19 Crimes Shiraz is full and round on the palate with a subtle sweetness giving a rich and round mouth feel. The vanilla aromatics carry through on the palate and compliment subtle flavours of raspberries, dark plums, and chocolate leading to a lingering finish.
Deep red, with some purple hues. Ripe berry and plum fruit aromas with notes of spice and pepper dominate the nose. On the palate, rich ripe black berries and plums precede fine soft smooth tannins and a good fruit length, followed by vanillin and toast characters and a well-balanced finish.
Have it with... A cheese plate
Cellar potential... 2 - 5 years
A multi dimensional bouquet of roasted meats, mineral, cola, tar and blackberry. Give this one time to open up, this monster is built for the long haul! The palate starts out thick and coating; immediately powerful and explosive, you are then thrown a huge chunk of fruit while the acid and tannin roll around trying to tame it. The wine shows great oak handling and remains succulent, complete and perfectly balanced.
This is Clarendon Hills’ flagship wine. It is a member of Clarendon Hills’ ‘Grand Cru’ classification. Every year, the Astralis vineyard produces the most beautiful wine in our cellar. Despite its non-differentiated treatment in the cellar, it always reveals the most rounded, sublime and seamless expression of syrah which ages like a rock. This is a wine that is always the most beautiful in our cellar.
"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."Andrew Caillard MW
d'Arenberg The Footbolt Shiraz is a firm favourite with many McLaren Vale Shiraz lovers and for good reason. This is another great example of the rich, full-bodied style with aromas of ripe blackberry and spice that mingle with minty peppery notes. The palate is full-flavoured, supple in texture with a velvety finish.
The 2002 season was characterised by a cold, wet winter and spring, which produced lower yields with good, thick-skinned berries. The cool and dry summer ripened fruit gradually and a warm, dry autumn allowed the grapes to ripen fully, producing some of the best and most exotic characters seen for many years.
Another impeccably good offering from Chester Osborne combining rich and voluptuous McLaren Vale Shiraz with lifted fragrant Viognier. d'Arenberg is one of the pioneers of this style, the 'Magpie' continues to go from strength to strength.
A juicy, fruitful palate consisting of ripe plum, blackberry and red cherry complimented by spicy notes of cinnamon and nutmeg. The rich but savory palate is supported by a light toast, tactile tannins and focused acidity that give the wine great balance and length of flavor.
A special McLaren Vale Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon blend from the excellent 2002 vintage. Originally made for a private client from Fox Creek's own grapes, it was for sale to private customers and not available for normal retail sale. The blend in this wine is 60% Shiraz and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. The Shiraz was fermented on skins for 8 days and about 10% of the wine saw barrel fermentation during the later stages of the fermentation. The Cabernet Sauvignon components were fermented to dryness, before being transferred to oak. Maturation was in approximately 20% French and 80% American oak, with about 30% of this being new oak.