Buying options
Tasting notes
A generous year with a warm to mild season. This has an earthy edge with some forest wood and dried mushroom, as well as a complex array of spices, roasted meat and more. Complex. The palate has a very generous feel with rich, plush fruit on offer. Plenty of spice and blackberry, as well as plum and licorice. Bold, round and drinkable, this is a bigger wine in the scheme of historic vintages.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jay S Miller, Wine Advocate
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
Glass-staining purple. A room-filling bouquet displays the full range of dark fruits, with exotic Asian spices, graphite, cured tobacco, lavender perfume and rose pastille adding complexity. Mouthcoating boysenberry and kirsch flavors are complicated by high-octane chocolate, candied licorice, vanilla bean and floral pastilles, with a bright cracked pepper quality adding lift. Supple tannins mount on the finish, adding structure but allowing the jaw-dropping fruit to shine through. If you have the means and the access, this is one to buy. 95+ (JR)
At the top of the pyramid is the 2005 Syrah Astralis Vineyard. It is sourced from a vineyard planted in 1920 and is one of the Syrah cuvees in which 100% new oak is utilized (along with Brookman, Hickinbotham, and Piggott Range). It delivers an ethereal bouquet of smoky oak, violets, espresso, black pepper, blueberry, and blackberry liqueur. Densely packed and tightly wound, all it needs is time. The wine is totally harmonious, impeccably balanced, and exceptionally long. When it fully unwinds, even my high rating will appear conservative. Its only competition comes from the likes of Guigal, Chapoutier, Chave, Krankl, and Ringland. Importer: E. & J. Gallo Winery, Modesto, CA; www.clarendonhills.com.au
Glass-staining purple. A room-filling bouquet displays the full range of dark fruits, with exotic Asian spices, graphite, cured tobacco, lavender perfume and rose pastille adding complexity. Mouthcoating boysenberry and kirsch flavors are complicated by high-octane chocolate, candied licorice, vanilla bean and floral pastilles, with a bright cracked pepper quality adding lift. Supple tannins mount on the finish, adding structure but allowing the jaw-dropping fruit to shine through. If you have the means and the access, this is one to buy.
About the producer
Based in the McLaren Vale, Clarendon Hills has been one of the pioneering names in Australian wine. Focusing on single-site expressions of individual grapes, working with old dry-farmed vineyards, it has become one of the world’s leading producers, best known for its iconic Astralis Shiraz.