7 November 2008
Thorn-Clarke winery, located east of Angaston, is slightly out of the way and as we pulled into the car park I wondered, surveying the list of mining-related companies beside the door, whether we’d come to the right place, but once we’d been directed through the door on our left it was obvious we had.
The Thorn-Clarke Sandpiper core range ($15) comprised wines that were consistently excellent, starting with the 2007 Sandpiper Riesling, a really cool-climate style made from Eden Valley fruit. The 2007 Sandpiper Pinot Gris was, predictably, in the French rather than the Italian style with strong pear flavours and the 2006 Sorriso Rose, a blend of Nebbiolo and Cabernet was a dry, easy-drinking style - another one for a summer afternoon.
Of the core range reds the 2007 Sandpiper Shiraz ticked all the right boxes and the 2007 Sandpiper Cabernet Sauvignon was an excellent easy-drinking wine, as was the 2005 Sandpiper The Blend (shiraz, petit verdot and cabernet franc).
Further up the price range in the premium wines, the 2007 Shotfire Chardonnay ($20) was on the buttery side of the spectrum (the style I really like) and the 2007 Pinot Gris ($20) was surprisingly similar despite the fact that it hadn’t undergone the malolactic fermentation that usually leads to those characters. Interesting.
While subsequent purchases have been limited to a case evenly split between the 2009 Sandpiper Eden Valley Riesling and the 2005 Morello Nebbiolo I’m always on the lookout for an excuse to buy more, though one suspects that’s going to be a case of a single bottle here and there rather than a massive stockup from the winery. Not that a mixed dozen is a massive stockup, but the range is large enough to mean that mixed dozen would have to turn into two, and when you look at the possibility of reorders...