2/5/2024 - jmcmchi Likes this wine:

Lightly savoury with black fruit over smooth tannins

Very nice but overpriced even at redacted rate

2/5/2024 - Brian Glas Likes this wine:

Popped and poured. Sweet blackberry fruit. Some drying tannins. Smoky meat notes. Some cocoa and black pepper. Very interesting wine. My son Paul's favorite.... :)

2/4/2024 - NavyVet6874 wrote:

Delicious Grenach Blanc. Refined front to back, creamy and slightly viscous.

1/21/2024 - Juliansi Likes this wine:

Proud to be able to share this one and only bottle from my cellar with our usual suspects (DQ, WMK, JY, LF, LMC, SKT, MV), this comes from Grenache vines which are 80-100 years old!

Medium darkness garnet in color, with a light 2-3 mm rim. Nose of ripe cherries, light pepper and hints of gravel as well. Clearly, this has been a big beast all its life, but at this stage of over 20 years... Whilst it still comes across as full-bodied and concentrated, it also exhibits such fine tannins and roundness as well as balance.

I love that the acidity is still M to M+, with such an amazing complex palate of fruit of dark-berries, with secondaries such as leather too. Cellaring time? This could last at least another decade, but is in a stunning place now. Alas.. I can't imagine I may ever have the same wine again!

McLaren Vale is located south of Adelaide, or 110 km south of the Barossa Valley - I hope to visit one day too, having enjoyed Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills so much in 2023.

In 1990, Roman Bratasiuk founded Clarendon Hills winery in Clarendon, 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Adelaide, which is in the McLaren Vale Wine Region in South Australia. It was selected because of the significant number of old (aged 50 to 90 years) vineyards nearby.

The township of Clarendon was established in 1880 by European migrants, who brought with them original French vine cuttings. Grenache, Syrah Merlot, Mourvedre, and Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards are sourced by Clarendon Hills within the Clarendon, Blewitt Springs and Kangarilla districts.

Bratasiuk exclusively produces single-vineyard wines, which was unusual when he started in 1990!

Clarendon Hills produces eight Syrah, six Grenache, three Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as one Merlot and Mourvedre wine. All single vineyard, single varietal wines are produced from low yielding, dry-grown old vines which are hand pruned and hand-picked. They are all aged in French oak barriques.

The Clarendon Hills Romas Old Vine Grenache comes from the oldest and rockiest section of the Blewitt Springs vineyard.

A small parcel was first planted in 1920 and the majority of the lowermost rows planted in the 1940’s. Its very special indeed, and described as possibly the best terroir in Blewitt Springs, McLaren Vale.

The wine is always hand picked with specific rows selected from the start, then wild yeast fermented and macerated for an extended period of approximately 5 weeks. Before being carefully carefully pressed into a matrix of generally mature 3-6 year old barriques for 18 months.

My bottle shared at DQ's "Patio-warming" party, thanks a lot for having us over bro. The theme was.. Wines to pre-usher in Year of the Dragon, Big or Elegant, Young or Vintaged, and Classic or Rare. I think this wine met all 3 of those criteria!

21st Jan 2024
DQ's home, Malaysia

2/4/2022 - BHRH Likes this wine:

one hour slow ox in glass. Significant herbal and eucalyptus on the nose with nice cassis, french oak, and a bit of tobacco. Nice bright black currant fruit, sweet around the edges. Mature with just enough ripeness to state that this is in a really nice plateau. Lots of tertiary elements as this evolved through hour 3 with the fruit really shining. A terrific example of Clare Valley fruit - in perfect condition! Delightful!!

1/1/2024 - stu_charles@outlook.com Likes this wine:

Excellent bouquet of cherries. Super smooth. Everything you’d want in a Pinot Noir and more. Going to see if it’s possible to get some delivered to Canada so impressed by it.

1/16/2023 - Chelseaastevenson wrote:

Liked, would buy again

12/17/2023 - Brian Glas Likes this wine:

Spicy red berry fruit. Firm. Tannins. Interesting tension here between the tannins and sweet fruit. Very interesting. Medium plus finish.

11/4/2023 - Neecies Likes this wine:

Purchased for $6 at Grocery Outlet yesterday. Initially very little nose and flavor--smelled of dish soap and lacked fruit. But an hour later it was all pears, acacia blossoms, ash and boatloads of white pepper. I love white pepper! Leans more toward the minor ermentino in the blend than the grenache blanc. I'm not buying wine right now, but if I were I'd race back over there for a case to eat with Chinese food. Cool room temp recommended, don't chill.

7/21/2023 - jmcmchi Likes this wine:

After a day

Juicy ripe berries, quaffable.

Excellent for what it is, a simple cheerful crowd pleaser

9/13/2023 - Brian Glas Likes this wine:

I don't understand the 89.5 average score on this. Just another example on how people mark down cheap wines and mark up expensive ones. If people had to score this blind I believe the average score would be a couple of points higher.

5/27/2023 - jmcmchi Likes this wine:

Pale, closer to a blanc franc than anything

Light acidity, crisp raspberry

7/1/2023 - skifree wrote:

The price sucked me in on a Garagiste offer, and the fact that the grapes came from Oregon did as well. The good news is that there was no smoke taint. Sadly, for me it had the classic Wa. chard pear and apple, flabbiness, and simplicity that I have come to expect from home-grown chard. Good, but there is so much better available.

6/29/2023 - Reloan4u Likes this wine:

Delicious dessert port, mild acidity, full bodied rich condensed cherry fruit. Had with strawberry scone shortcake and lemon basil whip cream. It would be better complimented to a richer or chocolate dessert.

Would love to fin more as well

6/27/2023 - Neecies Does not like this wine:

Tired; time's up.

6/3/2023 - snarfglk wrote:

sold 2 to Dom G.

5/27/2023 - jmcmchi Likes this wine:

If this were the Loire, this would be Tony’s Savennières as opposed to his Vouvray from McKinley Springs

I like this style

10/6/2022 - Neecies Likes this wine:

PnP. A great Washington cabernet from a mixture of clones, and as a result full of pretty sweet spice notes not typical of Washington fruit. Excellent for current drinking as well as continued cellaring for some tertiary magic.

4/10/2023 - jmcmchi wrote:

More smoke than I am comfortable with, riding over what would be attractive spice

1/10/2021 - IlliniWine wrote:

Unimpressive. Tasted vaguely of shoe leather, tar, dust. Decanted for an hour before drinking. And gave it plenty of time over the course of the evening. Didn't get any better. Not a bad wine but certainly nothing special. Kind of disappointed that I still have five more bottles.

3/3/2023 - jmcmchi Likes this wine:

Very pale in glass

Crisp texture, great acidity, cranberry and watermelon

2/16/2023 - Sagan99 Likes this wine:

With BBQ salt and pepper, porterhouse.

Recently cellared and drank, 2 bottles of the 2000 vintage and sipped it within the last year. Those bottles were awesome, and I think ensured some tertiary character which made those bottles extra interesting.

That said, this 2015 is still elegant, relevant and special. The tannins are present but resolving nicely into the "silky way", of it's prior wines.
It's dark ruby with an mouthfeel of luscious red and black fruits. It's balanced and powerful.

I expect this wine to be cellared for between 1 or 2 decades. There's no need to do it. I could drink them all this week. But, I think these are the style of wines that will get better.

That said, I'll drink one every 2 years to confirm. I'm not taking chances. Have had too many wines missed at their maturity.

I was lucky to have found this wine 20 years ago. And, with this 2015, along with Oregon's Roserock and Washington State's Andrew Will all stretching my "preferences", has already led to a beautiful start to my recently discovered adage of....

....PS- Drink The Rainbow!
PSS- this is a great wine for a blind tasting group's trickery. It's a very dark ruby Cabernet Sauvignon. From Spain. In a Burgundy shaped bottle. With a cork. It's a difficult guess!

1/15/2023 - jmcmchi wrote:

Sweet berries on nose leading into tobacco and pepper
Smooth velvety texture, tobacco and green tomato. peppery finish. VERY long
At end, "delicate" is the word that comes to mind

10/23/2022 - jmcmchi Likes this wine:

Fresh and spicey.

A lot of underlying power, a good example of value from a less-known appellation in the Rhone

11/22/2022 - acorelli wrote:

What happened to Le Cigare? I was a big fan of these wines - 2007 in particular, but have had several different years - and this is not in the same league. The reduced price should have been a warning, I guess. Maybe Mr. Graham is using his better grapes for something else, now? The goofiness of Le Cigare Volant - the name, the label art, the story - was fun because the wine was good. It’s not fun now that the wine is average.

10/28/2022 - Henry Miller wrote:

The Merlot half is ripe and dominant. Rich, slightly juicy and pure. Black cherry and cocoa. More right bank than left, but nimble enough. This is tremendous value.

4/15/2021 - Neecies Likes this wine:

Tasted at the winery. 2/3 Merlot, 1/3 Cabernet, on 100% new French Oak. That kind of lavish FO isn't normally my thing but the elegance and understated power of the violets, blueberry fruit and sweet spice swept me off my feet, and I purchased some for my cellar.

10/7/2022 - empire80 Likes this wine:

Past the CT window but this bottle is in prime condition and would easily be good for a few more years. Rich liquorice and spice, mingling with blueberry and blackberry fruits. A big wine, but well balanced.

12/8/2019 - jmcmchi Likes this wine:

Light in colour

Cherry and almond nose

Huge length. Long light cherry acidity, intense but not heavy

Potential for 10+ years

9/12/2021 - jmcmchi Likes this wine:

Decanted 10 minutes

Pristine cork, very little sign of aging in colour

Smooth tannins, spice and acidity holding well. Well named syrah as opposed to shiraz

9/11/2022 - jmcmchi Likes this wine:

Opened three to four hours. Could have done with more

Bramble acidity works well with taut tannins. Feels lighter than abv would suggest

Revert in five years

8/11/2022 - jmcmchi Likes this wine:

Agreeing with BrianG, this is outstanding value, comparing well with another 2017 boutique cab at nearly twice the price

The fruit acidity is what defines this. It feels light bodied but has enough tannic structure to hold the ripe berries in hand.

Very nice

8/17/2022 - jmcmchi Likes this wine:

Interesting that this is no longer Kalimna but merely South Australia, the first Bin 28 I have tasted in years

Dark and inky, needs a couple of hours to open. It graduates from simple fruit to savoury spice with a peppery finish over the course of several hours.

Good value at current price

8/8/2022 - Neecies Likes this wine:

JMCMCHI recommended this awhile back and I finally stumbled over some. So glad! On the feral side: savagely grassy with notes of kaffir lime and cat pee. Loved it.

6/30/2022 - skifree Likes this wine:

Voted first out of 9 chards from around the world in a blind tasting by the Seattle Tasting group - my first as well. Light, flowery, lots of stone fruit, excellent acid, was drinking beautifully.

6/5/2022 - rmalloy Likes this wine:

To my tastes, this wine is a big, tannic monster right now. I don’t like the way it drinks now, but I think it has terrific potential for drinking ten years from now. Yes, ten years.

5/8/2022 - Putnam Weekley Likes this wine:

Mulch. Graphite. Mushrooms. Black licorice. Measured texture. Assertive, pointillist tannins. Searing, astringent rope resins. Green canopy centered on a black berry. Umami. It responds well to rare steak, but it was at its very best with a cheesy, American goulash. I remember drinking this almost 20 years ago—it was brutally astringent and lean then, and now it seems to have relaxed a bit. I suppose another ten years might suit it. Both experiences are hard to square with notes in print that I've seen, like "cherry jam-scented," and "supple-textured, voluptuous, fat, fleshy, low-acid wine."

4/24/2022 - PeterLarsen Likes this wine:

Still has years to go even with CellarTracker reccomending 2021-2022 as drinking window.

The high alcohol % is well integrated now.

11/7/2004 - jmcmchi Likes this wine:

Beautiful nose over intense red/black hues in glass. Opens slowly, very slowly to a firm structure holding all sorts of black fruit and eucalyptus

Almost infanticide

1/2/2022 - Robrnc Likes this wine:

Sweet and honey like smoother than the newer vintage’s

2/16/2022 - Neecies Likes this wine:

Very pale pearlescent color, aromatic nose with pear, peach and lime on the palate. Dry with more body and acidity than one expects from the grape based on Southern France versions. Serious, classy and exceptional from one of Washington's exciting new, cooler north-facing vineyards on Red Mountain. $40 retail.

2/24/2022 - jmcmchi Does not like this wine:

Fruit battles with smoke. To my nose, the smoke wins

My wife gets the fruit

Whether one likes this depends on one’s sensitivity to smoke

2/19/2022 - Fruitsrouges Likes this wine:

I just love the freshness of this beautiful Barsac because the high acidity is a great foil for the deep fruit (pineapple) flavors providing freshness and a lightness of being. Fitting coda to a sumptuous Birthday feast that included Vilmart Cœur de Cuvée 2010, Wm Fevre Vaudesir 2010, Haut Brion 1990, Lafite 1990, and Mouton 1982 Paired with fruit tart.

9/28/2021 - hiker_guy Likes this wine:

6 hour decant and it needed every minute
dark as midnight in the glass
nose is heavily floral and very interesting to sit and enjoy the aromas develop
Palate is dense, dark and layered but smooth and silky. Feels like it was super concentrated and the layers just unwind.
Nice length, though I want another sip long before the flavors fade.
Served with a prime NY Steak and it went very well.

1/11/2022 - jmcmchi Likes this wine:

Over two days

The extra air made a huge difference.

Dark and dusty tannins, powerful blue fruit, definitely a food wine.

1/12/2022 - Brian Glas Likes this wine:

Tasted after 1 hour of air. Dark ruby with a bit of bricking at the edge. Some light floral. Wow a bit hit of floral lift. Then bamm some fine grained tannins kick in to provide balance. Plenty of spice. Long finish. You can't find a better $11 wine. I picked up a case of these on the Davenport closeout.

3/31/2019 - Neecies Likes this wine:

Good fruit and balance with pleasant herbal components. Good value.

1/16/2021 - Keith Cooper Likes this wine:

Based on comments of other reviewers, I decanted this wine to remove sediment, but only 30 minutes before drinking. Good decision! The colour is dark plum. A beautiful nose, spicy, peppery, blackcurrant, very fruity, appearing to defy its 16 years age. The palate is bursting with ripe blackcurrant, it's smooth and well balanced, with incredible length. This is a superb wine and a brilliant example of why it's worth keeping decent Aussie wines for a few years to let them mature. What a shame I only had the one bottle which was a gift from a wine loving friend.

12/29/2021 - skifree wrote:

Gorgeous bottle, though the cellar is quite cold at the moment. Lots of honeyed fruits, like a mix of orchard and tropical fruit. Great balance and mouth feel.

11/28/2021 - jmcmchi Likes this wine:

Light bodied with more red berries than red leather.

Moderate acidity, surprisingly good with pizza