Clarendon Hills 2023 Vintage Old Vine Grenache Release Pack

The 2023 Domaine Clarendon Grenache offers remarkable value and an insight to the Old Vine Grenache stable of Clarendon Hills.  Offering unbridled charm and luxurious opulence in every glass there's an abundance of juicy fresh characters to enjoy.  With a nose of lavender and rose and cherry, cranberry, blood orange and raspberry. The flowing palate is equipped with bright acidity and a basket of forrest berry flavours. The tannin is like fine and talcum like and the palate demonstrates an illumination of natural acid and strawberry flavours. The 2023 vintage is the best La Niña vintage of the last 3 years and one I implore you must try.

The 2023 Clarendon Hills Blewitt Springs Old Vine Grenache is in my opinion, its best ever release to date and the superlative 2023 vintage has really bought to life the  best attributes of this vineyard. A single vineyard expression  sourced from a Blewitt Springs site planted in 1945 and located in the famous deep sands district of the region. These classic old, goblet style, bush vines produce absolutely magnificent fruit each year due to the deep sands of the terroir that make the vines shoot their roots extremely deep and produce a extremely lifted and iconic perfume as a result. The highly mineral driven and exotic fruit on the perfume typically reveals notes of red cherry, raspberry and Turkish Delight notes while its the musk, violets, iodine and crushed rock and baking spice perfumes that elevate everything to a highly exotic, hedonistic state. The talcum like extract makes for a textured mouthfeel reserves the power and highlights tension and omnipresent waves of intensity. The 2023 release offers brilliant Turkish Delight notes throughout the expression and is absolutely spectacular to enjoy.

The Clarendon Hills Onkaparinga Old Vine Grenache hails from a bush vine, single vineyard in the upper reaches of Blewitt Springs, McLaren Vale. The vines were planted in 1945. The high density rocks found beneath this vineyard site encourage the vines to concentrate their vine height: after 80 years of growth, the vines have only managed approximately 30-40cm of vine height.  The site is extremely low yielding and highly concentrated. The quality standard in the cellar is unmistakably world class and is considered a Grand Cru vineyard by Clarendon Hills. It is made only in the best years. Richly layered and deeply flavoured, the single vineyard expression reveals notes of confectionary like Turkish delight and musk coupled with delicately floral violet and rose petal while layers of fine blueberry, raspberry and cherry skin intertwine with ethereally light and effortless incense and crushed rock mineral notes . Harmoniously balanced and effortlessly powerful, the supple tannins are already soft enough to open up and enjoy today.

Nestled away in the upper reaches of Blewitt Springs is Clarendon Hills flagship Romas Old Vine Grenache vineyard. The ancient hillside site plays home to some of the oldest plantations in all of McLaren Vale, with the Romas vineyard planted circa 1920.  Located on a steep, Eastern facing, rocky site with a 45 degree gradient and terraced rows  comprised of 105 year old pre-phylloxera grenache vines. The vines are gnarly and twisted and extremely low yielding due to the vine age but also the ancient terroir beneath. The soil has been dated between 750 and 1600 million years old by the McLaren Vale Geology Survey and is riddled with coarsely pebbled silica, quartz and ironstone mixed throughout sand and loam. The site receives only cool, morning sunshine to ripen the 105 year old vines to perfection every year. The Clarendon Hills winemaking team prizes the fruit that we receive from his patch for its signature small berries and bunches with extremely thick skins that forge incredibly exotic and vivid flavours.  The vines are carefully hand picked and returned to the Clarendon Hills winery located in Blewitt Springs less than a kilometre away via slow moving tractors to ensure the grapes are in mint condition upon return to the winery. The grapes are then de-stemmed and crushed and cold soaked. The must is then wild yeast fermented in stainless steel tanks and pressed to French Oak and left on less for an extended period across 18 months of careful French oak maturation. The winemakers prefer to use only highly seasoned vessels to preserve the grapes natural tannin structure and forge a style that ultimately enhances the purity and aromatics of the world class 105 year old Grenache fruit. The wine is then carefully bottled at the winery on Clarendon Hills' proprietary bottling line for optimal results. Romas Old Vine Grenache is the highest fidelity expression of Blewitt Springs Grenache at Clarendon Hills. Its is the most complex and mineral driven and it has the finest, longest and most profound structure. The density of the rocks and soil in the Romas vineyard  defines the cuvee. The heavy presence of ironstone, quartz and shale rocks limit the size and yields of these vines and the resulting wine reflects the mineral elements with haunting fidelity. The expression we receive from the vineyard is truly hedonistic and offers deep flinty and crushed rock mineral complexity for the serious wine collectors and enthusiasts. Typically each vintage yields a vivid kaleidoscope of fresh cut roses, Turkish delight, musk, sherbert, blood orange, blueberry, raspberry and kirsch fruit across an effortless powerful palate aloft with silk and ultra fine talcum like extract. Nuances of crushed rock, flint, graphite, iodine and ferrous like rust take this expression to the next level. Despite the majesty of the tasting note the profile is medium weighted and mirrors an iron fist in the velvet glove analogy. Amazing both right now to drink and also for the next 20 years in the cellar. The 2023 vintage offers a profound perfume that has to be experienced. I recommend opening your Romas Grenache at all ages of life, but especially when its young while the flavours and perfumes are so exotic and vivid.