Wine Advisor
Clarendon Hills, Astralis Shiraz 2002
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 2002 Syrah Astralis Vineyard rivals the greatest wines Roman Bratasiuk has made in his 15-year career. This compelling, black/blue-hued offering from 75-year-old Syrah vines tastes like blood of the vine. An extraordinary perfume of flowers, creme de cassis, blackberries, roasted meat, new saddle leather, and earth is followed by a wine with sweet tannin, sensational concentration, full body, an unctuous texture, and a full-throttle, tannic finish. Yet it reveals unbelievable elegance and finesse. Too many Euro-centric elitists argue that Australian wines are too rich and over the top, but all of these offerings have been made by someone with great talent and vision who takes the extraordinary ripeness and purity of fruit available from these old vine vineyards and crafts them into wines that are quite European in style ... just richer and denser. The 2002 Astralis is a tour de force. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2025+. Roman Bratasiuk is one of Planet Earth’s greatest winemakers, and obviously a top-notch viticulturist given his obsession with sourcing extraordinary fruit from ancient McLaren Vale vineyards. Please note there has been a change in American importers for Clarendon Hills. Importer: Commonwealth Wine & Spirits Inc., Mansfield, MA; tel. (508) 328-6764
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 2002 Syrah Astralis Vineyard is akin to midnight oil. A viscous, unctuously-textured, full-bodied wine of remarkable intensity that represents the essence of a particular varietal as well as vineyard, it will need 8-10 years before it begins to develop. It is a legendary Syrah that those lucky enough to taste in its prime (circa 2025-2035) will give the respect it most certainly will demand. Thankfully, there are people in the wine world like Roman Bratasiuk who make wines for future generations as opposed to those that offer immediate gratification. But let none of us who care about quality dismiss the purists and non-compromising winemakers such as Bratasiuk who are trying to do something beyond what has ever been accomplished. This may be his finest wine to date. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2050. Imported by USA Wine West LLC, San Rafael, CA; tel. (800)-485-5753, for John Larchet, The Australian Premium Wine Collection
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.
