When I decided to fire up the grill and roast a leg of lamb I needed a Syrah/Shiraz to go with it. What better than a nicely aged bottle from Australia? I have become a huge fan of the Clarendon winery, they produce amazing wines in a style that I adore. This one was exceptionally good and the pairing was amazing.
It started out with Plum jam, blackcurrants, nutmeg and a touch of heat on the nose. Initially there was a dark core of black currants and plum compote with a hint of licorice. The mid palate gave way to red raspberries after some time which was fascinating. I noted ‘Extremely smooth with beautiful fine-grained tannins and an edge of acidity’. This wine rocked. It’s 14.5% alcohol was evident when the bottle was first opened but seemed to blow off with time and became a non-event. Complexity and finesse are what this winery is good at. They tend to be more Rhone-like versus typical Aussie Shiraz. I prefer the subtlety and refined approach on occasions and this wine allowed the meat to showcase it’s herbs and spices without overpowering it. The pro’s went from 89-95 on this one, but I agree with WS- it’s a solid 93-94 point wine in my opinion but at $75 is rather pricy. 4 stars however and a cellaring potential up to 2027 if you ask me. Salut….
Both wine and meat look excellent. Cheers!