Amon-Ra Shiraz 2005, Barossa Valley at Marche Bacchus

Many of our regular readers and
customers know that if we are not
out of town on our wine trail we can

be found at Marche Bacchus in
Desert Shores for their Saturday wine tasting.

This past Saturday was no exception. Infact we made sure we were there. Owner Jeff
Wyatt pulled out all of the stops with high end Australian wines. There were five wines

hand selected by Jeff. One of the wines we have had before. Jeff poured the Glaetzer Godolphin Shriaz/Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 rated 93 points for us blind at lunch a few months ago.


The highlight for us was tasting the Glaetzer- Amon Ra Shriaz 2005

rated 98 points. The Glaetzer family has been making
wine in the Barossa Valley since 1888. The current Glaetzers Colin and Ben have done a magnificant job keeping
the Glaetzer philosophy alive and well. They focus on the production of small-volume, super premium wines.
They hold a firm belief that the wines are made in the vineyard - a combination of the French notion terroir and Australian vineyard site knowledge.

The Amon-Ra was named after the"King of all Gods" who was the
most powerful figure in Eqyptian mythology. The Glaetzers have
put much thought into the name. The temple of Amon-Ra is recorded as the birthplace of commercial winemaking, having the first ever large scale vineyard grown specifically to make wine for the citizens of the temple.

The Amon-Ra is grown from 100-110 year-old Shiraz vines in the Barossa Valley (Northern Ebenezer region) The "juice" is fermented in 1 and 2 ton open fermenters and hand plunged 3 times daily. It is then placed in Oak barrels 14 months in 100% new oak of which 20% is American and 80% French and bottled unfiltered.

In the glass we found it to be purple in color and medium bodied. The nose gave us aromas of blackberry and cherry which come through on the palate with some additional spice. This wine is elegant and finished with medium tannins.


Winemaker Ben Glaetzer stated "The 2005 vintage has provided us with exceptional reds - all wines capturing the essence of the Barossa Valley and all are reflective of the year. One of the mildest growing seasons on record enabled us to leave our shiraz on the vine until early April, allowing the fruit to be harvested with intense colour and ripe tannin. The 2005s are more fruit forward than the 2004s and have slightly tighter, 'muscular' tannins with longer cellaring potential. It was a pleasure to be able to create wines in such perfect conditions."

It was a real treat to sample these world class highy rated wines. Ower Jeff Wyatt has done a great job surprising us week after week with some great wines.