Relative Values: Colin & Ben Glaetzer

Some of the most interesting bottles, not to mention heartening stories, come from family-run operations, writes Joe Breen, in a wine round-up.

Feel like an Egyptian?
It was definitely a serendipitous moment when I happened across a bottle of Glaetzer Wallace Shiraz-Grenache, tasted it and loved it.  That was a little while ago.  Fast-forward three weeks or so, and I'm sitting at a dinner hosted by Charles Searson, of Seasons Wine Merchants, the night before a tasting of his 2006 portfolio of wines. And to my left is Ben Glaetzer, who makes this spicy, fruit-rich wine and many other fine wines at his winery in Australia's Barossa Valley.

Glaetzer is one of the stars of the evening, and his wines make quite an impression, too.  At just 28 he has already enjoyed the kind of success most winemakers only dream of.  His signature wines, Godolphin and Amon-Ra, have received rave reviews from critics such as Robert Parker and James Halliday, with Parker acclaiming the 2004 Godolphin, a blend of 70 per cent Shiraz and 30 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon made from ancient vines, as a 'nearly perfect wine'.

Although the labels of the other wines in the Glaetzer line-up are the essence of simplicity, Godolphin and Amon-Ra feature Egyptian motifs.  Glaetzer is fascinated by ancient Egypt - and the temple of large-scale winemaking.  Both Godolphin and Amon-Ra are aimed at an elite.  They are produced in small quantities and the Godolphin...(is) stunning with an impressive structure and a velvety elegance....The modestly named Glaetzer Shiraz 2004 is rich, restrained and almost modest in tone compared with its big stable mates.

Glaetzer didn't lick his talent off the ground.  His father created one of the great Australian Shirazes, E&E Black Pepper.  But Ben is a man in a hurry.  Not only does he operate in the family winery, he is also the winemaker and co-owner of Heartland Wines, a mid-priced range sourced primarily from the Limestone Coast and Langhorne Creek, two areas we will hear a lot more about.  Heartland's innovative Dolcetto Lagrein 2004 is a creamy and mildly edgy take on two very Italian grapes, while Directors' Cut Shiraz is a spicy, brooding monster...

Young Glaetzer obviously doesn't sleep....and when I last saw him he was contemplating a trawl through the pubs of Dublin for a perfect pint of Guinness.