Clarendon Hills Astralis Syrah 2015

Clarendon Hills Astralis Syrah vineyard was discovered by Roman Bratasiuk in 1990. He didn’t have much in the way of winery resources in those days so he picked the vineyard by hand and stayed up that night crushing the fruit in a bucket with an empty Burgundy bottle. It was grassroots stuff and as rustic as you could imagine. But the wines were excellent and he sold out year on year and created a little winery that made small amounts of single vineyard expressions from very special old vine patches throughout Blewitt Springs, McLaren Vale. Across the first vintages 1990 to 1993 the wine was titled ‘Clarendon Hills Shiraz’ however in 1994 the wine was rebranded to Clarendon Hills Astralis Shiraz off the back of his belief this wine was out of this world. Astralis 1994 was in fact Australia’s first $100 bottle of wine and it was adorned in a black 360 ˚ label peppered with golden stars to emphasise the definition of Astralis “pertaining to the stars'”. It was a thing of beauty.

Over the years Roman kept listening to and learning from the vineyard and kept pushing further and further his ambition and understanding of the terroir. Amazingly he is 33 vintages in to this mission and he still believes he hasn’t made his best wine yet. Modern times have seen International accolades rain in from around the world. 2 vintages of Astralis features in the Top 1000 Wine of All Time 1727-2000, a review conducted by 11 European MW’s. Astralis has also featured 2 perfect 100 point scores and 11 other near perfect scores ie 98 or 99 scores in the last 20 years according to the worlds most prominent wine critic, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. Leading Australian wine merchant Langtons also classifies Astralis within its highest echelon ‘Exceptional’ category. Astralis is today a global icon of fine wine.

"The fitting capstone to what was a terrific vintage for Clarendon Hills, the 2015 Astralis Syrah is destined to become a McLaren Vale legend. Remarkably precise, complex and pristine aromas of anise, pepper, mint and blueberries lead the way. They're followed by a full-bodied yet impeccably ripe palate that's dense and concentrated yet supple, leading into a velvety, nearly endless finish. Wow. Drink 2022-2040."
100 points
Joe Czerwinski – Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate

"Deeply recessed layers of smokey bacon fat and blueberry mingle with cigar tobacco, subtle Asian spices and lavender in what is a very delicate yet an unusually approachable palate style. Highly polished yet deeply recessed tannin hint toward an ultra fine boned structure with density and concentration of character. Savoury complexities like cherry skin, black olive and jasmine tea are magically folded away like origami within the fine boned structure, laced with natural acidity" - Clarendon Hills"