Ben Glaetzer Amon-Ra Barossa Valley Unfiltered Shiraz 2020 - RED Red Wine
97 points,"I've looked at this wine many times over the years, almost exclusively as an older/cellared wine. The impact it has made is strong, and so it is through this lens that I now view this 2020 Amon-Ra Shiraz. This year's Amon-Ra is concentrated, dense and absolutely, utterly saturated with flavour. The fruit that spirals within the bounds of the firm tannins is fleshy and pure, and with the knowledge that the wine sails through the decade with noiseless grace, it is all the more impressive in its infancy now. A brilliant wine - all ductile and proud. Yes."- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 96 points,"Always a picture of pure fruit density and latent power, the latest release of Ben Glaetzer's Amon Ra continues that theme of Barossa concentration. Glossy blackberry, black cherry and satsuma plum fruit flow readily, that compact Ebenezer power on full display. Hints of baking spice, earth, liquorice and dark chocolate come into play, along with tightly packed, gypsum-like tannins for support, impressive acid cadence and a persistent and enduring exit. Always impressive."- James Halliday's Wine Companion Amun (a.k.a. Amun-Ra and Amon-Ra) is the chief deity of the Egyptian Empire and the god of the sun and air. He came to be worshipped outside of Egypt too, in Libya, all down the Nile River and into Greece. Ben Glaetzer's iconic wine of the same name is almost equally as powerful and maybe idolised even further afield. The Glaetzers settled in the Barossa Valley in 1888, so know a thing or two about the area. They've carved their niche in the sub-region of Ebenezer, where - in their five star-rated winery (James Halliday's Wine Companion) - they make what Matthew Jukes has called:"Silky, textural and layered… extremely serious wines."Each new vintage of Amon-Ra feels like it could be Ben Glaetzer's greatest expressions of pure Shiraz, and the 2020 is no exception. Old-vine fruit was sourced from Ebenezer - we're talking vines that aged between 50 and 130 years here - in a wonderful vintage, yielding a stylish, elegant and astoundingly aromatic wine. Matured in new oak (predominantly French) for 16 months, it's an enticing brew that can be cellared for decades. Inky black with notes of black plum, blackberry, black cherry, liquorice, dark chocolate, mocha, new leather, tobacco, pepper, vanilla, cedar, wild forest herbs and gentle spices from all corners of the globe. A wine of god-like proportions and power.£9.33 per 100.00ml