Hunter winemaker Andrew Thomas releases 2021 range of seven shiraz wines

Thomas has been making semillon and shiraz under his own brand for 25 years, and May is the traditional launch of the shiraz range.

This year, Thomas will roll out the '21 shiraz range with a series of "shiraz-amatazz" events - nine dinner launches at a range of fine restaurants over two weeks.

It is especially welcome after the 2020 vintage was hit hard by smoke taint. With volumes down considerably, winemakers -Thomas included - chose not to bottle wines with smoke taint.

Thomas indicated the 2021 vintage is an absolute cracker.

The series kicks off with a four-course dinner at Harrison's Food & Wine, Tudor Street, Hamilton, on Thursday, April 27, at 6.30pm. The four-course menu will be paired with the new release range of Thomas Wines 2021 shiraz, finishing with a Museum Kiss Shiraz.

Tickets are $170 per person ($150 for members of the Andrew Thomas wine club).

The final event of the shiraz-amatazz run is on Saturday, May 13, the official launch day of the Thomas '21 shirazes, at Jimmy Joans, 84 Wilderness Road, Rothbury. The shiraz lunch is from 11.30am ($170/$150).

From 3.30pm on May 13, Thomas and his clan will be on hand for an informal afternoon session at Jimmy Joans where all seven of his new release shirazes from the 2021 vintage will be available by the glass and bottle.

A tradition that's stayed on after COVID for Thomas is an online "live" tasting with Andrew Thomas and wine industry celebrity Mike Binnie. The tasting is Friday, May 12, at 6pm, of six 2021 single vineyard Thomas shiraz wines. A $75 ticket includes delivery to buyers of 6 x 100ml tasters, one each of 2021 Synergy Shiraz, 2021 Belford Shiraz, 2021 Sweetwater Shiraz, 2021 Dam Block Shiraz, 2021 Elenay Shiraz, and 2021 Kiss Shiraz in advance of the tasting.

The other wine launch dinners are:

May 2, One Penny Red, Summer Hill, Sydney.

May 3, Ripples, Mosman, Sydney.

May 4, C'est Bon, Woolloongabba, Brisbane.

May 9, Lorraine's Bistro, Waverly, Sydney.

May 10, Ondine, Deakin, Canberra.

May 11, Masani, Carlton, Melbourne.

"I think at the top end of what we do, the individual labels are are single vineyard bottling, so they'll come from a specific site within the Hunter," he said.

"Obviously, the nuances of those particular vineyards, in terms the age of the vines, the soils, the aspect, the topography, the vineyard management, the trellising, all of those thousands of little things add up to creating fruit - grapes - that are very specific to that site.

"In the winery, we try to pay attention to detail in what we do. But I think it's fair to say in recent years I've taken more of a hands-off approach with the winemaking because I really want the personality of the vineyards to shine through, more so than the hand of the winemaker. And it really does."

There will be seven individual shiraz labels released on May 13. Guests at the Thomas wine dinners will taste all seven over the four-course meals.

"Each course has two wines paired against each other and we can explain the differences between the wines and how those differences have come about," Thomas said.

"And it's really quite easy to get.

"You don't necessarily have to be a wine enthusiast as such, to understand the subtle nuances between these wines because when you are presented with two wines side by side, it's really quite easy to delve into the stylistic individualities of these wines. It's pretty cool."

Likewise, Thomas knows wine tastes vary with every consumer.

"There's no right or wrong in these wines," he said. "Whether you taste at an event, or come to our cellar door after the release and taste them in a line-up, everyone has their own individual taste.

"I don't expect everyone to fall on one single wine as their favourite, because that's just the way it should be, everyone has their own personal taste."

While the Andrew Thomas Kiss shiraz is a well-known top-of-the-range product, priced at $90 a bottle (and taking gold at the 2022 NSW Wine Awards and 2022 NSW Small Winemakers Show), Thomas knows everyone has a favourite.

"I think you'd be hard-pressed to find better value for money in Hunter Valley shiraz than those two wines I've got sitting there for $25 [2021 Synergy Shiraz and 2021 Two of Kind Shiraz]," he said.

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