Thorn-Clarke Shotfire Shiraz

Thorn-Clarke produces four tiers of wine; Shotfire is the second highest. Grapes for the 2006 came from two estate vineyards, one on the floor of the Barossa Valley, which was planted in 1997. Vineyard blocks intended for the Shotfire Shiraz are pruned to produce smaller crops (and more concentrated grapes) than sites that supply the less expensive Thorn-Clarke bottlings.

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 2016.

Opaque purple. Ripe cherry-vanilla and blueberry aromas are complicated by suave baking spices, minerals and cola. Medium-bodied dark berry compote flavors offer good palate-coating richness and no obvious tannins. I find this livelier than past vintages of this bottling. Finishes with sweet, clinging persistence and very good clarity.

The 2006 Shiraz “Shotfire” is purple/black colored. It has an attractive bouquet of tar, licorice, blackberry, and blueberry. This leads to a structured wine with layered flavors and good depth. Give it 3–4 years to soften and drink it through 2020.

With the holidays upon us I’d like to take the opportunity to muse on few of my favorite things. Things like music, ESPN, blue skies, children playing, and the light in Joan’s eyes. Sunday mornings are special with the smell of freshly brewed coffee and guitar picking time. Occasionally I’ll indulge in Scotch and a fine cigar after dinner. More importantly, the unconditional love that family living brings, like when my dog excitedly greets me as if I’d been gone forever but all I did was go out and check the mail. For me, sipping the wine of life is what it’s all about. Speaking of which, I highly recommend the Shotfire Shiraz from both the ’05 and ’06 vintages. They’re very similar — in fact, hard to tell apart, other than the ’05 has a cork and the ’06 has a screw cap (we’ll cover that subject another time). The wines are equally gifted with seductively smooth fruit layered with ripe blackcurrant, plums and cherries naturally fused with dark chocolate, vanilla extract and allspice. These flavors will harmonize with turkey and all the trimmings as well as the beef tenderloin drizzled with a reduced Shotfire sauce I’ll be serving on Christmas Day. Come on in and let us show you a few of our favorite things.