Thorn-Clarke, Single Vineyard Selection, Grenache, Barossa, Australia 2020

THE BRAND

The Single Vineyard Selection range focuses on single site, small batch wines, highlighting the true characteristics of each individual variety. Each block is hand selected by our winemaker and viticulturist each year, choosing the wines that best reflect the strengths of each individual vintage.

WINEMAKERS NOTE

Ruby in colour with purple hues. Brimming with bright fruit notes of wild strawberries & cherry and backed up by subtle spice of white pepper. On the palate, the fruit continues with further notes of raspberries and plum with a hint of French oak. A juicy medium bodied red that has a delicate and complex finish.

WINEMAKING

This wine has had partial whole bunch fermentation in 4 tonne open fermenters for a duration of 10 days on skins. The wine was then pressed off to 15% New French oak barrels and matured for 18 months prior to being racked for bottling. This wine has had no filtration.

THORNE-CLARKE

a rich history

The 1870s were a very special decade for our family tree and its roots in the Barossa. One side settled on the fruit farm that would nurture some of the region’s oldest vineyards along with six generations of viticulturists. The other side, meanwhile, discovered a different treasure buried in the bounteous Barossa soil: the region’s first gold mine.

Now, call it luck. Call it mere coincidence, if you wish but 100 years later, the two sides came together in a union that created our family, our winery and, some might say, our destiny: to produce wines worthy of gold.

a leap of faith

In 1987, David and Cheryl Clarke bought their first property, Kabininge, near Tanunda. The family started to plant vines and it could all have ended right there. As the baby vines grew, David and Cheryl’s kids, Sam and Nicole, were conscripted to help water, prune and pick, all by hand. These were the hard yards.

This is when Cheryl took charge and called in her family, the Thorns. Her father, Ron, and her brothers soon had the vineyard in premium condition, and it started to bear fruit – very good fruit, in fact – a tribute to David’s site selection and the Thorns’ vineyard management.

For over 10 years, the vineyards developed a fine reputation and the fruit 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 – small batches of Shiraz were made through to wine – and so began the Thorn-Clarke story.

AWARDS

95 Points – Halliday Wine Companion 2021

95 Points – Halliday Wine Companion Cellaring Selections 2020

60yo vines, partial whole bunch fermentation,10 days on skins, pressed to French oak (15% new)for 18 months maturation. The medley of forest floor fruits (wild strawberry, raspberry) with very good length and balance.

94 Points – Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, March 2020

Sweetly fruited and delightfully perfumed, the bouquet shows Black Doris plum, raspberry and floral characters with nuances of anise and vanilla. It’s succulent and fleshy on the palate, delivering excellent fruit purity and vibrancy, wonderfully complemented by silky texture and rounded tannins. A fabulous expression.

91 Points – Bob Campbell MW 2020

Fresh, supple grenache with red fruits, raspberry, blueberry, mixed spice and subtle spicy oak flavours. An accessible red offering good drinking now but moderate cellaring potential.

15.5% alcohol. This is from the old vine block in Saleyards Road. It’s sweetly fruited and aromatic with rich ripe cherry and berry fruit. Sleek and intense, and very expressive in a ripe style. 93/100. – Jamie Goode, WineAnorak.com (2018 vintage)