Glaetzer Eye of Ra Barossa Valley Shiraz 2016  £250.00

Glaetzer Amon Ra Barossa Valley Shiraz

The Eye of Ra is an ultra-premium Shiraz that reflects Ben Glaetzer’s aspiration to make the perfect wine. A wine with astounding power and complexity countered by exemplary elegance.

In Egyptian mythology, The Eye of Ra was the powerful feminine counterpart to the sun god Ra. The Eye’s forceful protective deeds were celebrated alongside its nurturing life giving gifts to Egypt.

The symbol depicts the sun surrounded by protective cobras and wings.

The Eye of Ra represented a polarity of the extreme force of the sun’s heat countered by the sun’s nurturing gaze. Similarly, Ben Glaetzer developed The Eye of Ra Shiraz which features incredible depth and power countered by exemplary elegance and restraint leading to amazing evolution in the bottle and glass.

Winemaker notes for the 2016...

I have always aspired to create the perfect wine. The Eye of Ra Shiraz journey began when I was tasting fruit out in the Barossa Valley Ebenezer vineyards during the amazing 2016 vintage. I realised that fruit from selected individual vines across a small number of chosen vineyards had the outstanding combination of characters to create a wine to be the epitome of Barossa Shiraz. The wine then progressed through vinification exceeding the highest levels of my expectations. To me, The Eye of Ra 2016 Shiraz represents the very best that the famed Ebenezer district in the Barossa Valley has to offer from a truly extraordinary 2016 vintage. It is the first wine I have released that I have deemed to be beyond exceptional.

Ben Glaetzer

TERROIR & VINEYARDS

The Eye of Ra 2016 Shiraz was sourced from selected vines from four outstanding vineyards out of the famed Ebenezer sub-district at the northern tip of the Barossa Valley. The fruit was hand-harvested from low-yielding vines aged up to 110 years predominantly in deep sandy soils of a red-brown texture known as contrast soils.

WINEMAKING

The parcels were fermented separately in small open fermenters and gently hand-plunged 3 times daily. During fermentation, the temperature was kept very cool (sub 18˚ C) to enhance the fresh aromatic profile without over-extraction. The wine was then matured for 16 months in 100% new French oak hogsheads with natural malolactic fermentation continuing in oak during maturation. The fine-grained French hogsheads were of the highest quality with tannin profiles selected to best express the flavours of the individual parcels.

TASTING NOTES

The Eye of Ra 2016 Shiraz offers a bouquet of radiant intensity with masses of wild herbs, spiced plum and a cornucopia of blackberry and cedar scents. Showing astounding depth and volume at all levels, the dark and brooding nature of the wine is only enhanced with time in the glass.  The palate is rich and generous yet elegantly structured. Taut, compelling and effortlessly classy displaying sublime fruit purity with an inky line and a wonderfully balanced framework of finely polished tannin. Vibrant multilayered and complex flavours of dark plum, liquorice and dried spice finishing with juicy acidity and an amazingly long, bright and fresh finish. Extended cellaring will most definitely reward as the wine will further evolve to provide many decades of pure vinous enjoyment.   

Critics

Matthew Jukes  20+/20

2016 The Eye of Ra is a 100% Shiraz, using 100% French oak and all of the fruit comes from Ebenezer. This wine is made from the finest parcel of fruit that Ben has ever seen in his vineyard. Outstanding aromatics lead the way and the palate is nothing short of spellbinding. The finish has epic freshness and the tannins are like nothing I have encountered before from the great Glaetzer portfolio. The Eye of Ra is all about power countered with impeccable restraint and I can still recall all of its flavours several weeks later. It is one of a number of wines that I have seen lately which signal a new and fascinating epoch for Barossa Shiraz. I followed this wine over three hours that evening and it never stopped evolving in the glass. This celestial wine made a huge impression on me and it is hard for me to see how this wine can be bettered and so I am overjoyed to give it a perfect score. 

Robert Parker Wine Advocate   98 Points Glaetzer’s

2016 The Eye of Ra Shiraz boasts classy notes of pencil shavings and dark, plummy fruit. From 85-year-old vines, it’s full-bodied, rich and creamy, loaded with vanilla-tinged French oak but balanced by blueberries and blackberries and ending with lasting hints of mocha and licorice. It returns Glaetzer’s traditional Barossa winemaking to a new level of quality and elegance without sacrificing power or guts.   Joe Czerwinski