Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

9.3

2008 vintage. Decanted and tasted after two hours. Medium-heavy body. Juicy introduction with a firm, tannic handshake directly thereafter. Nice first impression of the 2018 tasting now but 3-5 years from now likely leads to a better opinion. 4.26.24. — 9 days ago

Andrea Vos-Rochefort

9.0

Lithe, smooth, and amenable - this wine will pair with anything and offers bright cherry notes with the grip of a warm handshake. — 4 years ago

Fraser McKinley

9.3

Like a firm handshake from an old friend. So comforting and cuddly yet svelte and floral. Classy Syrah from magnum - 2015 — 6 years ago

David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

On the nose; ripe, syrupy dark currants, blackberries, sweet slightly liqueured dark cherries, black plum, black raspberries, blue fruits, dark fruit gummy bears, tarry notes, black pepper, soft leather, dry brush, black licorice, caramel, dry crushed rocks, loamy dry top soil, violets, lilacs and lavender. The body is warm, thick, ultra rich, lush & elegant. The tannins are round & velvety but still have strength...50% resolved. It has another 10-12 years of good drinking ahead. The fruits are gorgeous & ripe; blackberries, sweet slightly liqueured dark cherries, black plum, black raspberries & lots of blue fruits & strawberries that paint the palate on the long set. A fair amount of tarry notes, black pepper, dry herbaceous notes (bay leaf), dry black olive, medium dark spice, dark chocolate, caramel, vanilla, clove, soft leather, dry brush, black licorice, dry crushed rocks, loamy dry top soil, violets, lilacs and lavender. The acidity is round & excellent. The long fruit driven finish is beautifully lush, elegant, well structured with near perfect balance. Photos of; Owner/Winemaker Roman Bratasiuk, their old gnarly 80-90 year old and low yielding vines and two of their vineyards. Producer history and notes...Clarendon Hills was founded in 1990 by Biochemist Roman Bratasiuks. Roman sought to further his passion for great wine by making some himself. Roman never trained as a winemaker. He planned on using his insight as a wine taster and scientist alike to dictate decisions. Roman sought to make a version of the wines he loved. The beginnings of Clarendon Hills effectively started in 1989 when he knocked on the door a local grower whose fruit he liked. A great friendship grew from from this by chance knock on the door. A handshake ensued and it became the first Clarendon Hills vineyard. On Saturday 24 February in 1990, Roman with just a bucket and secateurs arrived. Much to the growers shock, he began picking fruit himself. Roman started at 6 am and finished at 9 pm that evening; he picked half the entire vineyard himself and returned on Sunday the 25th to finish it. This process was repeated in a Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard which formed the 3 single site wines produced in 1990. Crushing was performed by Roman using empty bottles to squash the fruit in a bucket, then transferred by that bucket, to one of the 3 small ex-dairy tanks all bought for $100 and a quick, non-temperature controlled wild-yeast fermentation ensued. The wines were pressed in a borrowed basket press and matured in 3 separate third-hand barrels. The vintage was finished in 11 days. Much to Roman’s delight the wines were superb and they sold. With the money he bought more buckets, three more barrels and rent for a shed to house wines. The process was repeated the next year and the year after that. Clarendon Hills grew from his determination. This one man had to make wine after work and on the weekends after his 9-to-5 job. A local news paper even ran a story "Tin shed wines take on the world"; which made Roman cringe but slowly Clarendon Hills grew, it afforded him more equipment to make the process less labour-intensive and slowly grow his vineyard repertoire. In 1994, Roman left the Australian Government laboratories and devoted himself to Clarendon Hills 100%. In the 1994 vintage, Roman hired his first employee and rebranded his $30 Clarendon Hills Shiraz as 1994 Clarendon Hills Astralis. It was the first bottle in Australia to be priced at $100. It sold out. Roman went on for many years, making and selling the wines himself. Travelling the world over to show people the wines he made. Roman figured since he made the wine, he was the most logical choice to sell and represent his wine. This worked out so well, he continues to show the wines himself. Clarendon Hills produces; 8 Syrah, 6 Grenache, 3 Cabernet Sauvignon, a Merlot and Mourvedre wine. They are all single vineyards single varietal wines, produced from low yielding, dry grown old vines which are hand pruned and hand picked. All his wines are aged in high-quality French oak barriques. Quite a brilliant success story. This is also another wine I acquired on the secondary market for much less it’s release price and far less than their current release prices. It starts as a 9.3 with a half-hour decant. However, as it gets to an hour and half decant plus, it just gets better & better. Works it’s way to a 9.5 in a hour decant. — 6 years ago

Jamie Lauder

9.0

2017 vintage.
Sweet floral notes perfumed with bright red fruit and licorice.
This is Nebbiolo with mint, earthy cherries and grippy tannins.
The grapes come mostly from vineyards in Barolo and the last couple of vintages from Barbaresco too.
Luca Vietti would come to Vancouver years ago for tastings and to handshake buyers.
I asked Luca….”Why do you make Perbacco?”
His response…..”I want people to enjoy Barolo wines and not pay Barolo prices.”
The man is a Saint. — 3 years ago

Joe Lucca

9.7

One of the sexiest wines I’ve had in a while, and that’s saying something. Velvet smoking jacket cool. The nose is campfire, pen ink, toasty oak, briary berries, cherry cordial, freshly turned soil. The palate is a cacophony of flavors; rich and reduced red berries, blueberry pie, leather, warm spices, cedar, red and black currants, beef jerky, menthol, earthy minerals, charcoal smoke, river stones, fresh tobacco leaf, black plum skin. Says goodbye with a very firm handshake. Finish lasts for a solid 2 minutes. Took about a 4 hour decant to really strut its stuff. A relative baby; she’ll continue to evolve for another decade or two. Not quite ready for marriage; but right now is a great time to go for a spin with this fun, racy young woman. Thank you @David L for gifting this beauty. Wishing you and Kristen a very Happy Holiday Season. — 5 years ago

with Diana

Michael Malizia

8.9

1 bottle left. Suave and elegant, crisp white shirt and a restrained handshake. — 6 years ago

Chris A

8.9

Stunningly good! Great vanilla toast lead-in opens up to a well balanced citrus handshake that rides along a jet stream of smooth, full bodied greatness. Nice, supple and satisfying finish rounds out the glass.. — 3 years ago

David Kline

9.4

Yellow watermelon orange, border of opacity. Loose, bright, white foam. Suddenly enough, none, but fast and oily brain grooves and amorphous blob-people trace out the forlorn and droopy lacings. Cheer up! The nose is full of concentrated tangerine zest, with look-alive lime, and lemon scented sunshine glinting off of shattered space debris. There is something so ‘dessicated lemon’ here, with a lambic-balsam edge, but also gasoline and lemongrass-white pepper. Anomalistic. Tasty sour pear, grapefruit, and funky golden plum all burst in sour unison, leaving pineapple to prickle amidst the pieces, and apricot shows ripely, timely and dedicatedly sweet, perhaps even slightly dried. Really amazing and complex, seamless without becoming divergent or clunky. Sour NE style double ipa... looking forward to the imperial version, should one materialize. #sixpoint #sixpointbrewing #sixpointbrewery #sixpointcosmichandshake #sourale #sour #sourbeer #souripa #ipa #indiapaleale #newenglandipa #sournewenglanddipa #dipa #beer #bier #biere #birra #cerveza #cerveja #abv #dap #intergalactichighfive #collab #collaborationbeer #victorybrewing #twoworldscollide — 4 years ago

Michael Meyer

9.1

Consistent with prior experience, ripe cherry, sage, and underbrush on the nose. Palate brings on more mineral, tang, and red pepper spice. Tannins are somewhere between a firm handshake and a warm hug. An interesting light (slightly orange) copper color; medium body/finish. This could pair with almost anything food-wise. Beautiful stuff! — 6 years ago