Thorn-Clarke Shotfire Barossa Shiraz 2019 (Australia)

Description

• American oak
• Plum & dark chocolate
• Five spice & liquorice
• Savoury tannins

"This is beautifully styled and instantly appealing with Black Doris plum, blueberry, floral, vanilla and almond notes, leading to a wonderfully flavoursome palate that's succulent and silky. Well composed with plenty of tasty flavours. At its best: now to 2029" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Sep 2021

Inky red in colour with purple hues at the rim. Dense blackberry and plum fruits dominate the nose with five spice, smoke and dark chocolate showing through. A rich and generous palate showcases all the quintessential traits of Barossa Shiraz. Ripe black plum, black pepper and liquorice in abundance, supported by integrated and complex oak characters. The wine is plush and mouth filling, with long savoury tannins adding structure to the palate. Destined to be a long-lived vintage that will reward cellaring but can also be enjoyed now for it’s vibrant fruit expression.

When the Clarke forbears 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 immortilises the Shotfirer’s hazardous job of setting and lighting the charges.

The 2019 vintage in the Barossa can be summed up with two key points; low yields and high quality. Winter in 2018 was extremely dry and with high winds, frost and rain at flowering the Thorn-Clarke vineyards had a lot to contend with. As a result the vines had a very small amount of bunches and small amount of berries per bunch. Low yield though led to concentration of varietal characters in the bunches and the berries produced this year were intense in fragrance, flavour and colour. Best of all they have an amazing balance. Truly 2019 will sit alongside the greatest vintages the Barossa has seen this century.

The grapes were de-stemmed into fermenters. Ferments were pumped over twice daily to maximise colour, tannin and flavour extraction. Cooling is used to ensure ferments remain in the 22-25 degree celcius range which allows maximum fruit expression in the wine. Pressing occurs approximately seven days after fermentation commences and the wine is then filled to American oak to mature (14 months in 40% new American hogsheads with the balance going into 2nd and 3rd fill barrels).