Clarendon Hills Astralis Syrah 2009 - In Bond (OWC)

97 Points - Robert Parker "Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2009 Astralis presents a very fruity, floral nose with lifted notes of blueberries. The palate is concentrated with a slight prune character and has very crisp acidity. At this stage the phenolics are showing a little chewy before finishing long. Drink it now to 2027+."

Packed in its Orginal Wooden Case

The list of superlatives is long, as are the global accolades. Robert Parker described biochemist and founder of Clarendon Hills, Roman Bratasiuk, “one of Planet Earth’s greatest winemakers,” which is a heck of a tribute.

Roman loves the wines of the Rhône, Burgundy and Bordeaux which propelled him towards winemaking. Early Astralis vintages were made very much in the Rhône style which included whole bunch / stem inclusion and old barrels. From 1994 Roman began to reduce the inclusion of ‘stalks’ as he likes to refer to them. By 1996, whole bunch / stem inclusion was completely removed from his winemaking. Despite changes in Roman’s winemaking, he has never deviated from his path of showing varietal expression and site-specific wines – an obsession with terroir which to some degree, changed the shape of Australian fine wine.

Astralis fruit is sourced from ancient (planted 1920), low yielding, pre-clonal vines, which are planted on a 45-degree ascending slope that faces due-east and has a topsoil layer of pebble ridden clay and subsoil layer of pure ironstone. The vines typically yield a crop in the vicinity of 1,000 kilograms per acre, which is extremely low. Subsequently, production of Astralis sits around 500 cases for the world market, which and given the enormous demand, creates a surge of buying activity with each ‘new’ release.

Given Roman’s love of old-world wines – freshness and balance are at the fore, as is complexity and refinement. An Aussie grand-vin that, and with time in the bottle, reveals seamless layers of nuance, elegance and purity. Each vintage has the capability to last 20-40 years.

1990, 91, 92 and 93 were bottled under ‘Clarendon Hills Shiraz’. A rebrand took place in 1994 as Roman was convinced this wine was super-special. Astralis (pertaining to the stars), as we know it today, was born. Astralis reflects Roman’s view that it was ‘out of this world’. Only 150 cases were produced of which, 100 were sent to the USA and sold-out at $100 per bottle, which was a lofty price tag… Parker commented on the debut ‘Astralis’ release, “This is the hottest wine in Australian wine circles, as it came out ahead of two great vintages of Henschke's and Penfold's Grange in a recent tasting. If readers can believe it, it is a bigger, denser, more concentrated wine than the Grange!