Thorn Clarke William Randell Winemaker’s Small Batch Selection Barossa Shiraz 2021
- 97
- $120
- Drink by: 2026-2046
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It may sound like the proverbial broken record, but anyone who has not overstocked their cellar with the superb wines from the 2021 vintage in regions like the Barossa will come to regret their inexplicable dithering. The wine is named after a family ancestor who commissioned the first paddle steamer seen on the Murray River (okay, perhaps not quite the search for the source of the Nile, but still very impressive). After fermentation, maturation was in American oak, 40% of which was new, for a year and a half. The final wine is a barrel selection. Under cork. Near black in colour, with a dark maroon rim, the quality of the year shines through. We have aromas weaving through tobacco leaves, chocolate, beef stock, mocha, cocoa powder, cassis and a hint of gum leaf. There is serious concentration here with a supple, sleek and seductive texture, leading to silky tannins. The wine has balance, density and energy. Still refreshing, it offers superb length and will drink magnificently for the next twenty years.
Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.
