 92 pts
Story:
When the Clarke forebearers discovered gold in 1870 at the Lady Alice mine in the Barossa goldfields, so began a family dynasty intrigued by geology. A fine legacy that is reflected today in the terroir of our vineyards. The Shotfire range immortalizes the Shotfirer's hazardous job of setting and lighting the charges in the mines.
Fran shares his story on how he discovered Thorn-Clarke:
"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."
Fragrant spring blossoms with a hint of citrus peel lead into a delicate precise, mouth watering palate. Crunchy green apples and lovely minerality have the tastebuds salivating and screaming out for more.
Picked during the cool of night. An intentional minimalistic approach to winemaking to ensure the vineyard character sings. Free run juice, fermented cool, minimal fining and filtration.
Riesling
Long term
Review:
"Green-hued straw. Incisive citrus pith and green apple scents are complemented by a subtle floral topnote. Dry and taut in the mouth, offering zesty lime, pear and basil flavors and showing a hint of salinity. Closes firm and refreshingly bitter, repeating the basil note. - Josh Raynolds"
- Antonio Galloni's Vinous (December 2021), 90 pts
The Thorn Clarke Estate
The winery owners are David and Cheryl Clarke (born Thorn) and their son Sam is the manager of the winery. The Thorn-Clarke family has a long history in the Barossa - six generations of involvement in the region's world famous wine industry. The Thorns have been grape growers in the Barossa since the 1870's. David Clarke's passion for the wine industry lead to the planting of the Kabininge vineyard outside of Tanunda in 1987, which represents the start of a deeper involvement by the family in the Barossa wine industry.
The Thorn Clarke Vineyards
St Kitts and Truro Vineyards--Cooler, and with lower rainfall, these northern Barossa vineyards totaling 103 hectares, are at an elevation of between 380 and 410 meters.
Mt Crawford Vineyard--Late ripening, high rainfall and with elevations as high as 475 meters above sea level, this 37 hectare Eden Valley vineyard can easily be confused with the Adelaide Hills - which is after all just across the range. This site was specially selected as it was considered ideal to grow grape varieties which respond to cold climate.
Kabininge Vineyard--In stark contrast, the 33 hectare Kabininge vineyard is true Barossa Valley floor terroir. At just 270 meters above sea level red winegrapes ripen easily here.
Milton Park Vineyard--Located in classic Eden Valley country, between Angaston and Keyneton, the Milton Park vineyard has an elevation of between 330 and 400 meters above sea level.
Fortuna Terrae means luck of the land in Latin, and indeed, our vines from this parcel of the Adrianna Vineyard are lucky. The deep loamy soils are home to many varieties of native grasses which prevent erosion and attract benefic insects, singing birds and mountain foxes. Because of the freshness imparted by the deep soils and high altitude, the wines of Fortuna Terrae have optimal acidity and delicate flower aromas. It is best to enjoy this wine a few years or decades after harvest.
Review:
Blackberries with some black tea and perfumes. Full-bodied with fine, dusty tannins and seamless texture. So long and consistent. 60% whole cluster fermentation with 14 months in oak casks. Glorious, tactile wine.
-James Suckling 99 Points
In 1992 the Hill-Smith family counted themselves amongst those fortunate enough to own a vineyard upon the famous Coonawarra terra rossa soil over limestone. Experimentation, innovation, minimalist intervention and small batch winemaking has resulted in The Menzies’ reputation as a wine of longevity, elegance and structure.
Situated in the heart of Coonawarra’s terra rossa strip, The Menzies Estate vineyard lies on a flat plain, approximately 70km from the coast. Given the terrain and influence of the cooling Bonney upwelling, Coonawarra is an ideal location to grow premium Cabernet Sauvignon. Our soil is red sandy loam over limestone, which is classic Cabernet Sauvignon country. The grapes for The Menzies 2017 are from vines planted in 1994 and 1996. Bunches are usually small with small berries, giving concentration via an ideal skin to juice ratio favouring the making of fullbodied reds.
Experimentation, innovation, minimalist intervention, and small batch winemaking has resulted in The Menzies' reputation as a wine of longevity, elegance, and structure.
Aromas of fresh rosemary, mulberry, violets and exotic spices. Take a sip and you will feel the poise and tension for which great Cabernet is renowned. A wine of great complexity with flavors of blackcurrant, bitter chocolate, and mulberries, wrapped in divine tannins and a lovely sweet, dark fruit finish. With decanting in its youth, it is enjoyable as an elegant full-bodied red wine.
Review:
The 2017 The Menzies Cabernet Sauvignon is looking good next to the 2016 tasted beside it. It is fresh and vibrant, with layers of complexing dark earth characters, with cigar box, black olive brine, cassis, bramble, milk chocolate and cracked black pepper. This is very good, and it has what I am coming to recognize as a "Yalumba red character": dried herbs, particularly oregano. The juicy splay of fruit through the finish is a highlight.
-Wine Advocate 95 Points