98 Points, Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot
A special wine from the team, the name reflects the planting of this vineyard by the Helbig family in 1915, a single vineyard block in the Greenock sub-region, which the Elderton family acquired in 2010. Just 651 bottles were produced. Fermentation was in puncheons with the heads removed. Maturation is for a year in new French oak. Under cork, it is also a contender for heavy bottle of the year.
For me, definitely one of the very best wines I've seen this year. A near black core, there is a maroon/magenta rim. The nose reveals aromas of plums, mulberries, vanilla, coffee beans, black cherries, mocha, new leather and dark chocolate. There is superb oak integration throughout. Balance is impeccable, length immense and the texture utterly seductive. The palate is simply dripping with chocolate. The wine finishes with the silkiest of tannins and should drink like a dream for the next twenty to thirty years.
96+ Points, Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion
The fruit from his little patch of dirt is very highly regarded in the Barossa, and Elderton are doing a stellar job since purchasing the vineyard in 2010. This wine is full bodied and traditionally framed but it seems to have gained a little more detail over the past couple of releases. It's rich in blackberry, damson plum and black cherry fruits with a thick seam of baking spices and hints of cedar, dried tobacco, wood spice, ironstone, roasting meats, tapenade, fruit-and-nut chocolate, fruitcake and blackforest cake. Comforting and long with melt-in-the-mouth tannins and a persistent finish; you can pop this safely away for a couple of decades.
