Thorn-Clarke Shotfire Shiraz 2006

Thorn-Clarke is one of the largest family-owned estate-based businesses in the Barossa, with a family history in the region dating back to the 1850s. The first vintage of Shotfire Shiraz produced was the 1999 and on the back of rave reviews from Robert Parker, the world's most influential wine critic at the time, it quickly established a reputation as one of the best value full-bodied wines on the market. Made for lovers of rich, voluptuous, flavoursome reds!

"Juicy, fresh and vibrant, packed with spicy flavours of raspberries, cassis and blackberries, this artfully made young shiraz is unashamedly oaky, with loads of vanilla, bubblegum, smoky and chocolate-like character, but has the brightness, smoothness and fruit intensity to handle it."  Jeremy Oliver

Outstanding parcels of 100% Barossa Valley fruit are selected from the Kabininge vineyard on the Valley floor in Southern Barossa. Matured for 12 to 18 months in 40% new American and French hogsheads. 

"Deep red in colour. The lifted nose has ripe rasberries and anise, with choc mint oak characters. The palate is full bodied with fantastic berry fruit, plums, liquorice and complexing oak. There is a great depth of fruit with savoury oak and mouth coating tannins. The fruit, oak and tannins all combine to give the wine great length of fl avour."  Thorn-Clarke

Expert reviews

"A truly lovely Barossa shiraz, rich and full, but not overpowering, well balanced, very satisfying and better than many at twice the price. The winery's Bordeaux blend entitled Quartage is similarily impressive. Track these down, pull out the cash and don't look back."  Paddy Kendler, Herald Sun  ★★★★★

"Deep purple black in colour, youthful and bright, this rich, powerful wine is aromatic, cedary, savoury and spicy with sweet vanillin oak, blackberry fruit, liquorice, mocha and a lovely, subtle grippy grainy tannin texture. It's succulent and mouthfilling, rich yet balanced and downright seductive."  Sue Courtney, www.wine-oftheweek.com

"Supple Aussie red, with ripe plum and currant fruit against a range of sweet spices and fine tannins, lingering gently and expressively. Aims for refinement and achieves a supple balance of ripe plum and currant fruit against a range of sweet spices and fine tannins. Lingers gently and expressively. Production was split between cork and screw cap closures. Tasted from cork. Drink now through to 2016."  Wine Spectator - 91 points 

"Juicy, fresh and vibrant, packed with spicy flavours of raspberries, cassis and blackberries, this artfully made young shiraz is unashamedly oaky, with loads of vanilla, bubblegum, smoky and chocolate-like character, but has the brightness, smoothness and fruit intensity to handle it. Framed by fine, dusty tannin, it's a very approachable and delicious early drinker. Drink 2008-2011+."  Jeremy Oliver - 91 points

"Good colour; full-bodied, with plenty of sweet fruit and sweet oak on the bouquet and palate; typically complex, with strong tannin and oak in support."  James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 90 points

The vineyards

Kabininge Vineyard, Barossa Valley

Located in Southern Barossa just south of the town of Tanunda, the 33ha Kabininge vineyard is true Barossa Valley floor terroir. At just 270 metres above sea level and located on dark grey to dark brown carbonaceous soils (known as Bay of Biscay), red winegrapes ripen easily here.

The vineyard is predominantly Shiraz – the variety for which the Barossa Valley is best known – supported by smaller plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.

St Kitts Vineyard, Barossa Valley

The St Kitts Vineyard is located on the Northern Barossa Slopes at an elevation of 390 metres above sea level. The 103ha vineyard is cooler and has lower rainfall than the Kabininge Vineyard.

The micro-climate restricts yields and the thin, moderately well developed residual soils overlying marble, schist, Truro Volcanics and Heatherdale Shale, necessitated a careful vineyard layout matching variety to soil type. These tough conditions make vines work hard and as a result, the flavour profile is intense and acid levels high, providing the resources for long-living red wines and full flavoured whites. Shiraz is particularly well suited to this environment.

Shiraz again is the predominant variety supported by a diverse red planting of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Graciano and a white planting of Viognier.

Mount Crawford Vineyard, Eden Valley 

The 37ha Mount Crawford vineyard lies at the southern end of the Eden Valley. At an elevation of 475 metres above sea level, it is one of the coolest vineyard sites in South Australia. Its north facing aspect provides much needed warmth in spring and autumn and the tough mountain soil makes the vines work hard to achieve excellent flavour and acid.

The high elevation, high rainfall and subsequent late ripening are ideal for growing grape varieties which respond to cold climates. The vineyard is planted to Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Merlot. 

Milton Park Vineyard, Eden Valley 

The Milton Park vineyard is located further north in the Eden Valley, between Angaston and Keyneton. The 100ha vineyard lies at an elevation of between 330 and 400 metres above sea level. 

Positioned amongst world-renowned cool climate Shiraz producers, this vineyard is ideal for producing outstanding red varietals. Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot were sited to maximize fruit exposure to autumn sunshine, while Petit Verdot blocks were chosen for their lower levels of direct sunlight. 

About the winery

 Mount Crawford Vineyard, Eden Valley

Thorn-Clarke is one of the largest family-owned estate-based businesses in the Barossa. With a family history in the Barossa region dating back to the 1850s and estate grown vineyards now totalling over 270 hectares, Thorn-Clarke produces a range of award winning Barossa Valley red and Eden Valley white wines.

In the late 1980s, governments were sponsoring growers to pull vines to overcome an oversupply in the industry. Against the trend, David Clarke, a geologist by training, set about testing soils and buying land with the intention of establishing his own vineyards in the Barossa. In 1987, David and Cheryl Clarke (née Thorne) bought their first property, Kabininge, near Tanunda on the Southern Barossa Valley floor. They planted vines and Cheryl enlisted the help of her family, the Thorns, to manage the vineyard. The vines started to bear fruit - very good fruit, in fact.

Developing a great understanding of the diversity of the Barossa, David purchased land in two sections of the Eden Valley and another in the Barossa Valley: the Mt Crawford Vineyard at the southern end of the Eden Valley, the Milton Park vineyard further north in the Eden Valley and the St Kitts vineyard at the northern end of the Barossa Ranges. In all 4 vineyards, careful soil mapping allowed matching of variety and site, with all the major grape varieties represented.

For the first ten years, the fruit from the vineyards was sold to neighbouring winemakers who turned it into award-winning wines. This was pleasing but hardly fulfilling. The leap of faith was taken with the 1998 vintage when small batches of Shiraz were vinified and bottled - and so began the Thorn-Clarke story. 

"When we started out 20 years ago I knew from my geological research that the varied Barossa geology and soil types offered us a broad palate to work with. Then when we started making trial blends in the 1990s it became clear that the vineyards complemented each other brilliantly and provided us with a new level of flavour complexity. We have blended to take advantage of these sub-regional and microclimatic characteristics.

Our philosophy is to over-deliver in terms of the quality we offer at each price level.  Wine lovers remember wines which are stunning value and we work hard to ensure that whether people buy the Sandpiper range or the Shotfire range they are drinking wines that are excellent value for money."  David Clarke