Sure to Go Down as an All-Time Classic
I’ve been looking forward to this release for quite some time. It’s a release that combines some of the greatest growers in Australia, some of the oldest vineyards in the world and a winemaker that is at the top of their game. All of that combined with the near perfect 2022 vintage, it’s sure to go down as an all-time classic.
Upon tasting through these wines, they are immense, powerful and intense, yet with real poise and finesse in each and every one of them. Not forgoing any of that classic, beautiful Barossa goodness, but with real drinkability and freshness right from day dot.
This delicate balancing act is a testament to the quality that only the best wines from exceptional vintages can achieve. Ben Glaetzer has again shown why he is held in such winemaking esteem, and if it’s at all possible, has built on this with the release of the 2022’s. – Gabriel Soltys, CellarHand
2022 Glaetzer ‘Anaperenna’ Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon RRP $55 *24 bottle limit
82% Shiraz / 18% Cabernet Sauvignon. Glaetzer Anaperenna is a seamless fusion of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. It is exquisitely generous and yet refined, with a very long satisfying finish.
Exceptional old vine fruit that was sourced from the famed Ebenezer sub district at the northern tip of the Barossa Valley. Vine age 30–100-year-old Shiraz and 30–130-year-old Cabernet. Yield is 2.5 tonnes per hectare.
The wine is fermented in 1 and 2 tonne open fermenters, hand plunged 3 times daily. Matured for 16 months in 100% new oak hogshead barrels (92% French and 8% American) and matured on lees to maintain fruit profile and animation. Bottled unfiltered to ensure minimal intervention with the wine’s natural characteristics.
In colour, the wine has an opaque purple core with a ruby red rim, which then transforms to garnet with time in bottle. It has a combination of black currants, blackberries and plum on the nose, and accompanied by fresh thyme, fennel and black pepper.
On the palate the Cabernet Sauvignon acts as a view finder to the centre of this generous Shiraz driven wine. A substantial palate is composed of the classic dark berries that typify Anaperenna. This is soft enough to savour on its own or can complement any intensely flavoured dish. It is a wine that wine mature extremely well with long term cellaring through to 2040 and beyond. – Ben Glaetzer
2022 Glaetzer ‘Amon-Ra’ Shiraz RRP $100 *36 bottle limit
Amon-Ra is an iconic wine that epitomises Ben Glaetzer’s passion to create wines that are full-flavoured, multi-layered and intense but still elegant, stylish and finely balanced.
Exceptional old vine fruit was sourced from the famed Ebenezer sub district at the northern tip of the Barossa Valley. Vine age 50—130 years old. Yield 2 tonnes per hectare.
The wine is fermented in 1 and 2 tonne open fermenters and hand plunged 3 times daily. Matured for 16 months in 100% new oak hogshead barrels (95% French and 5% American) and matured on lees to maintain fruit profile and animation. Bottled unfiltered to ensure minimal intervention with the wine’s natural characteristics.
In colour, the wine has an opaque purple core with an almost luminous quality at the rim. There are aromas of blackberry that is offset by hints of black pepper and cardamom. On the palate it is rich and delightful. A mix of power and delicacy. Dark fruit notes abound, counterpoised by elegant spice and herb notes. It is a wine that will develop beautiful with long term cellaring through to 2050. – Ben Glaetzer
I feel that Ben Glaetzer’s Amon-Ra is one of the flag bearers for contemporary Barossan shiraz, certainly when it comes to the more powerful, weighty styles. It has a sense of compression. Wildly concentrated black fruits and palate heft, yet it displays freshness and form; supple, lithe and possessed of northern subregional power writ large. There’s an imperious tannin structure but the fruit just sucks it all up and charges on. One for the sybaritic indulger of Barossan wine. It’s a ripper. 96 points. Dave Brooks, Wine Companion July 2024