Products meeting the search criteria

Ottella Lugana DOC Le Creete is made from 100% Turbiano (clonal type of Trebbiano di Lugana)

PRODUCTION AREA: S. Benedetto di Lugana. The grapes are harvested exclusively from our own vineyards; harvesting is strictly manual in small 17kg-crates
TRAINING METHOD: Guyot, double arc
Golden, warm, intense straw yellow. Immediate exotic notes. It develops in a very pleasant fashion, good mineral impression  Rich, succulent and well balanced for a truly satisfactory mouthfeel. Mineral on the finish with just enough acidity to provide lift and depth. 
FOOD: Sea or lake fish to bring out its outstanding features; goes well with white meat and soup, and has quite a surprising affinity with tasty cheese
ALCOHOL BY VOLUME: 13% vol
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 10-12 degrees Celcius

Pago de Carraovejas El Anejon is made from 94% Tinto Fino, 4% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon .

El Anejon vineyard is a terraced plot on a steep slope, oriented toward the sun and with great views of the Castle of Peñafiel. The soil of the narrow terraces has a compact, loamy limestone texture. The presence of the white-colored limestone calcium salts contributes to a distinctive minerality in this wine. Only made in exceptional vintages.

Pearmund Cellars Ameritage Red is made from 33% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 17% Malbec, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Petit Verdot.
Cherry, currant, and herbaceous flavors. Balanced tannins with a lingering finish. Full-bodied and complex. Limited production.

Vintage Notes: A cool summer and early fall allowed a longer ripening season, helping benefit this years Cabernet Franc, as its natural spice was allowed to mature and become better defined.

Pearmund Cellars Cabernet Franc is made from100% Cabernet Franc. Known primarily as a blending grape in Bordeaux’s left bank. Its ability to grow and mature in Virginia makes it one of the States finest varietals.

Tasting Notes: A nose of cherries, raspberries and fennel. Peppery spice continues on the palate with notes of cocoa and sweet cedar wood, allowing for easy drinking. A hint of pepper will linger on the finish.

Pearmund Cellars Viognier Vinecroft Vineyard is made from 100 percent Viognier. 

Explosive tropical fruit flavors: Pineapple and peach with hints of grapefruit. Powerful, yet feminine.
Sweet and ripe on the palate with peach, apricot, pineapple, and mango notes. Long and flavorful finish.

Dry but fruity with a complex nose of tropical fruit and enhancing biscuit flavours. Crisp acid ensures a fresh, clean and verydrinkable sparkling wine.

Serving suggestion: Well chilled to make any occasion festive.

THE LEGEND

Dispatched by Jan van Riebeek in search of the perfect place to grow provisions for the Dutch East India Company, Pieter Cruythoff stumbled upon a beautiful valley. But it was more than just the scenic beauty of this valley that had caught his eye; situated in the lee of the majestic Kasteelberg, the winters were mild, the summers were hot and the soil was uncommonly fertile. What's more, ships spotted from the lookout point on Kasteelberg were just a day away from Cape Town, and so were the wagons that went to meet them, laden with the treasures of  the Riebeek Valley.

TIMELESS JEWELS

While he humbly named the valley after his patron, Jan van Riebeek, we feel it is only fitting that our valley's most coveted treasure should carry the name of its founder. So, in honour of Pieter Cruythoff, this range of fine wine bears his name.

From the vibrant whites to the seductive reds, each one is a gem gently coaxed from the fertile soil of that same magical valley. Ironically, much of the valley's bounty still finds its way to Europe, and in particular to the Netherlands, the land of Cruythoff's birth. 

Pomerols Picpoul Pinet HB Languedoc is made from 100 percent Picpoul.

Pale yellow color with green tints. Fresh and fine aromas of grapefruit and exotic fruit. Lime flavors, with typical focusing acidity, are hallmarks of Picpoul. Our best value, this wine impresses novices and hardened geeks equally.

Pomerols Picpoul Pinet HB Languedoc is made from 100 percent Picpoul.

Pale yellow color with green tints. Fresh and fine aromas of grapefruit and exotic fruit. Lime flavors, with typical focusing acidity, are hallmarks of Picpoul. Our best value, this wine impresses novices and hardened geeks equally.

Riebeek Sauvignon Blanc is 100 percent Sauvignon Blanc.

Made in a definite herbaceous style, this Sauvignon Blanc also offers tropical undertones of gooseberries that add fruit to the palate. Well-balanced with zesty acidity; fresh & crisp.

Treated as reductively as possible. Juice settled for 2 weeks at -4 Celsius to give green lees contact. Blocks fermented separately to ensure a complex flavor profile after blending. After fermentation was completed, various wines were blended to obtain the best characteristics of each wine.

Very refreshing on its own and lovely with crisp salads, light seafood dishes, tapas, steamed green asparagus and aioli.

Riley's Rows 3x3 Red Blend is made from 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Syrah, 29% Merlot

Riley’s Rows "Three by Three" Proprietary Red Blend North Coast is a great wine from some of the winery's favorite North Coast vineyard sites. The Merlot is from their Brandt ranch in Lake County…which, is one of the best vineyards in Lake County. The Cabernet and Syrah are both from great Sonoma County sites.

Riley’s Rows 3 x 3 displays a nose of ripe plum and Bing cherries with a hint of cocoa. The palate opens with ripe red berries. The mid-palate offers a delicious melange of blackberry, Rainer Cherry, and nutmeg. The wine has a long finish, very balanced acidity, and soft tannins. The wine is approachable now but will age nicely for many years to come!

Deep red with a slight purple hue on release. The wine has a rich mix of dark chocolate infused with coffee bean and black liquorice, then scents of tar, aniseed, raw (pure) soy and black olive on the nose. The palate is expansive, and yet balanced and finessed. An amalgam of dark berried flavors and textural sensations. The 100% new oak is completely absorbed, meshed with ripe tannins, completing a palate of impressive length and youthfulness.

     Slowly the tide turned, Australians began drinking more wine and Dad with his uncanny ability to select and plant Clifton Park with the grape varieties of the future, saw fortunes change for Clifton Park and the Thorn family. I loved my Dad's wry sense of humor and his work ethic was an inspiration to us all.

   "My father, Ron, was born in 1923 at the Angaston Hospital not far from where the Thorn-Clarke Winery is currently located. He was the fourth born of the nine children my grandparents raised at Clifton Park in the Eden Valley Ranges. Dad's great-grandparents took up farming land in the Barossa in the 1840's and purchased Clifton Park, where Dad grew up, in the 1870's. To this day, Clifton Park remains in the Thorn family and the 1870's vineyard still produces quality fruit.

      As the family grew, Dad showed tenacity and judgment by pulling out orchards and extending the family vineyards. During the 1950's, 60's, and 70's, times were testing for a family business based on dry land horticulture and mixed farming. Dad's strong work ethic proved an invaluable asset during the tough years on the farm and he traveled widely as a shearer, drove bulldozers and worked at the local cement works to support his family.

     Ron Thorn Shiraz is made from the best fruit that we grow and is produced only in exceptional years. This wine is given the benefit of 20 months barrel maturation and 12 months in bottle prior to release. This is our tribute to Dad's life and his contribution to the Thorn-Clarke story."  - Cheryl Thorn Clarke

Review:

The Royal Chenin Blanc Old Vines Steen is 100 percent Chenin Blanc.

As the unofficial drink of the Riebeek Valley, Chenin Blanc is the perfect every day wine that offers uncomplicated quality for the novice and connoisseur alike. Packed with upfront melon fruit, the nose charms with an abundance of guava and gooseberries as well as the signature hint of honey. The palate follows through with fruit flavors balanced by a crisp acid to ensure a fresh and fruity style of wine.

Enjoy well-chilled as a lovely crisp glass on its own but ideal for al fresco dining and with light summer fare. Beautiful with salads, anti pasti and seafood.

The grapes for this wine come vineyards in the villages of La Horra, Gumiel de Izan and Moradillo from 12 to 80 year-old vines.

Displaying a good vibrant deep cherry red color with fragrant, clear notes of cherry drop and violet there is a beautifully unadorned yet brooding quality to this; it feels deep, vinous and vibrant, flecked with bright red fruit notes, sweet earth and a darker, more spiced character on the finish.

Young and present, this is an energetic and bold expression of violets, lavender, and cassis mixed with dark chocolate, cherry, plum, and graphite. A wine happy to be tucked away in the cellar, and it’s also expressing itself beautifully now.

Review:

Lovely fragrant blackberry and black cherry fruit, cassis, and rich tobacco spices with lovely fresh earth notes and a sweet kiss of new wood cedar. Incredibly concentrated dark berry fruit with fabulously angular tannins with smooth long beams with crisp edges. Purple florals, dried sagebrush, and chocolate shavings with lids of graphite and deep iron-like mineral character. And a finish of dark saturated fruit that goes and goes for days. There are purple floras too. Polished and bright, with vivacious acidity and freshness evident from the sip to the finish. Wow, this wine.
-Decanter 98-100 Points 

The Grade Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Winfield Vineyard is made from Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

“This wine expresses a focused balancing act of dark, rich black fruit, and a fine tannin structure, illuminated through the core with a laser-like acidity. The wine displays a deep purple-red hue with a cranberry halo. Aromas of cassis, cinnamon, citrus oil, roasted meat, and lilac swell from the glass.

“The palate is marked by a wave of jet-black brambly fruit up front, followed by an exotic spice mid-palate and a long, complex finish that lasts and lasts expressing notes of flowering jasmine, and oolong tea. The silky tannins hold everything together and will certainly allow this wine to evolve in the cellar for at least 7-10 years.”  - Thomas River Brown

Review:

The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Winfield Vineyard is a blend taken from three blocks in the vineyard. A potent, layered Cabernet, the Winfield is super-expressive today. Dark red cherry, licorice, incense and savory herbs all flesh out in a potent, resonant Calistoga Cabernet that hits all the right notes. This is impressive, to say the least.

-- Antonio Galloni 95 Points

SALE!

Thorn Clarke Shotfire Shiraz is made from 100% Shiraz. 

Striking deep red-purple in color. A rich, voluptuous wine with aromas of blackcurrant and mulberries accompanied by notes of smokey oak and hints of cloves. The palate is filled with dark fruits and chocolate backed up by taut tannins and lingering oak.

Review:

This is an attractively spicy wine on the nose with red, blue and black berries all in play, as well as an earthy edge and tarry elements. Some perfume, too. The palate has quite a deep-set, blue and black-fruit core with a long, sturdy palate that holds flavor and focus well. Drink or hold. Screw cap."

- James Suckling (November 2021), 92 pts

"Destemmed, pressed approximately 7 days later, 14 months in American oak (40% new). Rich, layered, mocha/chocolate overtones to the black berry fruits are obvious."
-  Halliday Wine Companion (August 2020), 92 pts

Story:

When the Clarke forebearers discovered gold in 1870 at the Lady Alice mine in the Barossa goldfields, so began a family dynasty intrigued by geology. A fine legacy that is reflected today in the terroir of our vineyards. The Shotfire range immortalizes the Shotfirer's hazardous job of setting and lighting the charges in the mines.

Fran shares his story on how he discovered Thorn-Clarke:
     "It was October 2001 and I was searching for and sourcing for Australian wines, as it was clear that Australia was going to become the "next big thing." After tasting about 100 assorted wines, I decided I liked the style of Barossa, Shiraz best - chocolate, cherries, mint and eucalyptus - so I started focusing on Barossa growers (years later, Barossa Shiraz would develop its reputation as the Icon Shiraz for Australia).
     Late on a Thursday afternoon, the carrier delivered a beat-up box of 12 bottles from Australia, 10 of which were leaking. The box was from a guy named Steve Machin, who had just left Hardy's and was beginning work with the Clarke family on setting up a possible new brand. The samples were sticky and messy, but I popped the corks anyway ..... and I was glad that I did. The wine inside tasted like Christmas - mint, eucalyptus, camphor, and evergreen aromas. Great acidity, color, flavor and length of finish - very tasty. These samples were so good and so exciting, especially compared to what I had tasted prior, that I immediately called the number on the card. I didn't realize that it was a Perth number (Western Australia) and it was actually 3:00 in the morning. It turned out I was calling the residence of David and Cheryl Clarke, where a sleepy Cheryl answered the phone. I told her, you don't know who I am, but we are going to be doing business together very soon, and lots of it! After a few months of talking, faxing (yes, faxing) and sorting out the details, I began importing their wines.
     That super-star wine from the busted box of samples is the wine we know today as Shotfire Shiraz. It was originally called Stone Jar, but fortunately we came up with a better name. Many years and vintages later, I'm still glad to be importing Shotfire Shiraz and other Thorn-Clarke selections .... and I'm still glad that Cheryl Clarke woke up for that phone call."

SALE!

Thorn Clarke Shotfire Shiraz is made from 100% Shiraz. 

Striking deep red-purple in color. A rich, voluptuous wine with aromas of blackcurrant and mulberries accompanied by notes of smokey oak and hints of cloves. The palate is filled with dark fruits and chocolate backed up by taut tannins and lingering oak.

Story:

When the Clarke forebearers discovered gold in 1870 at the Lady Alice mine in the Barossa goldfields, so began a family dynasty intrigued by geology. A fine legacy that is reflected today in the terroir of our vineyards. The Shotfire range immortalizes the Shotfirer's hazardous job of setting and lighting the charges in the mines.

Fran shares his story on how he discovered Thorn-Clarke:
     "It was October 2001 and I was searching for and sourcing for Australian wines, as it was clear that Australia was going to become the "next big thing." After tasting about 100 assorted wines, I decided I liked the style of Barossa, Shiraz best - chocolate, cherries, mint and eucalyptus - so I started focusing on Barossa growers (years later, Barossa Shiraz would develop its reputation as the Icon Shiraz for Australia).
     Late on a Thursday afternoon, the carrier delivered a beat-up box of 12 bottles from Australia, 10 of which were leaking. The box was from a guy named Steve Machin, who had just left Hardy's and was beginning work with the Clarke family on setting up a possible new brand. The samples were sticky and messy, but I popped the corks anyway ..... and I was glad that I did. The wine inside tasted like Christmas - mint, eucalyptus, camphor, and evergreen aromas. Great acidity, color, flavor and length of finish - very tasty. These samples were so good and so exciting, especially compared to what I had tasted prior, that I immediately called the number on the card. I didn't realize that it was a Perth number (Western Australia) and it was actually 3:00 in the morning. It turned out I was calling the residence of David and Cheryl Clarke, where a sleepy Cheryl answered the phone. I told her, you don't know who I am, but we are going to be doing business together very soon, and lots of it! After a few months of talking, faxing (yes, faxing) and sorting out the details, I began importing their wines.
     That super-star wine from the busted box of samples is the wine we know today as Shotfire Shiraz. It was originally called Stone Jar, but fortunately we came up with a better name. Many years and vintages later, I'm still glad to be importing Shotfire Shiraz and other Thorn-Clarke selections .... and I'm still glad that Cheryl Clarke woke up for that phone call."

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.

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.

Thorn Clarke Single Vineyard Mataro is made from 100 percent Mataro.

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.

Striking with its inky red color and purple hues, a hallmark of a classic vintage. On the nose, briary black fruits are in abundance. Notes of Chinese five spice and currants also shine through. On the palate, blackberries and winter spice are evident. The generous and silky tannins in this wine support a long and complex finish.

The grapes were destemmed and fermented in 4 tonne open fermenters for a period of 10 days. The wine was pressed off into 10 year old oak where it was matured for a duration of 18 months before being racked in preparation for bottling. This wine has no filtration.

Thorn Clarke Terra Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon

The range is named is named in honor of the rich soils in the region which are a major factor in the Barossa’s reputation as one of the great wine regions of the world.

The wine shows a bright red with a purple hue on release. Lifted blackcurrant balances the fresh herb characters on the nose. A hint of eucalyptus is evident. The palate has bright currant characters throughout. Spice and chocolate add to the complexity of the wine. The tannins are ripe and grainy and give the wine good structure.

Thorn Clarke Terra Barossa Shiraz is made from 100 percent Shiraz

Comments

Deep purple red. Aromas of ripe plums, cherries and earth with subtle notes of vanilla and cloves. The aromas follow through onto the palate with a fruit focus, subtle oak notes and soft, rounded tannins. The wine walks the line between medium and full bodied with a plush mouthfeel.

Vinification Notes

The grapes are crushed and de-stemmed into fermenters. Yeast is added immediately once in fermenter and the ferments are pumped over twice daily to maximise colour, tannin and flavour extraction. Cooling is used to ensure ferment temperatures remain in the 22-25 degree celcius range which will allow the fruit to display maximum fruit expression. Pressing then occurs approximately seven days after crushing and the  wine is then put into predominately American oak to mature.

Review:

"This is a gently spicy shiraz with aromas of red berries and plums, gentle spice and a little perfume and spiced pastry, too. The palate has a supple and fleshy feel with bright and ripe red to dark-berry flavors. Soft, plump tannins. Drink now. Screw cap."

-James Suckling 91 Points