Glaetzer Amon-Ra Shiraz 2008

The Glaetzer Family
The Glaetzer family has been part of the Barossa Valley and its viticulture history since 1888. After thirty years of winemaking, Colin Glaetzer established the family winery to create wines he's passionate about - limited quantities of of benchmark Barossa Valley reds. Today, Ben Glaetzer carries on this winemaking tradition at Glaetzer Wines.

Name & Label
In Egyptian mythology, Amon-Ra is considered the king of all gods. The temple of Amon-Ra was believed to be the first temple to ever plant a mono-culture vineyard to produce wine for the citizens of the temple. The eye on the label is the all-seeing eye of Horus - a powerful Egyptian symbol of protection. It is represented as a figure with six parts, corresponding to what Egyptians regard as the six senses, - touch, taste, hearing, sight, smell and thought. Ben created Amon-Ra to appeal to those senses.

The Wine
2008 is the 8th release of Amon-Ra shiraz and the smallest volume since the tiny 2003 vintage - even lower than the 2007 make. To decrease the total make of Amon-Ra once again has been essential to maintain the quality of the wine. The strict fruit selections we have made in this vintage have been rigorous and uncompromising. We are always willing to sacrifice quantity for quality.

The key to Amon-Ra shiraz is balancing the extraction rather than maximizing it as the fruit as such expression that we aim to preserve the characteristics of the vineyard rather than dominate them. At release, the 2008 Amon-Ra is more forward and lifted than the 2007. The difficulty this vintage was harnessing the intensity of fruit, and balancing different levels of ripeness. Harvesting key parcels of excellent fruit before the heat spike was crucial.  The Amon-Ra has captured the intensity of fruit of this vintage, and retains its trademark elegance, finesse and balance. Cellaring: 15 + years.

Variety: 100% dry grown shiraz
Region: Barossa Valley (Ebenezer sub-region)
Age of vines: 50-120 years old
Vineyard yield: 1/2 T/acre (1.2 Tonnes per hectare)
Vinification: fermented in 1 and 2 tonne open fermenters, hand plunged 3 times daily. A small percentage completed primary fermentation in oak. Matured on lees to maintain fruit profile and animation. Minimal SO2. Topped up every 3 weeks.
Oak: 20% American and 80% French (90% hogsheads, 10% barriques)
Age of barrels: 100% new oak
Time in barrel: 15 months, then bottled unfiltered
Alc/Vol: 15%
pH: 3.5
Total Acidity: 6.9g/l
Residual Sugar: 1g/l

2008 Vintage Report - Ebenezer, Barossa Valley
2008 in the Barossa will be remembered as a difficult year to manage due to a heat spike during vintage. Daily monitoring of fruit quality and flavour development was extremely important. Several different parcels were harvested separately in short breaks before the main heat burst. With smart canopy management during the growing season, we have a vintage, albeit small, that we are very proud of.
The 2008 vintage shows great purity of fruit and firm but fine tannins, giving great structure and power to the wines.