The Thorn-Clarke family has a long history in the Barossa - six generations of involvement in the region's world famous wine industry. The winery owners - David and Cheryl Clarke (born Thorn), daughter Nicole, and son Sam - strive to ensure their children and the next generations will inherit a successful, respected, and environmentally sustainable business that continues to produce premium wines.
The name Thorn-Clarke represents the union between two families with deep roots in the Barossa Valley and six generations of grape growing. Cheryl Clarke’s (nee Thorn) family were one of the earliest settlers in the region and have been growing grapes since the 1870s. The Thorn family property ‘Clifton’ is home to one of the oldest Shiraz vineyards in Australia, and perhaps the world, with earliest records for plantings dating back to 1854. It is still owned and operated by Cheryl’s brother.
David Clarke’s family was also a pioneer in the Barossa Valley but more famously for mining gold. An ancestor, James Goddard, was responsible for opening the Lady Alice gold mine in the Barossa goldfields, the largest gold mine in South Australia at the time. A geologist by training and wine lover at heart, David set about testing soils to identify prime plots of land to acquire and plant vines. David and Cheryl’s first vineyard in 1987 was Kabininge, outside Tanunda (the name means “watering hole” in aborigine). They later acquired more land in Barossa and in The Eden Valley. This took a lot of Australian pluck at that time. During the late 1980s the South Australian government was sponsoring growers to remove vines, not plant them, to manage oversupply.
Following success as grape growers supplying other Barossa wineries with fruit, David and Cheryl founded the Thorn-Clarke winery in 2002 with daughter, Nicole, and son, Sam. The Thorn-Clarke family has a strong belief in the age-old saying "you can't make good wine from bad grapes." Theirs is a long term approach to serve as a custodian for the Barossa’s reputation and their families’ commitment to making great wines. The vineyard team focuses first on nurturing quality grapes from prime land without cutting corners. Once grapes are harvested and into the winery it’s about balance: using specific strains of yeast and appropriate types of oak to create complexity without overpowering the fruit.
The approach has worked, and the family has struck gold with its wines, collecting a succession of trophies and medals at international wine shows. The Eden Valley vineyard has become synonymous with high quality white wines and the Barossa with high quality reds.
Thorn-Clarke has a strong belief in the age old saying "you can't make good wine from bad grapes" and to this they owe a lot of their success. In the late 1980's, governments were sponsoring growers to pull vines in an attempt to overcome an oversupply in the industry. Against trend, David Clarke, a geologist by training, set about testing soils and buying land (at one time under car headlights to avoid local farmer suspicion) with the intention of establishing his own vineyards in the Barossa. Developing a great understanding for the diversity of the Barossa, David purchased land in two sections of the Eden Valley and two in the Barossa Valley. The Eden Valley has since become synonymous with high quality white wines and the Barossa with high quality reds.
Barossa Valley
The Barossa Valley was settled in the early 1840s by small farmers and artisans seeking religious freedom from their native Silesia (now Poland). The warm, fertile valley is ideal for ripening grapes, especially red varietals.
Kabininge Vineyard
Located on the Barossa Valley floor at just 270 metres (886 feet) above sea level, the 33 hectare (81.5 acres) Kabininge vineyard is true Barossa Valley terroir. The dark grey to dark brown carbonaceous clay soil is referred to as “Bay of Biscay,” named after the rough seas off the coast of France. While this reactive soil can cause mayhem for the foundations of buildings, it’s conducive to growing grapes. 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.
Elevation: 270m (886 feet)
Rainfall: 500mm (19.7 inches)
St Kitts and Truro Vineyards
Cooler and with lower rainfall than Kabininge, these northern Barossa vineyards totaling 103 hectares (255 acres), have an elevation of between 380 and 410 metres (1,247-1,345 feet). Thin, moderately well-developed residual soils comprised of marble, schist, Truro Volcanics and Heatherdale Shale necessitate a careful vineyard layout matching variety to soil type, restricting yields. The tough conditions make vines work hard to produce voluptuous whites and enduring reds. Shiraz again is the predominant red varietel supported by plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec.
Elevation: 390 metres (1,280 feet)
Rainfall: 480 mm (19 inches)
Eden Valley
First planted with vines by Englishman Joseph Gilbert in 1847, this verdant cool climate region has become synonymous with white wines of exceptional quality and reds with a wisp more elegance than from Barossa. Thorn-Clarke has two vineyards in Eden Valley.
Mount Crawford Vineyard
With higher rainfall and elevations up to 475 meters (1,558 feet) above sea level, the 37 hectare (91 acres) Mount Crawford Vineyard provides a cool climate setting for white varietals Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris. Its north facing location provides much needed warmth in spring and autumn, and the tough mountain soil makes the vines work hard to achieve excellent flavor and acid levels.
Elevation: 470 m (1,542 feet)
Rainfall: 775 mm (305 inches)
Milton Park Vineyard
Located between Angaston and Keyneton at 330-400 metres (1,082-1,313 feet) above sea level, the Milton Park Vineyard is located in classic cool climate sub-region recognized for its many outstanding Shiraz producers. Blocks of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are planted to maximize fruit exposure to lower autumn sun while Petit Verdot is planted to at lower levels for more direct sunlight.
Elevation: 350 m (1,149 feet)
Rainfall: 545mm (21.5 inches)
Thorn-Clarke's winemaking team has the philosophy that great wines are made in the vineyard not the winery and that the members of the teams are custodians rather than creators of quality. Helen McCarthy, who leads their winemaking team, strongly believes that to make wines with complexity and elegance, the first step is getting the vineyards right.
Once harvested, the winemaking team uses the differences in vineyard expression to their advantage. The winemakers spend enormous amounts of time tasting the wines and perfecting blends. Their yeast and oak philosophy is simple, they should add to the complexity and balance of the wine, they shouldn't dominate it. In both cases the selection of strain or oak type depends on the characters and structure naturally found in the fruit.
This successful, reasonably large operation with vineyards dating back to the 1850s offers an assortment of wines under various labels (Milton Park, Terra Barossa, Shotfire Ridge, and William Randall). Their offerings are undeniably seductive, modern-styled, classic South Australian wines exhibiting copious quantities of upfront fruit, full body, and abundant oak. The proprietors claim they "over deliver."
-Robert Parker, Wine Advocate #161, October 2005
I had loved [Thorn Clarke] values when I was covering Australia. They come from David Thorn and Cheryl Clarke, the latest family members following six generations of vignerons and wine producers in the Barossa Valley, tracing their history back through 1870. Like a number of producers in South Australia, the quality here is extremely high and the prices very consumer-friendly
-Robert Parker, Wine Advocate #201, June 2012
The color is pale straw with a green hue on release. The aroma is fresh lifted lemon. Bright ripe lemon fruit characters dominate the palate and crisp minerally acid forms the backbone of the wine. The palate has rich citrus flavors, balanced by natural acidity and intense flavor. The wine has a refreshingly clean finish with long acid persistence.
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Item Number | Unit | Units/Case | Type | UPC - bottle | SCC - case | SRP/Unit |
A1EE294221RSS | 750ml | 12 | Glass | 8 53065 00020 7 | 1 08 53065 00020 4 | $14.99 |
A warm dry spring led to into similarly dry conditions in December and January. The warm weather brought harvest on in the first week of February. A couple of good rain events led to milder conditions slowed down the ripening and allowed the fruit to develop well. Whites from 2016 show good flavor and balance.
Harvest was carried out at night. The fruit was pressed (using an airbag press) within an hour of harvest. Care was taken not to lose the delicate Riesling aromas and flavor precursors in the juice. After settling, the juice was warmed and inoculated with a neutral yeast selected for its ability to respect the purity of Riesling.
Post fermentation the wine was stabilised, minimally fined, filtered then bottled.
This wine can be enjoyed with a vast array of foods. The winemaker recommends enjoying this with spicy tandoori chicken.
"Estate grown and skilfully made to preserve the flowery, citrus fruits of the bouquet and palate. It is from the velvet glove and steel hand school, offering great varietal fruit now, and long into the future. It has the tactile acidity found in a few young Rieslings. Grows on you each time it is retasted."
- Halliday Wine Companion (2018), 95 pts
"Elegance, purity and restraint define this wine, giving a Mosel-like character to the apple and juicy citrus fruit on a crisp, light bodied frame. A dry finish follows."
- Decanter (April 2018), 94 pts
"This is pretty drinking. The wine offers classic Eden characters of lemon blossom, mixed citrus peel, Bickfords Lime Cordial in bouquet. The palate takes a similar tack, frisky with grapefruity acidity, juicy with more Bickfords lime going on, and offers pristine flavours through its good, refreshing length. A kiss of sweetness to close heightens drinkability. Nicely done"
- Wine Business Monthly (May 2017), 92 pts
"An ultra-youthful wine probably best to drink with a few years of age on it. Tight closed nose and very tight and intense citrus palate. Good understanding of the variety."
- Winestate Magazine
"Brilliant straw. High-pitched aromas of fresh citrus fruits, white flowers and chalky minerals, joined by an emerging hint of succulent herbs. Taut and sharply focused on the palate, offering bitter lime zest and quince flavors and a deeper melon note. Clean, racy and tense, delivering strong closing bite, stony persistence and a suave echo of honeysuckle. - Josh Raynolds"
- Vinous (Australia Brings the Brawn and the Beauty, October 2017), 90 pts
"Bright straw. Fresh tangerine, melon and peach on the fragrant nose and in the mouth. Juicy and focused, with a diesel accent building in the glass. Closes taut, spicy and dry, with good persistence and a subtle floral nuance. - Josh Raynolds"
- VInous (March 2016), 89 pts
"Pale yellow. Spicy, floral and bright on the highly perfumed nose, offering scents of citrus peel and green apple. Spicy, firm and light in body, with intense flavors of bitter lemon, lime pith and chalky minerality. Zesty, firm and long on the lime-tinged finish."- Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, 90 pts
"Slightly cheesy on opening then into the more traditional citrus and subtle tropical fruit. It?s juicy and fresh with decent flavour, a shapely cut of acid and dry finish. Perhaps a little rough and commercial but a good wine and a good drink too."
Wine Front, Gary Walsh (February 29th 2012), 89 pts