2021 Command Shiraz

98 points - Ray Jordan, winepilot.com

I’m not sure I have seen a better example of Command in all the years I have been tasting it – which means every vintage. This is a product of the 2021 vintage which was outstanding. It’s a sort of big easy wine with an effortless almost casual palate extending long to the finish. Brilliant bright red fruits dominate with a healthy sprinkle of spices and of course a ladling of syrupy dark chocolate. Gets 24 months in new French and American oak puncheons and the power and concentrated intensity of the fruit ensures it never smacks of excessive oak. It is balanced on a fulcrum of power and finesse.

98 points - Ken Gargett, winepilot.com

My first thought on tasting this wine was simply, wow, this might just be the very best Command Shiraz I can recall, since the very first release from 1984 (and remember, their 1996 won Best Shiraz in the World at the London International Wine and Spirit Competition). If one were to arrange a collection of the elite Barossa Shiraz, the prestige releases, this would sit with the finest and I suspect might well be the best value among them, bar none. A single vineyard site, the vines are now an extraordinary 127 years of age. The wine spends two years in a mix of new French and American oak puncheons. An opaque purple hue, the nose is ripe, rich and concentrated. Stunning aromas, we have mocha, coffee beans, cassis, florals, blackberries, and just dripping with molten dark chocolate. Plush, absolutely saturated, and so finely balanced, this is seamless with great length and such silky tannins. The oak is certainly evident, but it is impeccably handled. This is the essence of Barossa Shiraz. This will give pleasure for twenty years. What a brilliant wine.

• 2021 Elderton Wines Command Shiraz tasting note