Australia: Ben Glaetzer - AMON-Ra Shiraz 2021, Barossa Valley

100% Shiraz grown in the famed Ebenezer district of the northern Barossa. Vines between 50-130 years old. Matured for 16 months in 100% new oak hogshead barrels. 15% alcohol. 

I don't very often drink Shiraz. But I was recently treated to a glass of this, reminding me that this wine is an Australian icon.

When looking at reviews, it's clearly one of Australia's finest. When you compare it with Penfolds Grange, regarded as the country's finest wine selling for £400 to £582 (yes, per bottle) for recent vintages and scoring 96 to 98 points, Amon-Ra's 93 to 97 points starts to look rather good value! And with only one outlier at 93 points and the rest clustered at 95 to 97, the quality here is undoubtedly sky high.

Some of the world's oldest vines are in the Barossa, while Ben has led a modern wave of boutique producers who are combining this old vine fruit with contemporary winemaking methods. BOY am I impressed with this wine. No wonder it has so many devotees.

It's full-bodied of course but it is so controlled: it boasts energy, purity of fruit, freshness, and precision. I wrote a paper on the importance of moderating alcohol in order to retain freshness in hot climate reds (which increasingly struggle to sell if they overpower) via various methods in the vineyard and winery, without resorting to using water to bring the alcohol down - Ben agrees, and this wine demonstrates it!

I'd pour one big glass and share the bottle between a few people; as Shanteh Wale says, serve "in your best glasses with someone that deserves a treat."

Food pairing

Beef (ribeye, sirloin), slow-cooked lamb, venison, mushrooms and truffle, mature cheeses. Or just enjoy on its own with salted dark chocolate - they go together really nicely!

What the experts say 

These are incredibly high scores - only the world's top-tier wines tend to score in this range:

96 points: impact, purity, lacy acidity....great depth and concentration....it's a cracker - James Halliday, 2023. 

97 points: fresh, supple, the flow unbroken and svelte; chewy, pliable tannins. A real pleasure, and not just now, it will be later, too. Drink to 2045 at least - Wine Advocate, 2023.

95 points: full of power and depth with tannins that intertwine between perky acidity and layer upon layer of fruit and spice. Savoury, detailed, just a total pleasure to drink - Wine Pilot, 2023. 

97 points: one of the greats; framed in supple, fine-grained tannins. Benchmark - T Stelzer

95 points: this is the cream of the crop and the wine that Ben hangs his hat on for full flavoured, multi-layered elegant and finely balanced Barossa Shiraz. Vine age is between 50-130 years from Ebenezer. I can liken the experience of this wine to unwrapping those mixed berry fruit roll ups as a child. The sticky chew and snap of intensely flavoured blackberry and raspberry that dreams are made of, but this is a grown-up dream. The experience lasts beyond when you’re finished drinking with cassia bark, black pepper and vanilla bean. It’s full of power and depth with tannins that intertwine between perky acidity and layer upon layer of fruit and spice. It’s savoury and detailed and just a total pleasure to drink. Pour this in your best glasses with someone that deserves a treat - Shanteh Wale

97 points: a wine that illustrates how traditional Barossa can be expressed in modern hands. It’s a Shiraz from 50 to 130 year old Ebenezer vines, revealing power and poise. Traditional open fermentation was adopted with hand plunging three times a day. Deep plum and minerally characters merge on the nose. A slightly cedary factor lifts with a dense dark chocolate and spicy plum. Chalky find tannins perfectly integrated combine to take a concentrated powerful palate to an effortlessly long finish - Ray Jordan