Glaetzer Amon-Ra Shiraz 2007, Barossa Valley

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 benchmark Barossa Valley reds. Today, Ben Glaetzer carries on this winemaking tradition at Glaetzer Wines.

Name & Label
In Egyptian mythology, Amon-Ra is considered to be 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 citizends of the temple. The eye on the front of the label is the all-seeing eye of Horus or wedjat ('whole one') - a powerful Egyptian symbol of protection. It is represented as a figure with six parts, corresponding to what Egyptians regarded as the six senses, - touch, taste, hearing, sight, smell and thought. Ben created Amon-Ra Shiraz to appeal to all those senses.

Wine
2007 is the most age-worthy Amon-Ra Shiraz we have made. This vintage is the 7th release of Amon-Ra Shiraz and the smallest volume we have released since the tiny 2003 vintage. The strict quality selections we have made in this 2007 vintage have been rigorous and uncompromising. The total make is tiny but our integrity is such that we had to be prepared to reduce total makes for the sake of wine quality and our reputation. It is worth noting that the 2003 (equally as challenging as the 2007) is drinking supurbly now and is one of the stars of our cellar.

The key to Amon-Ra Shiraz is balancing the extraction rather than maximizing it as the fruit has such expression that we aim to preserve the characteristics of the vineyard rather than dominate them. At release, the 2007 Amon-Ra Shiraz is a tight wine due to the tannins of this vintage, with the trademark elegance, finesse and balance. Stylistically it is like the 2005 although more concentrated at this stage.

Variety: 100% Dry-grown Shriaz
Region: All fruit for Glaetzer wines is taken from the small sub-region of the northern Barossa Valley, called Ebenezer. The viticulture used is standard single wire, with permanent arm rod and spur. Many of the very old vines (80-120 years old) have now been trained onto a trellis for ease of pruning, harvesting and for disease and frost control.
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 fermenation 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: 14.5%
pH: 3.47
Total Acidity: 7.10g/l
Residual Sugar: 0.8g/l
Cellaring: 15+ years

2007 Vintage Report - Ebenezer, Barossa Valley
The 2007 vintage in the Barossa was a diffucult year with both drought and frost resulting in below average yields - only 1/2 Ton - 1 Ton per acre across our range. The greatest challenge at Glaetzer has been to harness the intensity and concentration of fruit to keep the trademark elegance and balance across our portfolio of wines. Three years of low rainfall and the resultant dry sub-soil, meant less radiant heat around the vines and therefore greater risk of frost. The frost struck at bud burst and we lost 30% of this original crop. Due to this early damage, secondary bud burst was delayed and ripening was later than usual by about 3 weeks. The weather remained mild throughout the growing season but our crop was the smallest in many years.