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Astralis 2002 75cl

McLaren Vale | South Australia | Australia
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Critics scores
99 By Robert Parker
The 2002 Syrah Astralis Vineyard rivals the greatest wines Roman Bratasiuk has made in his 15-year career. This compelling, black/blue-hued offering from 75-year-old Syrah vines tastes like blood of the vine. An extraordinary perfume of flowers, creme de cassis, blackberries, roasted meat, new saddle leather, and earth is followed by a wine with sweet tannin, sensational concentration, full body, an unctuous texture, and a full-throttle, tannic finish. Yet it reveals unbelievable elegance and finesse. Too many Euro-centric elitists argue that Australian wines are too rich and over the top, but all of these offerings have been made by someone with great talent and vision who takes the extraordinary ripeness and purity of fruit available from these old vine vineyards and crafts them into wines that are quite European in style ... just richer and denser. The 2002 Astralis is a tour de force. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2025+. Roman Bratasiuk is one of Planet Earth’s greatest winemakers, and obviously a top-notch viticulturist given his obsession with sourcing extraordinary fruit from ancient McLaren Vale vineyards.
Producer
Clarendon Hills
Clarendon Hills is one of the world’s greatest wineries, it was founded in 1990 by the genius oenologist, Roman Bratasiuk in Clarendon, South Australia. Structured solely on Bratasiuk’s refined worldly palate, the estate carefully follows each step of the winemaking process – from vine to bottle. Robert Parker highlighted their successes in 1996 by awarding them one of his “Wine Producers of the Year,” he even described the first release of their Astralis in 1994 as a “bigger, denser, more concentrate wine than the Grange”. The pure Syrah wine is unfiltered and unfined, full of ripe fruit and aged in French oak, while uncharacteristic of the region, the Astralis grows in depth and dimension with age. Astralis is a timeless wine, and as their Grand Vin it is also one of the most sought after wines, ranking amongst the top 100 wines of the century. Today, Alex and Adam Bratasiuk are continuing in their father’s footsteps, Adam focuses on the viniculture practices, while Alex manages the domaine. This respected Australian producer also crafts several other outstanding reds, including Syrahs, Grenaches, and Cabernet Sauvignons.