Wine Advisor
Clarendon Hills, Astralis Shiraz 1997
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Nearly perfect, the 1997 Astralis (100% new French oak) is an explosive wine that represents the essence of Shiraz. The opaque purple color resembles a young vintage port. The nose offers up blackberry fruit intermixed with freshly melted asphalt and pepper. My notes read, "beyond wine." The wine is dry, but possesses unreal unctuosity and richness. This super-endowed offering will be at its finest between 2001-2020. This wine is a crowd-pleasing, exotic offering that takes the level of richness and hedonism to sensational heights. This wine is worth trying if only because of its compelling purity, opulence, and explosive richness. Imported by The Australian Premium Wine Collection, John Larchet, USA Wine West LLC, San Rafael, CA; tel. (800)-485-5753 and Chicago Brands, Chicago, IL; tel. (312) 466-9300.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 1997 Astralis Syrah is the most elegant of this quartet. It reveals a similar meaty, bacon fat, blackberry, and black currant-scented nose with hints of earth and pepper in the background. Not as dense as either the 1996 or 1998, it is a more feminine, stylish effort offering a rich, layered texture as well as sweet tannins. It is 1-3 years away from full maturity, and probably will not last as long as the more blockbuster-styled efforts of 1996 and 1998.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The essence of vineyard and the varietal, the 1997 Astralis has a saturated purple color and is just beginning to show more nuances, such as the tell-tale Syrah characteristics of pepper, melted asphalt as well as a wealth of blackberry and creme de cassis fruit. The new oak seems to have been sucked up completely, and the wine shows softness and evolution. Nevertheless, it is still a very youthful, backward, spectacular wine that has surreal levels of richness and potential complexity. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2024.
About the Producer
Clarendon Hills is located in the famous McLaren Vale wine region, 40 kilometers south of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. The vineyards at Clarendon Hills cover 200 acres (81 hectares) and are planted to Grenache, Merlot, Shiraz and Carbernet Sauvignon. The average age of the vines is 75 years for Grenache, 25 years for Merlot, 75 years for Shiraz and 60 years for Cabernet Sauvignon. In terms of vineyard management, the winery's owners practice minimal human intervention and respect the characteristics of the vineyard, the grapes and the vintage. The grapes are pruned by hand during the growing process and picked by hand when ripe. For winemaking, the grapes are picked and fermented naturally in open stainless steel vats for 14 to 21 days. Although most wineries in South Australia use American oak barrels to age their wines, the owner, Roman Bretesque, who is a fan of French wines, prefers to use French wines as a reference and only uses French oak barrels for the aging phase of his wines, which lasts for 18 months. The wines are then not clarified or filtered, in order to preserve the character of the vintage and the vineyard. Although Clarendon Hills also produces some Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, it is the Grenache and Syrah wines from this single vineyard that are among the world's finest. These wines combine the elegance of French wines with the intensity of Australian wines, with a ripe, full-bodied palate and exceptional aging potential. Recent outstanding vintages include the 2003, 2002, 2001, 1998, 1996 and 1992.
