Winemaking Philosophy

Welcome

Thorn-Clarke Wines shows a lot of respect for the diversity the Barossa has to offer and has subsequently developed four vineyard sites to capitalise on this, two within the cool climate Eden Valley and two within the warmer Barossa floor. This strategy is by no means unique, however as our Winemaker (aka ‘Caretaker’) points out “No-one can do exactly what we do. Our dirt is unique.” Our winemaking philosophy centres strongly around blending from our four vineyard sites in developing highly complex wines which show great elegance. With control in the vineyards it is not surprising to hear that in recent years we have also built our own winery, located at our Milton Park office and cellar door. This has given us control from the vineyard to the glass – an envious position for any winery.

Our winemaker, Derek Fitzgerald, strongly believes in producing wines of great complexity, elegance and balance. Expert blending not only across batches of fruit from varying vineyards but also across oak batches (primarily French and American, but also incorporating degree of char) allows these three important elements to be present across our entire portfolio. This is no more evident than in the Adelaide Wine Show winning 2004 Shotfire Quartage/Cuvée which comprised of 27 different batches.