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Wine Description
The Story
The exotic, highly perfumed, concentrated, massively structured, rich and complex single vineyard Clarendon Hills Astralis (“pertaining to the stars”) derives from 35 to 70 year old dry grown vines planted on a complex mixture of clay, ironstone and gravely soils. A laissez-faire wine making philosophy is central to style allowing the wine to speak of its origins. Fermentation takes place with natural yeasts in an open stainless steel tank. The wine is matured in 100% new French oak barriques for around 18 months before bottling without filtration. This is a contemporary Australian classic with strong regional definition and long term cellaring potential. In recent times it has transcended the cult wine scene bringing extra dimension to the Australian ultra-fine market.
Wine Information
The vines here were originally planted in the 1920s, making them some of the oldest in the world. This vast age results in tiny yields. But the grapes are packed with concentration and the most refined tannins which display an almost nervous energy in this extraordinary wine.
Clarendon Hills founder and winemaker Roman Bratasiuk discovered this ancient vineyard in 1990 and has never looked back. The wine has twice been awarded 100 points by Wine Advocate and 11 other vintages have either been awarded 98 or 99 points over the past 20 years, making it the highest-scoring wine to date from the McLaren Vale.