Clarendon Hills vertical tasting 4 September 2024
Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2024 6:28 pm
G’day
A bunch of us assembled at the wonderful Lulu’s Little Bistro in Perth, to taste through some back vintages of Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignons and Syrah, and to show that there is more to Clarendon Hills than Astralis
Clarendon Hills was established in 1990, and focuses on single vineyard red wines. Some of the vineyards have changed over the years, so you may see a couple of names here that are no longer under the control of Clarendon Hills. In contrast, the Domaine Clarendon vineyard was planted in 2003, to Clarendon Hills’ specifications, and the vines are correspondingly younger in age. There were five cabernets from different vintages. Most came from the Brookman vineyard:
Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 (Brookman): A dusty, slightly smoky nose, with blackcurrant, soy, white pepper, herbs and a touch of menthol. Possibly a very slight touch of VA. There’s more blackcurrant and menthol on the palate, with savoury oak, grippy tannins and good supporting acid. Medium to long finish.
Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 (Sandown): Blackcurrant, cassis, eucalypt, herbal notes and a touch of earthiness on the nose. A juicy palate with ripe blackcurrants and mulberries, more eucalypt and dusty tannins. Medium bodied.
Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 (Brookman): A less powerful nose than the previous two wines. The dark fruits are showing signs of development, and there’s some sourness and earthiness. There was debate about whether there’s a touch of cork taint. There’s juicy dark fruits on the palate, with prominent acid and spiky tannins. The wine is showing some texture and structure, and a slight sourness on the back palate. Medium to long finish. [Edit] I opened another bottle from the same six pack the following night and it's in better nick.The nose is more expressive and there's no sourness to the wine. I suggest the bottle at this tasting was slightly corked.
Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 (Brookman): Blackcurrant and cassis on the nose, with savoury oak and menthol. Quite primary for a 14-year-old wine. The palate is juicy with blackberry, mulberry, dark chocolate and freshening acid. Grippy tannins and some glycerols leading to a long finish. This is fresher and has more volume than the 2011, and this might just be a product of vintage variation.
Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 (Brookman): From magnum. A dusty and savoury nose, with blackcurrant, vanilla, soy / umami and a little earthiness. There’s white pepper on the nose with milk chocolate, developed red and dark fruits, fine but grippy tannins and juicy acid. A long finish, and highly regarded by the group. We then moved onto the Syrahs.
Domaine Clarendon Syrah 2014: Red and dark plums, cranberries, spicy oak, spearmint, chocolate and white pepper on the nose. The juicy palate shows fresh blue and red fruits, milk chocolate and silky tannins. Medium finish. This wasn’t as full or intense as the following wines, and, given the likely younger vine age, we considered this to be a ‘baby Clarendon’.
Clarendon Hills Syrah 2012 (Moritz): A fuller nose, with vanilla, blueberry, iodine, menthol and spicy oak. The palate is clean and fresh, with cinnamon, clove, lots of blue fruits, and menthol. Fine but grippy tannins and tart acid, leading to a moderately long finish. There’s a tension here, and the wine is at the tipping point between primary and secondary development.
Clarendon Hills Syrah 2008 (Moritz): Developed dark and red fruits on the nose, with some caramel, cinnamon and brown sugar. The palate shows emerging Christmas cake (which come out more in some of the later wines), more caramel, spicy oak, and good supporting acid. Tannins are integrated and the wine shows some texture or viscosity. Long finish. A couple of tasters thought the mid-palate was a little hollow, but the wine was well regarded by the group despite this.
Clarendon Hills Syrah 2007 (Liandra): This had a warmer, spicier nose than the preceding wines, with vanilla, stewed dark and red plums, star anise and milk chocolate. There’s Christmas cake on the palate and the dark and red fruits are showing signs of development. Tannins are integrated and there’s some texture here too. This wine finished drier than the preceding wines.
Clarendon Hills Syrah 2006 (Brookman): Christmas cake / raisin, dark and red fruits, nutmeg, herbs and furniture polish on the nose. The palate is similar to the 2007 Liandra, with a little sourness, slightly higher acid and more aggressive tannins.
Clarendon Hills Syrah 2005 (Moritz): Blackcurrant, dark chocolate, baked fruits and black pepper on the nose. The palate shows Christmas cake, forest fruits and a savoury umami character. This was well regarded by the group, and considered to be balanced and complex.
Clarendon Hill Syrah 2004 (Piggott Range): Lots of plummy fruit sweetness on the nose (quite primary for a 20-year-old wine), with furniture polish and violets. More dark plums and berries on the palate, with raisin and dark chocolate. It’s very juicy, with fully integrated tannins and a long finish. Highly regarded.
Clarendon Hills Syrah 2003 (Moritz): Spicy nose with Christmas cake / raisin and quite simple fruit sweetness. The palate was described as showing “old wine sweetness” – more raisin, lot of juiciness and fully integrated oak tannins. A couple of tasters considered that this might have been better a couple of years ago.
Clarendon Hills Syrah 2003 (Hickinbotham): A brooding, more savoury nose, although with many of the characters common to the previous few wines. The palate is firmer than the Moritz and has more structure. There’s juicy dark and red berry fruits. Tannins are fully integrated and the wine finishes medium to long. Well regarded by the group.
This tasting identified a number of common factors in these wines:
1. Juiciness: for red wines around (or over) 14.5% alcohol, and with the bottle age of the wines we tasted, we were surprised how often the term “juicy” came up in the conversation. Is this something that the winemaker strives for?
2. Menthol / eucalypt: regardless of the grape variety, the wines almost all showed different levels of menthol or eucalypt, especially on the noses.
These two factors led the group to consider whether there is a Clarendon Hills “house style” – which seems a contradiction when your company makes so many single vineyard wines from the same varieties.
Wine of the night was the Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 (Brookman), with the 2004 Piggott Range Syrah and the 2008 Moritz Syrah also honourable mentions.
Once again, we cannot praise Mark and Jodie at Lulu’s Little Bistro highly enough - the tasting was enhanced by the quality of the food, and we will return again and again.
Cheers
Allan
A bunch of us assembled at the wonderful Lulu’s Little Bistro in Perth, to taste through some back vintages of Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignons and Syrah, and to show that there is more to Clarendon Hills than Astralis
Clarendon Hills was established in 1990, and focuses on single vineyard red wines. Some of the vineyards have changed over the years, so you may see a couple of names here that are no longer under the control of Clarendon Hills. In contrast, the Domaine Clarendon vineyard was planted in 2003, to Clarendon Hills’ specifications, and the vines are correspondingly younger in age. There were five cabernets from different vintages. Most came from the Brookman vineyard:
Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 (Brookman): A dusty, slightly smoky nose, with blackcurrant, soy, white pepper, herbs and a touch of menthol. Possibly a very slight touch of VA. There’s more blackcurrant and menthol on the palate, with savoury oak, grippy tannins and good supporting acid. Medium to long finish.
Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 (Sandown): Blackcurrant, cassis, eucalypt, herbal notes and a touch of earthiness on the nose. A juicy palate with ripe blackcurrants and mulberries, more eucalypt and dusty tannins. Medium bodied.
Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 (Brookman): A less powerful nose than the previous two wines. The dark fruits are showing signs of development, and there’s some sourness and earthiness. There was debate about whether there’s a touch of cork taint. There’s juicy dark fruits on the palate, with prominent acid and spiky tannins. The wine is showing some texture and structure, and a slight sourness on the back palate. Medium to long finish. [Edit] I opened another bottle from the same six pack the following night and it's in better nick.The nose is more expressive and there's no sourness to the wine. I suggest the bottle at this tasting was slightly corked.
Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 (Brookman): Blackcurrant and cassis on the nose, with savoury oak and menthol. Quite primary for a 14-year-old wine. The palate is juicy with blackberry, mulberry, dark chocolate and freshening acid. Grippy tannins and some glycerols leading to a long finish. This is fresher and has more volume than the 2011, and this might just be a product of vintage variation.
Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 (Brookman): From magnum. A dusty and savoury nose, with blackcurrant, vanilla, soy / umami and a little earthiness. There’s white pepper on the nose with milk chocolate, developed red and dark fruits, fine but grippy tannins and juicy acid. A long finish, and highly regarded by the group. We then moved onto the Syrahs.
Domaine Clarendon Syrah 2014: Red and dark plums, cranberries, spicy oak, spearmint, chocolate and white pepper on the nose. The juicy palate shows fresh blue and red fruits, milk chocolate and silky tannins. Medium finish. This wasn’t as full or intense as the following wines, and, given the likely younger vine age, we considered this to be a ‘baby Clarendon’.
Clarendon Hills Syrah 2012 (Moritz): A fuller nose, with vanilla, blueberry, iodine, menthol and spicy oak. The palate is clean and fresh, with cinnamon, clove, lots of blue fruits, and menthol. Fine but grippy tannins and tart acid, leading to a moderately long finish. There’s a tension here, and the wine is at the tipping point between primary and secondary development.
Clarendon Hills Syrah 2008 (Moritz): Developed dark and red fruits on the nose, with some caramel, cinnamon and brown sugar. The palate shows emerging Christmas cake (which come out more in some of the later wines), more caramel, spicy oak, and good supporting acid. Tannins are integrated and the wine shows some texture or viscosity. Long finish. A couple of tasters thought the mid-palate was a little hollow, but the wine was well regarded by the group despite this.
Clarendon Hills Syrah 2007 (Liandra): This had a warmer, spicier nose than the preceding wines, with vanilla, stewed dark and red plums, star anise and milk chocolate. There’s Christmas cake on the palate and the dark and red fruits are showing signs of development. Tannins are integrated and there’s some texture here too. This wine finished drier than the preceding wines.
Clarendon Hills Syrah 2006 (Brookman): Christmas cake / raisin, dark and red fruits, nutmeg, herbs and furniture polish on the nose. The palate is similar to the 2007 Liandra, with a little sourness, slightly higher acid and more aggressive tannins.
Clarendon Hills Syrah 2005 (Moritz): Blackcurrant, dark chocolate, baked fruits and black pepper on the nose. The palate shows Christmas cake, forest fruits and a savoury umami character. This was well regarded by the group, and considered to be balanced and complex.
Clarendon Hill Syrah 2004 (Piggott Range): Lots of plummy fruit sweetness on the nose (quite primary for a 20-year-old wine), with furniture polish and violets. More dark plums and berries on the palate, with raisin and dark chocolate. It’s very juicy, with fully integrated tannins and a long finish. Highly regarded.
Clarendon Hills Syrah 2003 (Moritz): Spicy nose with Christmas cake / raisin and quite simple fruit sweetness. The palate was described as showing “old wine sweetness” – more raisin, lot of juiciness and fully integrated oak tannins. A couple of tasters considered that this might have been better a couple of years ago.
Clarendon Hills Syrah 2003 (Hickinbotham): A brooding, more savoury nose, although with many of the characters common to the previous few wines. The palate is firmer than the Moritz and has more structure. There’s juicy dark and red berry fruits. Tannins are fully integrated and the wine finishes medium to long. Well regarded by the group.
This tasting identified a number of common factors in these wines:
1. Juiciness: for red wines around (or over) 14.5% alcohol, and with the bottle age of the wines we tasted, we were surprised how often the term “juicy” came up in the conversation. Is this something that the winemaker strives for?
2. Menthol / eucalypt: regardless of the grape variety, the wines almost all showed different levels of menthol or eucalypt, especially on the noses.
These two factors led the group to consider whether there is a Clarendon Hills “house style” – which seems a contradiction when your company makes so many single vineyard wines from the same varieties.
Wine of the night was the Clarendon Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 (Brookman), with the 2004 Piggott Range Syrah and the 2008 Moritz Syrah also honourable mentions.
Once again, we cannot praise Mark and Jodie at Lulu’s Little Bistro highly enough - the tasting was enhanced by the quality of the food, and we will return again and again.
Cheers
Allan