Welcome to the Clarendon Hills 2023 Vintage Syrah Release

The 2023 vintage was exceptional for Clarendon Hills and likely the highest performing varietal was indeed Syrah. The extended hang time on the vines particularly suited our dry grown vines and the extra skin thickness of Syrah benefited highly from the later and cooler season. In what was the 3rd successive La Niña season in a row produced the coolest, latest and interestingly, overall driest of the 3 La Niña harvests and the produced highest degree of phenolic ripeness seen to date at Clarendon Hills. the long late and cool but sunny ripening period is usually studded with 40 degree days that speed the ripeness and diminish the acids in typical years. However 2023 was so unique with its carbon copy weather everyday across February and March of 21˚-22˚C cool sunny weather. This was such a rare vintage where disease pressure across the Springtime of 2024 and Summer of 2024/2025 was unprecedentedly high. While the constant pressure was there our organically farmed grapes withstood all the challenges of mildew that many other great producers succumbed. The combination of the unusual Spring and Summer weather and the very late and cool harvest produced absolutely remarkable flavours on the vine before being picked and foretold the great harvest. These stratospheric flavours continued to amaze right across the production phase and in to bottle. 

These wines were so delicious, we were literally drinking them from day 1, immediately after pressing, which is typically an extremely tender phase of production where there’s still a lot of sharp acids and hard edges that need to be dealt with across 18 months in barrel; but these wines were so soft and so heavily rose perfumed with deep base lines of fine Italian leather, with game and salami notes displaying super serious complexities; and to have such polish and completeness at this relative point in time showed everyone in the winery we had a totally legendary vintage in our midst. 

Pictured above is the Blewitt Springs located Astralis Syrah vineyard, planted in 1920, at full maturity on the day of harvest. These gnarly, low yielding vines were 103 years of age at the time of the 2023 vintage. The skins of the Astralis grapes are phenomenally thick and impart a significant contribution to the cuvée.

Both Clarendon and Blewitt Springs sub regions of McLaren Vale produced exquisite Syrah with the former producing ethereal acidity to ascribe freshness and offer uniqueness to the collection of 5 Syrah’s. Clarendon is one of the most highly elevated sub regions of all McLaren Vale and it borders the cool Adelaide Hills wine region certainly making it one of the coolest subregions also. Couple ancient geology, extremely undulating, rocky terrain where pockets of boulders that protrude from the earth in this part of the world is common place here. Tall hill tops that are met with deep recession points such as the Onkaparinga River that meanders its way through the district, albeit two hundred to three hundred metres below the peaks of the Clarendon’s hills and ranges. The Domaine Clarendon Syrah vineyard was the first vineyard Clarendon Hills planted and established from scratch. Its vision: to capture the ancient world class terroir of high altitude Clarendon. Where, according to the McLaren Vale’s widely available Geology Report,  soils age between  750-1600 million years of age. Clarendon Hills took cutting from its best vineyard the Astralis Syrah vineyard in Blewitt Springs to propagate the vineyard. The vision of viticulture was entirely unique in Australia at the time 2003. Single stake, non cordon trellised Syrah vines would stud the crown of a tall hill in 360˚ fashion. Welcome to our Domaine Clarendon Syrah vineyard.

The single stake design renders only yield a few bunches per vine there by limiting the output of the vines, thus rendering the vineyard with excellent concentration. The new vineyard project was a large undertaking and it started in 2003 and was finished in 2005. The site plays home to some 36,000 individual single stake Syrah vines.

The 2023 Domaine Clarendon Syrah is wonderfully layered and deeply woven with more than enough riff and bass line to take it to the next level. The soul satisfying flavours of Syrah are on display with ripe plum, woodsy spice and twiggy notes coupled with back olive, grilled meat and smoked bacon fat make a really pleasing wine. It’s the lighter frame on the 2023 wines and the distinct rose petal notes across all 2023 wines that make everything so special. Young and intense yet polished with deep fruit and its lightly chalky structure and succulent acidity and dancing rose petal finish leaves you wanting more. 

The Wine Companion’s Marcus Ellis scored the wine 94/100 with the following glowing review: “A cool year and philosophical evolution have produced a relatively elegant syrah suite in ’23. And this is a fine entry point, sketching out the style. A lovely perfume here, with cool boysenberry, violet, iodine, black leaf tea, nori, lilac and blackberry pastille. It’s compact on the palate, clocking in at modest alcohol and with a general sense of savoury mid-weighted ease. It’s a very charming and detailed expression.” Erin Larkin at Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate scored it 93/100 and with the following note: “The 2023 Domaine Clarendon Syrah leads with asphalt and hung deli meat, peppercorns, blackberries and licorice. On the palate, the fine tannins serve as a supple reminder of the power of McLaren Vale Shiraz/Syrah, which trails out over the long finish. For an “entry-level” wine, this sure offers an impressive value proposition. It’s a superb wine for the price, hard to beat it. 13% alcohol, sealed under Diam.”

The 2023 Liandra Syrah is a beauty this year with lifted smoky bacon and roast beef notes top of raspberry, blueberry and plum coulis. The fruit is totally alive with infused rose petal aroma and the suggestion of nori and black pepper and smoked meat really peaks the complexity scales. The death of fruit is nourishing and the lightness of frame really makes it super approachable in its youth. The black olive notes and fine Italian leather notes come with aeration and provide the perfect back drop to this little gem.

The Wine Companion loved this wine and scored it 95/100 “Continuing the style of these ’23 syrahs, this is a relatively elegant affair, red fruited and more medium in heft, though it’s marked by an intense mineral spine and is laced with North African spices. To me, the syrahs from this year most clearly show the direction this pinnacle estate is steering in, towards more transparency, more fragrance, more approachability. And that’s at no cost to quality and engagement. Rather the opposite. Compressed raspberry and cherry, red plum, a slew of spices, the tannins refined yet commanding, the carry both graceful and intensely flavourful. Lovely.” While Erin Larkin at the Wine Advocate also scored it 95/100 “The 2023 Liandra Syrah hails from Blewitt Springs, and the wine is typically aromatic, resplendent with pressed flowers, exotic spices and black olive tapenade. On the palate, the fruit is intensely dark, shaped by the signature Clarendon Hills oak (i.e., meaty, savory, spicy), and yet it exhibits attractive levity. It’s a beautiful wine, one that expresses with elegance in this cool vintage. 13.9% alcohol, sealed under Diam.”

The 1930’s planted old Syrah vines of the Sandown vineyard produced some of the most compelling aromas of the entire vintage. So unique with its exotic characters of Sandalwood, Sarsaparilla and cola set amongst notes of game meat, earth, petrichor, rose petal and iodine. Deeply electric blueberry fruit on the palate coupled with the exotic notes of clove and cherry cola. There’s a distinct density to the expression however it appears seamless and effortless and the structure is significant but it’s so finely handled it’s almost at a point of polish and features late on the palate. This is so smooth and rounded and sculpted already. Its a joy to experience. 

The Wine Advocate and Wine Companion both scored this wine 96/100. Wine Companion said “A cool year, and maybe anomalous for some, but I love the best wines from ’23. And this is in that cohort. Also, this is the best syrah release that I can recall from this address. It may not satisfy those after highly charged offerings, but the quality and character are undeniable. Here, there’s a silkiness to the palate, a glide of fruit, texture and keenly extracted tannins, all knit in, quietly composed. The fruit profile is red but, happily, nothing pokes out, with the interest lying in the array of floral and spice notes. Bergamot tea, sandalwood, dried rose, sweet pipe tobacco, dukkah … it’s no more than medium in weight, but it’s so intensely flavoured. Beautiful wine.” While Wine Advocate said “The 2023 Sandown Syrah is earthy and mineral and spicy, perhaps my favorite of the single-vineyard Syrahs tasted here today. While this has all the floral tones and black fruit of the Onkaparinga and the Liandra, this shows a decidedly more red/brown spectrum of spice: sumac, hung deli meat, crushed rocks… It’s bloody, earthy and savory, excellent. Super. 13.1% alcohol, sealed under Diam.” This is a seriously good wine.

Queue the Onkaparinga Syrah. In what is a contender for the best overall wine of the entire 2023 vintage. The exceptional Onkaparinga Syrah has been on a steady but sure rise over the last few years. The fruit is getting better and we’re getting better at handling the fruit. With the La Niña years there’s been optimal conditions for growth and with all the extra rain seen across those La Niña vintages we have the rationale the vines were chasing the water and the wash of highly decomposed geology rich in minerals deeper beyond the root zone growth thus promoting chartering extending in to uncharted new depths below the surface of the land. The sub-terrainial layers high decomposed ironstone and iron rich clays are providing the vines a mineral rich environment to nourish the vines root zone and the result is superlative. The class is evident on arrival. It sits low in the glass and broods high class aromas or fine Italian leather, wood grilled Wagyu Beef, and mahogany. The palate is entirely detailed but is already smooth enough to enjoy today. In spite of the wines 13.5% alcohol level there’s an abundance of deep flavours and brooding notes that signal its high quality. Nori, graphite, crushed rock, gunpowder are finely woven throughout the experience and it abundantly clear there’s a serious challenger to the throne of our best wine in the cellar every year now. The Onkaparinga Syrah is on the rise, seemingly getting better every year and is highly deserving of your attention. 

Halliday’s Wine Companion scored this magical wine at 97/100. Marcus Ellis said “From the upper northwest corner of Blewitt Springs next to the Onkaparinga Gorge on sandy soils over ironstone, quartz and shale; vines planted in ’46. I love this ’23 syrah suite for the detail, transparency and intense charm, but also for the clear differentiation between each wine. This booms out of the glass with an enveloping scent of blue and purple florals. It’s a sultry and utterly captivating fragrance, playing over serenely, pristinely ripe fruit, with warmed spices softly complexing. Boysenberry, blueberry, wild raspberry, crème de violette, blackberry pastille, clove, pepper, the palate a swirl of texture, the tannins superfine, elegantly persuasive. This is a beautiful wine – soulful, elegant, effortlessly generous and just such a treat.” While Wine Advocate scored it at 95/100 with the following note “The 2023 Onkaparinga Syrah is perfumed and floral, with pressed rose petals, cracked pistachios, blackberry, licorice and wet stone. The palate is fine and lingering, layered as it is with silty tannins and pure, dark fruit. While the stamp of oak is evident, it isn’t overwhelming, allowing the fruit to shine through both vintage and élevage. 13.8% alcohol, sealed under Diam.”

Unveiling a true legend in the making. The 2023 Astralis Syrah broods with understatement and classy aromas of truffle, espresso crème, roast hazelnuts, and finely roasted meat. There is a pungency to the perfume that intrgues and recesses its near limitless power in to a finely sculpted and silken smooth palate whose outer limit highlights layer upon layer of finer detail. The savoury aromas of black olive, forest floor, baking spice and coco powder bring this year’s release to life and adds yet another layer to the mineral entwined fruit core. The effortless power and seamlessness across the palate is an experience to behold. The old iron fist in a velvet glove statement has a regal prominence in my mind when tasting this. the extended late and cool growing season of 2023 played perfectly in to the hands of the 103 year old Astralis Syrah vineyard. The exceptionally thick and crunchy skins we typically receive  from this site were ripened to a point for near perfection in the 2022 – 2023 growing season. The phenolic ripeness levels achieved were virtually unparalleled in any other vintage of Clarendon Hills. 2002 springs to mind with its exceptionally late and dry and cool harvest of mid April. Such is the rarity of the conditions and the rarity of this type of beauty. The 2023 harvest occurred on the 6th of April. The rose petal aromas that articulate the beauty seen in this single vineyard are deep veined and add so many layers of enjoyment throughout the fruit on the nose and the palate itself. A wine of this class accumulates significant weight on the nose with aeration and the silky, long tannins that effortlessly roll on and on suggest a significant life ahead for the 2023.

Both the Wine Companion and Wine Advocate scored this wine at 97/100. Wine Companion’s Marcus Ellis said “This is often a powerfully compressed wine, gruff even, but here it follows the theme of the ’23s. Some may miss the gravitas. Not me. This is the best Astralis I have tasted. From 1920s vines that feel like they have drawn up the essence of site – mineral inflected, rugged yet also expansive and expressive. Fleet of foot, too. Dark berries and cherries, struck iron and tea leaves, bitter chocolate, anise; this is like no Astralis prior, though malty oak undercurrents still flow, and it will be interesting to see the direction going forward. If you’re chasing heft, this is not the wine, but, if you care about expression of place and graceful detail, it’s a stunner.” While the Erin Larkin at the Wine Advocate said “The 2023 Astralis Syrah is silky and detailed, fine and spicy. The depth of flavor on offer here is all the more remarkable at the modest 13.5% alcohol. This is restraint in action, yet it doesn’t come at the expense of length of flavor nor of intensity. While some may criticize its “foot off the gas” approach to ripeness in this cool vintage, I would counter with, “only in the context of this producer,” and I commend the wine. It is lacking nothing besides several points of alcohol; it is fresh, black as the ace of spades, spicy and long. There are notes of sumac, peppercorns, anise, hung deli meat, dried mint, blackberry, pomegranate and tapenade. Ripper. The (balanced) oak is showing at this young age, but it is in good harmony with the fruit and will ameliorate given time. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under Diam.”