The first time I heard of this winery was when it won some major award with its 2005 Shotfire Shiraz. That wine flew off retailers’ shelves in a matter of days, and I was too slow off the mark. My next encounter was with the 2008 Shotfire Quartage, a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. It was a pretty plush wine, Bordeaux with a sunny Barossa smile.
The 2009 was just as seductive, and for some reason 1st Choice Liquor decided to run a special on the wine at $14. I only bought one case at that price, thinking the wine’s fruit was so plush that it wouldn’t keep for long. We drank the last bottle a few years later, and it was delicious. Ever since, the Quartage has been one of our favourite reds.
Mount Crawford vineyard, Eden Valley
Going Against the Grain
David Clarke is a geologist by training, and among his forefathers were miners in the Barossa goldfields. David married Cheryl Thorn in the mid-eighties, and Cheryl’s family had been growing grapes in the Barossa since the 1870s. They decided to plant vineyards of their own, on land carefully selected by David for soil quality and aspect.
At that time in the mid-eighties, South Australia was facing a glut of red wine. Anyone remember Shiraz muffins? Cabernet Conserve? These were neat ideas but didn’t drain the lake of surplus wine, so the government launched a vine-pull scheme. It was a kneejerk reaction so typical of jittery politicians with no long term vision: it paid grape growers to grub out vines. Many did, and many selected the oldest and least productive vines.
At a time when a pall of smoke hung over the valley from the burning vines, David Clarke bought two sections of land in the Barossa and two in the Eden Valley. It was a brave and far-sighted move, and a smart one I suspect since good vineyard land in the Barossa would never be so cheap again.
A Time to Grow
About 10 years later, Robert Parker paid South Australia a visit, sampled some of the Barossa reds and declared old vine Shiraz and Grenache to be among the world’s greatest reds. Those growers who’d hung onto their old vines had big smiles on their faces; others had their heads hung low. For those of you not familiar with Robert Parker, the American has been described as the colossus of the wine world.
By this time, David and Cheryl Clarke had quietly planted and tended their four vineyards, St Kitts, Kabininge, Milton Park and Mt Crawford in the High Eden. They sold the grapes to various wineries, until they decided to start making their own wine in 2001 as many growers had done after the devastation caused by corporate raiders buying up wineries for reasons they couldn’t remember a week later. More here: How Southcorp and Fosters trashed Australia’s greatest wine icons.
The extended family: Cheryl and son Sam standing up, David at his wife’s feet.
Today Thorn-Clarke makes about a million bottles of wine under almost a dozen labels:
- Barossa Trail
- Cool Woods
- Milton Park
- Mount Crawford
- Sandpiper
- Terra Barossa
- Shotfire
- Eden Trail
- Thorn-Clarke
- William Randell
- Ron Thorn
Peter Kelly is the chief winemaker since Helen McCarthy left to make wine at Mountadam in 2015. Peter worked with Thorn-Clarke in the early days as assistant winemaker, left in 2010 to work in other wineries such as d’Arenberg and Peter Lehmann, and returned five years later. Peter likes big reds, as the photo shows
The Wines
The whites tend to be gentle creatures, not just the Rieslings but also the Chardonnays which display a softness we see in many Eden Valley chardies. The reds are closer to the brawny end of the scale, wines for lovers of big reds and rare beef. I prefer a little more elegance and subtlety, and the Shotfire Ridge reds come closest while retaining their rich fruit and generosity.
The Sandpiper range hits the bullseye in terms of value. These wines typically sell for $15 and sometimes less, and they deliver a lot of flavour for the money. The 2018 Riesling was our Wine of the Week a couple of Fridays ago, and I prefer it to the softer Eden Trail Riesling. I also like the Sandpiper Pinot Gris 2018.
At the upper end of the price scale, we find the William Randell and Ron Thorn reds. These are serious wines that have clearly had the best treatment: profound fruit wrapped in expensive oak, musclebound wines made for the long haul. We review some of the wines in this week’s Best Buys Weekly.
The Torn-Clarke story is one of quiet achievers who followed the courage of their convictions.