March 2019 – Located in the northern end of the lower Hunter Valley at Sweetwater Ridge, the Sweetwater vineyard was planted in 1998. The vineyard is known for producing wines that have a distinctive floral top note, which is said to be attributed to the red/brown loamy soils over limestone that make up the vineyards soil composition. Hunter Valley Shiraz always has a bit of earthiness to it, as is the case of the 2011 Thomas Sweetwater Shiraz. The nose gives impressions of chocolate, licorice, earth and spice to the fruit tones of plum, dark cherry and blackberry. Medium fuller bodied and quite polished, this has good depth and a smooth and generous texture backed with silky, velvety tannins on the finish. Nicely layered with juiciness abounding, there’s the classic Hunter Valley earthiness thrown into the mix of blackberry and dark plum flavors along with some spice that pushes through on the finish. This is drinking spot on and should continue to drink well over the next couple of years.