Given the number of new wineries it now boasts, and the spotlessly pristine condition of the region today, it’s hard to remember that just twenty years ago the Barossa Valley was on its knees. Only a few of its wineries were then making 100% Barossa wine, others were attempting to emulate the leafier and finer cool-climate cabernets popular at the time, and you could actually buy Barossa shiraz in muffins. Since then, the Barossa has experienced a renaissance. Many of its smaller new wineries have since opened to take advantage of the high profile, ratings and prices being gained by local labels like Greenock Creek, Torbreck and Chris Ringland in the US and to a lesser extent in Asia, creating labels that are virtually impossible to find in Australia itself. Additionally, there have been several more worthy efforts to create long-term brands of not insignificant volumes that offer customers a genuine experience of what the Barossa is all about, but at a more realistic and comfortable price. None have done that more effectively than Thorn-Clarke, a family-operated wine business able to boast six generations of involvement in Barossa wine. Owned by David and Cheryl Clarke (nee Thorn), its business is overseen by their son, Sam, while David Thorn (brother of Cheryl) manages two of the company’s four vineyards. Since David began planting the Kabininge vineyard near Tanunda in 1987, the business has established 264 ha of vines, comprising 136 ha of shiraz, 59 ha of cabernet sauvignon and 28 ha of merlot with lesser plantings of petit verdot, cabernet franc, chardonnay, riesling and pinot gris. Thorn-Clarke’s vineyards are spread from the northern Barossa (St Kitts and Truro), the Barossa floor (Kabininge) to Mt Crawford and Milton Park in the Eden Valley. It has established three tiers of labels that are sold in Australia, being the lively and early-drinking Sandpiper range of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and ‘The Blend’, plus three Eden Valley white wines: Pinot Gris, Riesling and Chardonnay. These wines retail around $15. The principal range of high-quality wines is given the Shotfire Ridge label, while the company’s flagship is its William Randell Shiraz. The Shotfire Ridge wines comprise a rich and meaty Shiraz that has attracted much favourable attention in the American wine media, plus a more elegant and restrained ‘Quartage’ blend of red Bordeaux varieties (sold as Cuv̩e in the US), paramount of which is cabernet sauvignon. Both wines are sourced from the Kabininge vineyard, which is also home to the sumptuously endowed William Randell Shiraz. The Shotfire Ridge reds are sold at a very affordable $23 per bottle, while the William Randell fetches a respectable $50. The Shotfire Ridge wines offer excellent value for money and epitomise what Thorn-Clarke is all about. Like most other Barossa producers, Thorn-Clarke enjoyed a stellar season in 2002, especially with its red wines. While it shows some advancement, the Shotfire Ridge Shiraz is exceptionally ripe and substantial, with deep, briary fruit flavours and assertive oak. I’d drink it soon. The Quartage, my pick of the trio, is a deeply fruited wine whose dark, briary flavours are supported by chocolate and vanilla-like oak and framed by firm, but pliant tannins, finishing with a lingering core of minty fruit. It has plenty of time ahead, and rivals other top wines like the excellent Mamre Brook Cabernet Sauvignon of the same year. Given more toasty oak, the William Randell Shiraz (the current release of this wine) is smooth, polished and creamy, with deep and fully-ripened fruit flavours supported by powdery tannins and backed by hints of mint and menthol. Experiencing similar difficulties with the heat to many other Barossa makers, Thorn-Clarke made a series of rather cooked and meaty reds in 2003. Weighing in at a rather stewed and tarry 15.1%, the Shotfire Ridge Shiraz is forward and raw-edged, lacking its customary richness and depth of fruit. Similarly, the Quartage is raisined and treacle-like, like so many other Barossa cabernets from this vintage. But the 2004 Shotfire Ridge reds, of which the Quartage is already available, represent a strong return to form. This Barossa blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, malbec and petit verdot is a fine and harmonious wine that is clearly made to deliver plenty of flavour, but elegance and refinement. It offers a slightly meaty aroma of vibrant dark berry, plum and black olive-like fruit backed by dark chocolate/mocha oak, cloves, cinnamon and faint undertones of marzipan. Sumptuously flavoured yet smooth and silky, its deeply ripened dark berry and plum flavours reveal hints of treacle and a slightly herbal aspect. Framed by fine-grained tannins, it finishes with a touch of salty minerality. With the results it already has on the board, plus a pricing policy I hope it can maintain, I now rate Thorn-Clarke alongside names like Tim Adams, Gemtree, Brands Laira, Zema Estate and Mamre Brook as providing some of the best value for money in South Australian wine around the $20 mark. As its vineyards mature, it should only improve. For my recent tasting note, please click below: Thorn Clarke Shotfire Ridge Quartage 2004
