IWFS: Penfolds Grange vs Clarendon Hills Astralis

Really fun dinner last night. Great food, especially a 500-day aged steak, along with some really nice wines. This was supposed to be a show-down between Australia's long-established King and an upstart pretender to the throne. Strangely, both the big guns were almost upstaged by the a seriously good 1998 Clarendon Hills Brookman Shiraz. Apart from that though, it was difficult to choose between the them. Both were clearly great wines, but both were entirely different. While the Grange was pure Aussie goodness, the Astralis (and indeed the rest of the Clarendon Hills range) had clearly old world leanings. A real surprise given how much Parker likes these. All in all though, a wonderful chance to taste these side by side.

• 2000 Coldstream Hills Chardonnay Reserve 87 Points

  Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley

  Not great. Buttery on the nose, along with vanilla creme scents, fleshy white fruit with a fresh citrus lift. Very nice actually. Palate was nowhere near that unfortunately. Nice fleshy entry, ripe lemons, apples, but it leaned out on the mid-palate, where there was some alcohol before the wine wound down in a short, rather awkward finish which was very nutty, with popcorn kernels and spicy notes ending with a little bitter note at the end. Quite a bit of oak was obvious even after the fruit had faded. A bit strange - a wine that flatters to deceive on the nose and attack, and goes flat quite fast. Suspect it was better in its youth.

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• 1999 Devil's Lair Chardonnay 90 Points

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

  Much better than the previous Chard. This had some quality on it. Nice nose. Earthy, mushroomy, some boiled herb scents floating around, along with sweet lemon accents and fleshy fruit shading to rather yellow tones. Little honeyed scents took up the rear. The palate was very bright on the attack, clearly new world, yet rather refined and nicely focused. Sweet, sunshiney lemons flavours were at the fore, and then mineral notes, a little honey, all showing nice weight, but this also had a lean, sinewy structure to it. Typically idiosyncratic Devil's Lair in that way. Long sappy finish was chocked full of spice, before a little twist of bitter almonds right at the very tail rounded it off. Very interesting.

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• 1998 Penfolds Shiraz Bin 28 Kalimna 89 Points

  Australia, South Australia

  Pretty decent. Lots of earth on the nose, together rather aggressive spice scents, licorice, meat and some rubber notes. Not bad, but not exactly alluring. Palate was not bad either, a bit of heat, but pretty decent balance. Strong licorice flavours, almost liquified licorice I thought, went along with dark plummy fruit, sweet prunes, a little meaty note, some mint and a peppery spice finish. Decent length but lacks a little depth, so it could not stand up to the flavourful braised korubuta pork belly dish we had. There was certainly some acidity on the attack, but I could not help but feel that there was a bit of heavy, plodding feel at times. Otherwise, a decent wine, clearly bearing the marks of a hot vintage.

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• 1998 Penfolds Bin 389 90 Points

  Australia, South Australia

  A clear step-up from the the Bin 28 Kalimna. Deeper nose here. Spice, earth, licorice and lots of ripe cassis. A lot more depth on the palate too. Lots of fleshy cassis, some prunes and blueberries, peppered with eucalyptus and Indian spice notes, all sprinkled over a little bed of dried earth and roasted meat. Nice mellow tannin structure. Plenty of glycerol on the mid-palate, more or less coating the mouth. Not bad, but again there was that slightly heavy, plodding feel at points - a result of too much glycerol perhaps. Very spicy on the finish, with a little more licorice and some smoky wood notes. All in all a very decent wine, and drinking pretty well now. I suspect a couple of years more may do it a some good though.

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• 1998 Clarendon Hills Shiraz Brookman 94 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, Clarendon

  Tremendous. I thought this was a brilliant wine. Nose was meaty, leathery, a little animale almost, with lots of earthy scents undergirding high-toned flowers and dark blue fruit. Northern Rhone spiked with glycerol I thought. Palate had some Rhone stylings too. It certainly had lots of meaty flavours, with some cool blueberries and lavender flowers floating around, little herb and mint hints on the mid-palate, and high-toned acidity giving the whole thing a nice shape. Brilliant balance and nice velvety tannins made for a really nice feel in the mouth as well. The rich ripeness, the glycerol and little eucalyptus notes at the finish announced the wine's new world roots. Otherwise, this could easily be a ripe, and really good, Cote Rotie. Only with an hour or so in the glass did more Aussie earth and menthol character started coming out. All in all though, this was a great effort, elegance and power all tied together, and just drinking wonderfully now. I really liked it. It could well have upstaged both the 1996 Grange and the 1996 Astralis, if not for the sheer depth and ageability of of those wines. For current drinking though, I would pick this over the two bigger names anytime.

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• 1998 Clarendon Hills Grenache Old Vines Blewitt Springs 92 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, Clarendon

  Clearly a good wine, and many on the table loved it to bits, but I thought it was nowhere near as interesting as the Shirazes from the same maker. Nevertheless, it clearly had a gorgeous nose. Gobs of raspberry and cherries galore, nice and pure expression here, along with some dried earth and herb scents that augmented the fruit. Palate had that same lovely pure red fruit, with cherries and berries opening up into raspberry jam notes when drank with a herby quail dish. On the mid-palate, peppery spice and sweet herbs were layered over dusty earth and some smoky, gunpowder notes. Some air, and savoury umami and kirsch flavours started showing. I thought it was noticeably heavy on the alcohol, but the balance was alright. Finish was very decent too, winding down in smoky wafts. Good fruit, nice structure, decent balance, good depth, just a bit obvious. Maybe some age will unveil additional complexity. At the moment, a very well-made wine, but lacking a bit of soul.

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• 1996 Clarendon Hills Astralis 94 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, Clarendon

  Not sure whether this wine is worth the entry fee it attracts these days, but it was certainly excellent. Started out worryingly one-dimensional, a lot tighter than the Grange, but a bit of time in the glass really coaxed out the quality in the wine. Crushed beetle / cockroach smells just wafted out of the glass at first sniff. Took awhile to get pass that, and then much nicer earth, spice, dusty mineral and cool dark fruit started emerging. After half an hour, some serious meatiness showed up. All still really tight though. Much the same on the palate when it was first poured. Great concentration with, deep, deep reservoirs of dark berries, mouth-coating dark chocolate, deep-set earth, meat and mineral along with just a touch of glycerol. Obviously great balance and nice structure, with super-fine tannins and just seamless integration throughout. Like the nose though, it was all rather tight and buried. Finish had beautiful length, but a little reticent in terms of flavours, with just some menthol notes peeking out. Thankfully, with time, some really Old World savoury meatiness and smoky mineral notes started emerging, just as any overt glycerol tones faded away. The fruit became more distinct, as did the wonderful sense of focus, balance and structure on the wine. This transited from a clearly Aussie wine into a rather commendable Hermitage lookalike in just under an hour! Very classy, but boy it needs time - I would leave this aside for a good decade before broaching it again.

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• 1996 Penfolds Grange 94 Points

  Australia, South Australia

  Clearly Aussie, clearly Grange, and clearly very good. However, even though it was more open than the Clarendon Hills Astralis that preceded it, this also needs a whole lot more time in the cellar. Nevertheless, quite a pleasure on the night. Beautiful nose showed classic Aussie Shiraz character, with plums, prunes, earth and meat scents, seasoned with eucalyptus, coconutty vanilla and just that tiny hint of crushed beetle. A little flowery lilt brought up the rear. The palate was rich, almost thick, with plenty of depth in its plums, prunes and sweet oak notes on the attack, yet it was somehow unusually clean, clear, almost pure, almost high-toned in the way the fruit expressed itself. The mid-palate had serious meaty concentration, and lots of powerful fruit riding into a finish of eucalyptus, mint and wafting vanilla tones filling the mouth. Not quite the raw power on the back-end of the 1994 Grange I last had, but this showed great balance, with juicy acidity, great velevty texture, lots of complexity and lovely lingering length too. Very yummy. The quintessential Aussie Shiraz. Like the Astralis though, still very young, with the structure and texture of the wine a lttle dominant. I would give it a good 5-6 years before broaching another bottle, and I think this will probably go on developing for far longer after that.

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• NV Rockford PS Marion Tawny 90 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  Very decent tawny port. Raisins and figs on the nose were accompanied by a little woody scent and a whoosh of alcohol. A but distracting on this count, but otherwise very pleasant. Rich and creamy on the palate, some caramel, liquified raisins, and an oxidative, sherry like dried fig and saline touch on the finish. A little simple, but decently balanced, with a nice yummy depth.

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