2023 Thomas Wines Sweetwater Ridge Shiraz

Winemakers CommentsSince our very first vintage 28 years ago Ive been very fortunate to have established long-term relationships with some of the most amazing growers in the Hunter Valley and this has been absolutely core to the success of our brand. Unfortunately not actually owning all the vineyards that we make wine from comes with the inherent risk of losing access to those grapes.In 2016 what we have come to know as the Sweetwater vineyard was sold. The new owner and I did not exactly see eye to eye pretty much from the outset and over the next few years we had a legal stoush over the Sweetwater trademark which we all know was only made significant by our great work and wines since that vineyard was planted in 1998. The end of my relationship with this vineyard was clearly and unfortunately inevitable.Fortunately I could see the writing on the wall so I commenced my contingency plan in 2017. Darren and Tracey Scott own the adjacent property Ridgeview Estate at the very end of Sweetwater Road. We have been sourcing grapes from this fantastic vineyard since 2017 with the very first bottling of a single vineyard wine labeled as Belford Shiraz happening in that very first vintage.The Belford Shiraz has been extremely well received over the years particularly amongst our members and in the 2022 vintage this vineyard has finally taken centre stage as our prime Sweetwater offering. We have decided to label the wine as Sweetwater Ridge from this vintage forward to be completely transparent with the change of vineyards.These vineyards are situated literally just over the fence from each other both planted in 1998 almost certainly with the same clone 1654 of Shiraz. The redbrown loamy soils over limestone found in this area tend to provide a distinctive floral lift and complexity to Shiraz. This vineyard was our very first Shiraz pick of the vintage and interestingly also the ripest on the 17th of February. Hand-picked destemmed but not crushed the whole berry fermentation commenced after a 24-hour cold soak. At the end of a ten day fermentation on skins the wine was pressed off into a selection of new one two and three-year-old premium French oak 300L Hogsheads for maturation.The wine spent 13 months in oak before our final blending decisions with only the very best barrels going to this wine and a few to our 22 Elenay Shiraz blend. Bottled in June 2023 and rested for 11 months prior to release in May 2024Trophy - 2023 Hunter Valley Boutique Wine Show Best One-Year-old ShirazGold Medal - 2023 Hunter Valley Boutique Wine ShowTasting NotesDeep glossy purple colour with a flamboyantly fragrant nose hinting at fresh flowers raspberry conserve and five-spice alongside ripe mulberry damson plum and sour-cherry.A charming palate of luscious boysenberry black plum like fruit notes with varietal black-pepper spice. There are hints of roast coffee blackberry liqueur dried vanilla and cola from time in deluxe oak. This is a long and layered wine with a unique silken texture and an irresistible personality. Delicious drinking now but will reward some medium-term cellaringDrink 2024 - 2030Bottled - 20th June 2023Production - 867 dozenReleased - 18th May 2024ABV - 13.7