Ben Glaetzer Anaperenna Barossa Valley Shiraz with BBQ Ribs
With grilled BBQ ribs, crescent rolls and balsamic buratta salad on the deck, I pulled from the cellar this aged Aussie Shiraz for the occasion.
This is from producer/winemaker Ben Glaetzer whose family first settled in the Barossa Valley in 1888 after emigrating from Germany. They settled in a country town called Nuriootpa in the Barossa Valley where they were some of the earliest recorded viticulturalists in the Barossa Valley and Clare Valley.
My research and records show that the Glaetzer label "Godolphin" Shiraz Cabernet had
it's name changed to Anaperenna between the 2005 and this 2006 vintage. Godolphin's
Shiraz Cabernet name was changed to 'Anaperenna' due to a dispute or confusion of the
name with another label from another producer.
Anaperenna is the same wine from the same producer/winemaker, from the same renowned vineyard sources with up to 85-year-old vines from the Ebenezer district in the northern Barossa Valley, considered by many as the finest sub-region in the Valley, with the same branding and symbol on the label as its predecessor.
All Glaetzer labels are branded with a ancient historic Egyptian symbol. The Annaperenna label is the Egyptian Ankh (pronounced: onk). Historically the ankh symbolised sunrise, regeneration, regrowth and renewal.
We hold several vintages of several wines from the Glaetzer portfolio including their ultra-premium flagship wine, Amon-Ra.
Glaetzer "Anaperenna" (formerly GoDolphin) Barossa Valley South Australia Shiraz-Cabernet 2006
At seventeen years, the fill level, foil, label, and importantly, the cork, as shown, were in ideal condition. This is still holding its own with life left to last perhaps another five years at the apex of its drinking window. The Cellartracker drinking window was through 2023 and as a result of tonight, I extended mine to 2025. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate wrote in 2007, "Give this classy wine 4-6 years in the cellar and enjoy it through 2030." Wine Spectator (JR) wrote in 2009, "I'd give this at least another four of five years of bottle aging."
This label release was awarded 94-97 points
by Wine Advocate, 94 points
by James Halliday
and Wine Enthusiast,
92 points
by Vinous, and 91-92 points by Wine Spectator, and Jancis Robinson
gave it 18.5 on her 20 point scale (which frankly I prefer as I find it easier to encode and interpret).
Winemaker Notes - "The 2006 Shiraz (75%) – Cabernet Sauvignon (25%) "Anaperenna" is the wine formerly known as Godolphin, the change resulting from a trademark dispute. It was aged for 15 months in new French and American oak. Opaque purple, it offers a sensational bouquet of pain grille, scorched earth, meat, game, blueberry, and black currants. This is followed by a surprisingly elegant yet powerful, structured wine with gobs of spicy fruit, ripe tannins, and a plush texture. The long, 60-second finish is succulent and sweet.
This is a blend of 75% Shiraz and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon. t was aged for 15 months in new French and American oak.
Harvey Steinman of Wine Spectator artfully noted: " ... juicy currant and cedar flavors of Cabernet whistling through the blackberry and exotic spice of the Shiraz."
This is classic Aussie style Shiraz with full dark ripe fruits blackberries, plums, and blackcurrants with layers of cassis, dark chocolate, tobacco, and hints of spices.
Tonight this was completely consistent with my last tasting notes posted on 12/6/2020 when I wrote,
"Deep inky black dark garnet-purple colored, medium-full bodied,
complex, intense, concentrated black berry black raspberry and blueberry
fruits with notes of graphite, cassis, pain grille, vanilla, mocha and spice
turning to a long lush smooth tannin laced nicely balanced oak finish."
92 points.
https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2020/12/trio-of-south-australia-shiraz.html
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=399095