2023 Clarendon Hills Astralis Syrah

In the conversation about Australia’s greatest wines, Astralis has earned its place alongside Grange and Hill of Grace - not through marketing, but through decades of consistency, character, and pure vineyard expression. First made in 1990, it helped shift international perception of Australian Shiraz from brute strength to something closer to finesse.

The 2023 release continues that arc. Still drawn from the original 1920s Blewitt Springs vineyard, still handled entirely by Roman Bratasiuk, but showing a subtler, more mineral profile than past vintages.

The vineyard sits on a mix of deep sand and ironstone, dry-grown, and picked late in what turned out to be the best La Niña vintage of the trio. A cool, steady growing season preserved acid and brought out vivid aromatics in the fruit. The grapes were wild fermented with 60% whole berries, then matured in fine-grain French oak - 30% new - for 18 months before bottling, unfiltered.

The result is a more mineral, lifted expression of Astralis this year. Think blackberries, struck iron, tea leaf and peppercorns, with layers of dark spice and graphite running underneath. There’s still richness, but the tannins are more dialled-in, and the wine moves with precision rather than force.

It’s been called the most complete Astralis yet - and after tasting, it’s hard to argue. A modern chapter for one of Australia’s true benchmark Syrahs.

97 points
“This is often a powerfully compressed wine, gruff even, but here it follows the theme of the ’23s. Some may miss the gravitas. Not me. This is the best Astralis I have tasted... If you’re chasing heft, this is not the wine, but, if you care about expression of place and graceful detail, it’s a stunner.”
- Marcus Ellis (Wine Companion)

97 points
“Such a refined and balanced release of this famed wine with some early-drinking approachability. Aromas of blood plums, licorice, blackberry compote, iodine and fresh herbs. The palate is full-bodied with firmly framed tannins and a tactile, mouthwatering mouthfeel, showing blueberries, graphite, black olives and peppercorns. Excellent.” - Ryan Montgomery (James Suckling)

97 points
“The 2023 Astralis Syrah is silky and detailed, fine and spicy. The depth of flavor on offer here is all the more remarkable at the modest 13.5% alcohol. This is restraint in action, yet it doesn’t come at the expense of length of flavor nor of intensity. While some may criticize its ‘foot off the gas’ approach to ripeness in this cool vintage, I would counter with, ‘only in the context of this producer,’ and I commend the wine. It is lacking nothing besides several points of alcohol...”
- Erin Larkin (Wine Advocate)