Thomas Trifecta - Andrew Thomas is Named Hunter Valley Winemaker of the Year for the 3rd time

It’s the Hunter Valley’s night of nights, which sees almost four hundred of the local wine industry’s stalwarts celebrate the region’s successes and recognise talent, at the annual Hunter Valley Wine Industry & Legends Awards. The prestigious black-tie awards presentation was held on Thursday 8th June at Rydges Hunter Valley.   For Andrew Thomas, owner winemaker of leading Semillon and Shiraz specialist Thomas Wines, renowned for producing exceptional wines with focus on these two signature varieties of the region, it was confirmation that they are at the top of their game, being named Winemaker of the Year for a record third time. Only one other winemaker in the region has received such recognition which puts Andrew Thomas right at the pinnacle of winemaking in the region. “I am humbled and delighted to receive this award, it gives recognition to all the hard work and attention to detail that we apply to our winemaking every day as well as the successes we have achieved with our wines, particularly over the last 12 months.” comments Andrew Thomas of his recent acknowledgement.   Andrew, or “Thommo” as he’s best known, was on a wine trade mission to Japan on the night of the 16th rendition of the Legends Awards and while he was disappointed not to be at the awards evening in person, was proud that his two sons Dan - who works in the business as Assistant Winemaker, and local viticulturalist son Remy, were able to accept the award on his behalf.   “Making wine is definitely a team effort, and I would like to acknowledge my son Dan who has been working alongside me for the last three years, as well as all of my staff who work tirelessly in the pursuit of promoting excellence with the two signature varieties of our region. I was proud that Dan (and Remy) could accept this award in my absence, as it really is a combined effort for which he deserves to be a part of this recognition” he adds.   The First Creek Winemaking Services Winemaker of the Year award was created to recognise a Hunter Valley winemaker who has achieved recent success on the wine show circuit as well as having made a significant contribution to the promotion of their wines as well as the Hunter Valley’s wines in general. For Thommo who has been making wine for 37 years in the Hunter Valley and producing wines under his own Thomas Wines label for 25 years, winning this award in 2008, 2014 and now for the third time in 2023, shows incredible commitment and consistency in producing some of the region’s best wines year after year.   Thomas Wines has had huge success on the 2022 wine show circuit which is a consideration for judging of the Winemaker of the Year. Thomas Wines, having won 4 trophies and 8 gold medals was named Most Successful Exhibitor in the 2022 Hunter Valley Boutique Wine Show, at the same show winning the Trophy for Best Aged Semillon for the 2013 Braemore Cellar Reserve Semillon as well as the Trophy for Best Mature Red for the 2017 Kiss Shiraz and the Best Open Vintage Shiraz for the 2017 Elenay Shiraz.   Adding to the long list of trophies in the 2022 judging year, he went on to win the Trophy for Best Red of Show for the 2021 Elenay Shiraz and Best One Year Old Shiraz also for the 2021 Elenay at the NSW Small Winemakers Show and later named Best Young Semillon at the Winewise Awards in 2022 for his Thomas Braemore Semillon 2022.   At the highly regarded Hunter Valley Wine Show in 2022, Thomas Synergy Shiraz 2021 was named Best One Year Old Shiraz of Show. Thomas received 3 Golds from 3 entries in the 2022 NSW Wine Awards. Thomas Wines maintained the highest Halliday Wine Companion rating of Red 5 Stars for 2023. Both signature wines – Thomas Kiss Shiraz and Thomas Braemore Semillon were included in the inaugural The Real Review Classification each receiving 2 Merits, as well as Thomas Wines being included in the Top Wineries Of Australia, further adding to a hugely successful 2022-2023 judging year and consolidating the Winemaker of the Year win for Thommo in 2023.   The Hunter Valley Wine Industry & Legends Awards, now in its sixteenth year are an important part of the ongoing recognition for the local wine industry, and Andrew would like to recognise all the work of the local industry and his peers who have contributed to the regions success and thanks them for endorsing this incredible recognition of being named Winemaker of the Year for the 3rd time.   Thomas Wines is located on Hermitage Road, corner of Mistletoe Lane and is open 7 days a week for tastings and some of the regions leading wine tasting experiences which are bookable in advance by visiting thomaswines.com.au

27/06/2023 at 10:57 AM Permalink

2021 Shiraz virtual tasting

Thomas Wines full range of 2021 Shiraz was officially released on Saturday 13th May 2023. 

Join winemaker Andrew Thomas and co-host Mike Bennie as they taste through the wines during an online 'virtual tasting' the evening prior to the official release day

Here's a link to the recording of the tasting

https://youtu.be/wFe5GI4o61c

16/05/2023 at 4:55 PM Permalink

Thomas Wines 2021 Shiraz release

I am very excited to announce the highly anticipated official release of our full range of 2021 vintage Shiraz, Saturday 13th May.

After the disappointment of a significantly reduced production from the 2020 vintage, I’m pleased to report that we are back to the (almost) full suite of all our favourite labels this year. I’ve provided a brief summary of my thoughts on the 2021 vintage, as well as links to some information on all the new vintage wines below.

For those of you who like a ‘sneak preview’ of our wines prior to release, we have organised a series of nine “shiraz-amatazz’ events around the country, starting in Newcastle on the 27th April and concluding in Pokolbin on the official release date 13th May.

Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane – we’ve also got you covered, and the chefs at each venue have designed a fantastic menu to perfectly complement the wines.

If you can’t get to one of our dinners, we also have a virtual tasting via zoom (with specially prepared 100mL samples of each wine delivered to your door) set down for Friday 12th May. My good mate Mike Bennie will be again joining me as co-host to discuss the vintage and the wines.

I look forward to seeing you at one of our events, online or next time you visit our Cellar Door.

Cheers,
Thommo
 

After four consecutive years of drought, the skies certainly opened up from about February/March 2020, delivering 1050mm of rain during the 2020 calendar year which is well over our 760mm long-term average. With bud bust pretty much on cue (last week of August), it was of the utmost importance to be diligent with vineyard management to ward off any
potential issues with downy/powdery/botrytis through the growing season right through to harvest.

If ever there was a vintage to keep an eye on potential crop levels, 2021 was it. Most of the vineyards from which we source our Shiraz are quite mature and naturally low yielding, however after four years of drought the vines seemed to spring back into action setting a higher than normal crop. To make sure we gave ourselves the very best chance of getting all our Shiraz ripe there was some significant crop thinning around halfway through verasion (first week of January).

The final ripening stage (January/February) is the most critical period during the viticultural growing season in the Hunter, and I am happy to report that we seriously 'dodged a bullet' with the rain backing off significantly, allowing a window of opportunity to get our fruit to an excellent level of phenological ripeness and in great condition.

Stylistically, the 2021 reds have a more ‘gentle feel’ than the previous few warm and dry vintages. The wines sit nicely in the middle of the medium-bodied spectrum – think Hunter River Burgundy with a contemporary twist. One of the things I love about wine is the ‘light and shade’ that the different vintages/seasons provide. The stylistic stamp of the wines produced each vintage tells a story of the season, and I love the bright, aromatic vibrancy and savoury texture of these wines.

When I look at this range of 2021 reds as a group, I am absolutely delighted with the way they have shaped up. Whilst I like to take some of the credit, it is really the outstanding pedigree vineyards, that I am fortunate enough to have in our portfolio, that give these wines their unique quality stamp year after year. Bottled in May/June last year and now having nearly 12 months resting in bottle, each wine displays its own individual/stylistic personality that we know and love, and I am confident that you will be equally impressed.

The wine show results and accolades received so far will give you an indication of how we’ve done with this new vintage, and I could not be more delighted with this suite of wines.

Full disclosure, we did have a couple of casualties… Unfortunately whilst we did pick The Cote in 2021, the wine just did not come up to the quality standard we have come to expect from this vineyard, and was declassified to Two of a Kind and Synergy Shiraz. Likewise, The Trevena Shiraz (DJV) suffered some downy mildew during the growing season and did not have the canopy to ripen the fruit adequately, and we unfortunately deemed this block a write-off in 2021.

So there we have it. A season that was looking quite “challenging” to say the least, has evolved into what history will remember as a pretty bloody good Hunter Shiraz vintage....

For some information and tasting notes on each of the seven new 2021 Shiraz releases, please click on the links below.

2021 Kiss Shiraz
2021 Elenay Shiraz
2021 Sweetwater Shiraz
2021 The Dam Block Shiraz
2021 Belford Shiraz
2021 Synergy Shiraz
2021 Two of a Kind Shiraz

21/04/2023 at 10:00 AM Permalink