International Shiraz Day – Sandown & Liandra Vineyard
Join us in celebrating the Sandowna nd Liandra Vineyard for International Shiraz Day.
The highly prestigious, estate-owned Sandown Vineyard in Blewitt Springs is one of Clarendon Hills’s great single vineyard locations. Planted to Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah in 1935, the site plays host to a number of Clarendon Hills wines. Our Domaine Clarendon BDX comes from Merlot and young Cabernet planted in neighbouring blocks. Our Liandra Syrah comes from vines planted in 1995 on an eastern-facing block. And our Sandown Cabernet Sauvignon and Sandown Syrah come from the oldest plantings on the site. A very special part of the world and one that produces spectacular wines every year. Today we’re focusing on the Sandown Syrah. These dry-grown, old vines highlight their Blewitt Springs origins with a strong mineral and floral focus within the wine. The Syrah is renowned for its exotic nature and individual style when compared to our other Syrah wines. These old vines used to go into our Liandra Syrah across the period 1997 to 2017. In 2018 we made the decision to highlight its individual style with its own label and thus the Sandown Syrah appeared for the first time in 2018. It scored 96/100 by all of the critics and the case was made. It currently features in our top 3 Syrah every year. The western-facing site is located in an old creek bed and produces just a few hundred cases of Grand Cru standard Syrah.
Liandra Vineyard
The Liandra Syrah has been a long-term constituent in the Clarendon Hills portfolio and dates back to its inception in 1997. The LIandra Syrah Vineyard is one of the silent achievers in the portfolio with a classic understated brilliance to this wine every year. The location is western Blewitt Springs and is home to deep sandy soils atop loam and clay. The rows run East / West and are perfectly positioned to create a premier cru-style wine. When the conditions suit the site we can achieve really high-end grand cru-like scores and deliver an absolute bargain for its $65 selling price. It always produces a trademark Blewitt Springs Syrah nose of black olive and grilled meat and salami and is often punctuated with finely integrated acidity. It really hits its straps after 15+ years in the cellar.
