2001 Old Vines Grenache Clarendon Vineyard
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Tasting notes
This possesses a ruby red color with some slight bricking at the edges and while it started out slightly funky and showed some medicinal and burnt aromas, these disappeared with air and the wine as a whole was absolutely delicious. Black cherry and subtle raspberry fruit aromas are backed up by boat loads of underbrush, herb, tar paper and charred earth notes on the nose and lead into a balanced, medium to full bodied palate. Ripe and with lots of sweet fruit, this has a silky smooth texture with perfectly integrated tannins, vibrant acidity and a long, enjoyable finish. Not jammy or viscous, this showed great poise and the acidity really gave the wine a nice precise edge.
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Jeb Dunnuck
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The 2001 Grenache Old Vines Clarendon Vineyard’s soaring aromatics envelop the olfactory senses offering up notes of freshly ground pepper, spice box, plums, figs, black cherries, and balsam wood. Full-bodied, thick, and unctuously-textured with great finishing acidity that gives delineation and uplift to the wine’s enormous concentration and overall purity, it is a stunning example of old vine Grenache that should drink well for a decade. Imported by USA Wine West LLC, San Rafael, CA; tel. (800)-485-5753, for John Larchet, The Australian Premium Wine Collection
About the producer
Based in the McLaren Vale, Clarendon Hills has been one of the pioneering names in Australian wine. Focusing on single-site expressions of individual grapes, working with old dry-farmed vineyards, it has become one of the world’s leading producers, best known for its iconic Astralis Shiraz.