Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Readers looking for a clone of the famed Clarendon Hills luxury cuvee of 100% Shiraz called Astralis can find it in the 1997 Shiraz La Testa. This is a profound, prodigiously rich wine with a saturated black/purple color and knock-out aromas of burning charcoal fire, jammy blackberries, cassis, and melted asphalt. Extremely full-bodied, with a viscous texture and high alcohol, this enormously endowed wine will improve for 10-15 years, and last for three decades. An impressive new producer that will thrill wine enthusiasts!
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Known for opulent red wines with intense power and concentration, McLaren Vale is home to perhaps the most “classic” style of Australian Shiraz. Vinified on its own or in Rhône Blends, these hot-climate wines are deeply colored and high in extract with signature hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is also produced in a similar style.
Whites, often made from Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc tend to be opulent and full of tropical, stone and citrus fruit.