2016 Onkaparinga Syrah
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Tasting notes
The aroma and flavor profile is more herbaceous than others in the Clarendon single-vineyard stable, with charred meat notes creeping in with bottle age and mingling with brambly berries, dried flowers and licorice. The tannins are muscular yet chiseled, powdery and fine, cinching the silky fruit and herbs. Decant and pour with protein if drinking now, or cellar until 2029. Christina Pickard
Critic scores
Average Score
Wine Enthusiast
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
Ironstone and shale on a west-facing site that overlooks Onkaparinga Gorge. The nose has black olives as well as intense white pepper and some young, meaty notes across ripe blood plums, black cherries and licorice. The palate has such smooth, long, licoricy fruit flavors, together with plum pudding, some raisins and black-fruit paste. Really intense, long and spicy palate. The tannins are smooth, yet dense. Wow. Try from 2024.
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.