Cellaring Chart

Want to know whether you should leave your Command Shiraz in the cellar, or if it is time to open and enjoy that Barossa Shiraz? Use our cellaring chart as a guide.

Twice a year, we update our Cellaring Chart - our guide to opening our wines that might be in your cellar/wine fridge. So if you've got some older vintages, now might be the time to have a look and make a plan. 

Download a pdf of our Cellaring Chart

How we've put together our Cellaring Chart

We open back vintages for tastings, lunches, dinners and events at Cellar Door so have the opportunity to look at how wines are developing over time. Our cellaring chart is a guide only, working off bottles that we have opened over recent years.

Given the assumption of good cellaring, we have been conservative with our drinking windows as we believe it is better to drink the wine earlier rather than hold it too long and be past its peak. The variability of cellaring conditions, along with personal taste, mean that we cannot guarantee a wine is at its peak, but hope you find this a useful tool.

We've used four categories to give an indication of whether it's time to open or hold:
- Drink now
- At peak - think about drinking now and over next few years
- Cellaring potential 5 + years - still evolving, but will drink very well
- Cellaring potential 10 + years - be patient, this wine will benefit from further aging

Factors that contribute to cellaring

We recommend storing wine in a dark environment with a cool, stable temperature to help the wine develop at its best.

If your wine is under cork, ensure bottles are laying on their side so the cork remains moist. If your bottle has a screw cap, then they can be stored upright if that's easiest in your storage space!