Clarendon Hills 2004 Romas Grenache

The 2004 Grenache Old Vines Romas Vineyard is richer and darker than the Blewitt Springs Grenache of the same vintage tasted alongside. It has notes of black cherry and pomegranate, blackberry and licorice. The tannins, as with the aforementioned cuvée, are sleek and shapely and draw the flavor out over the long finish. It is dark and brooding, perhaps, but elegant and long as well. Sealed under natural cork, poured from magnum.

The tasting at Clarendon Hills on Friday, August 8, was intense—42 wines of Grenache origin, tasted with Roman and Alex Bratasiuk of Clarendon Hills. Many of the bottles opened were from magnum, and where this was the case, it has been noted. It is clear that there has been a style shift at Clarendon Hills over the years, and in many cases, it can be clear to say that one has preference for one era over another. However, I found that the wines did not conform to my expectations of them, and so it was halfway through the tasting that I threw off the shackles of expectation and regarded each wine afresh. The earlier vintages, through the 1990s and early 2000s led me up and down through preferences, some vintages utterly scintillating and thrilling, others less so—for my tastes—and others still behaved in ways different to what the vintage may have indicated they might. For example, the 1994 Grenache, from a cool year picked in April, was astoundingly good—fine, ethereal, fresh and beautiful. The 2007 Romas—hailing from a dry, low-yielding and early season—was light and fine, structural and Pinot-like. It seems that these Grenache wines (Onkaparinga, Romas and Blewitt Springs) move into a different spectrum of elegance when they hit 10 to 15 years or older, which does beg the question around drinking windows. And specifically for this producer, are we recommending that we drink them too young? Perhaps. There is a tarry, resinous note—whether from oak or tannin I do not quite know—that assimilates into the wine over time, morphing into a licorice/clove/resin character in age. I like it as an older character, less so as a character in youth. These are quibbles, but in the context of the spectrum of 42 wines on this day, these are some of the observations that emerged.

96/100

2004 Romas Grenache

- Wine Advocate, Erin Larkin