Description
Winemaker Adam Barton after working for Scarpantoni (McLaren Vale), Rolf Binder (Barossa), Wynns Coonawarra Estate and iconic Bonny Doon (California) wasted no time to complete a winemaking degree at Adelaide University. Atlas Wines began on a 26-acre block of land, a vineyard planted with Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, on the eastern slopes of the Clare Valley. The year was 2007. Adam Barton and Amy Lane made an investment in Clare and an investment in their future. Their vision for Atlas was pretty simple: to produce great wine from the highest-quality fruit from vineyards with exceptional provenance. Adam has come to understand the complexity and diversity of the Clare Valley, and how the unique characteristics of different sites produce fruit with distinctive qualities. It’s these qualities that they have sought to express through the wines they have made. As such, the Atlas house style is a carefully composed mosaic of the region. It is a true boutique producer. The red wines, sourced primarily from White Hut in the north and Leasingham in the south, are elegant yet powerful, and well structured; the whites, sourced from several sites at Watervale are finely structured, aromatic and pure.
Not surprising James Halliday rated them a 5 Red Star Winery saying “...The quality of the wines is extraordinarily good and extraordinarily consistent.”
About this wine from the winemaker: “This wine was made predominantly from fruit we know very well – the Shiraz grown at our own vineyard at White Hut, just outside the Clare township. The vines here grow in a mosaic of soil types which are generally quite bony, yielding fruit with incredible power and intensity. This is supplemented with fruit from neighbouring vineyards and from our vineyard at Leasingham, at the southern end of the valley which has a cooler aspect and contributes elegance and spice.
“This Shiraz was handled in small batches and hand-plunged in open fermenters, for gentle extraction of colour and flavour while maintaining a soft, supple mouthfeel. This approach helps the ferment breathe and allows us to keep a very close eye on the development of the wine through fermentation to ensure that it’s not over-extracted. It’s a hallmark of a truly handcrafted boutique wine. After fermentation, the wine was barrel-matured in quality French oak, in a combination of hogsheads and puncheons for approximately 18 months prior to barrel selection and bottling with minimal filtration.”
“This Shiraz is a luscious garnet with purple hues and displays a lifted yet intense nose of blackberry, blood plum and mocha with hints of smoky oak and some regional mintiness. It’s a medium to full-bodied wine with generous blackcurrant, blueberry and fruitcake flavours overlying fine structural tannins, subtle oak and soft acidity which will stand the wine in good stead for years to come. Decant and allow to breathe before serving.”
91 points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front “Rich, ripe and round. A dark-fruited, sloshy textured, glistening Clare shiraz of good energy and sense of freshness, despite the concentration and bold character on show. Blackberry compote, black jellybeans, clove and cinnamon spice between the bouquet and palate. Silky tannins shaping things nicely. The finish a bit smudged with gritty tannin and twiggy spice notes, but fine, you’ll get past that for the most part. Easygoing shiraz.”
RRP $29 **SPECIAL BUY $23.99 when you buy 6 or more of this wine*
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