WENDOUREESHIRAZ
A spectacularly individual wine, Wendouree Shiraz typically possesses a core of blackberry black olive aromas with complex iodine, wet bitumen, animal hide characters. The low-yielding beautifully formed old Shiraz vines, tortured and serpentine (many from the original plantings), are unique, producing small berries with thick skins and a very high seed content. The fruit is vinified in stainless steel lined open fermenters. Maturation takes place in roughly 20 percent new oak for around a year. Although there is clarity and buoyancy of fruit on the palate, the tannins are rusty and vice-like. It has been described as "an iron fist in velvet glove" type wine. Bottled under screw cap from the 2009 vintage.
WENDOUREESHIRAZ 2018
$351 eachin any 6Price consistently low
Clarendon Hill AS Shiraz
Immerse yourself in the celestial elegance of Clarendon Hills Astralis Shiraz 2013, a 750mL masterpiece from McLaren Vale’s premier single vineyard. Sourced from 35 to 70-year-old dry-grown vines on clay, ironstone, and gravelly soils, this wine captures the essence of its terroir with minimal intervention. Fermented with wild yeasts and matured for 18 months in 100% new French oak barriques, the 2013 vintage reveals a deep garnet hue. Its complex nose offers exotic spices, graphite, dark plums, black tea, iodine, white pepper, and a touch of redder plum. The palate is strikingly concentrated, with rich red plums and blackberries, framed by super-fine, long tannins that promise decades of evolution. Rated 95 points by James Suckling for its powerful yet youthful profile, this Astralis is a collector’s treasure, ideal for pairing with beef or venison, and a testament to Australian winemaking at its finest.