When Roman Bratasiuk decided to become a winemaker, he literally drove the backroads of McClaren Vale, stopping to taste grapes before he found the vineyard now known as Astralis. Once he found this magical place, where the stars seem almost close enough to touch, his fate was sealed. He worked from sun up to sun down. His hands were stained a deep red-purple from picking the grapes, and it is the way his sons, Alex and Adam, fondly remember him during those years.
The Bratasiuks have such reverence for the vineyards and terroir – Roman has always referred to the vines, some of the oldest in the world, as ‘gentlemen’ and the family believes that terroir ‘tells the story in every bottle’. They still do most of the labor by hand and look forward to passing this beautiful property onto the next generation. Alex and Adam are now largely in charge.
Knowing the Clarendon Hills story made opening a bottle of the 2005 Romas Vineyard even more special recently and as this is a family business, I made it a family affair and shared the bottle with my husband. Romas is one of their six Grand Cru productions – most collectors will know this producer for the iconic Premier Grand Cru ‘Astralis’, a name picked from the dictionary meaning ‘pertaining to the stars’ – and Romas is their flagship Grenache. It is considered to need plenty of bottle age for the best enjoyment and comes from 75 year on vines grown at the highest elevation. The juice sees seasoned French oak barrels, and there is no fining or filtering.
Robert Parker has described Romas as some of the ‘finest Grenache-based wine made outside of France's Southern Rhone Valley’, large shoes to fill, indeed. But this bottle of the 2005 Clarendon Hills Romas Vineyard did that and maybe even more. It showed its own unique personality, and I think terroir definitely told the story. The wine is huge on the nose with a meaty presence that came with years in the bottle. If first impressions are everything, this wine is undeniably masculine.
After an hour decanting, we were ready to taste this Grenache, and the first sip was almost overwhelming – there are so many layers and nuances. It is still certainly a masculine wine but there is also a sophistication, with layers of earthiness, black cherries and the same meatiness we picked up in the aroma. The finish brings on the spiciness we expected from this varietal and in this case, it leans toward pepper rather than baking spices. There is a nice balance to the flavors and though they are each quite distinct, they do not overshadow each other.
The 2005 Clarendon Hills Romas Vineyard is the perfect bottle to open while the steaks or burgers are on the grill. There is plenty of backbone to stand up to the big flavor profile in grilled red meats and enough mushroom and pepper nuance to complement them beautifully. At just $59.99 a bottle, why not pick up a case? Grilling season is just starting, and this wine could be gone before summer’s end. We all know the best things – like summer and great wine – never last long enough!