2020 Command Shiraz 6L
Production notes
Description
The second generation of Ashmead family, and Elderton Co-Managing Directors, Allister and Cameron, as the current custodians of a rare piece of Barossa Valley viticultural heritage, continue their parents’ aspirations and expectations to produce a great wine of the world. The Command is truly an expression of place, and one of which the family intends to preserve for generations to come.
The Elderton Command Shiraz has established an enviable reputation since the first vintage in 1984. It is often regarded as one of Australia’s best and most highly acclaimed wines. Accolades have come from writers and competitions around the world. The 1996 Command won the trophy for the Best Shiraz in the World at the London International Wine and Spirit Competition.
Winemaker Notes
Tasting Notes
Alcohol: 14.8%
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Reviews
Matthew Jukes 100 Best Australian Wines 2025
Twenty-twenty was an unusually silky vintage for this mighty wine, and I love it so much that I have opened countless bottles for private client events to rapturous applause. It’s funny how tasters see the name and think, ‘err, this is going to be too young, what’s Jukesy thinking?’, and then when the smile creeps across their faces, they, too, recognise its delicious and all-encompassing precocity in an instant. The 2020 vintage reminds us that nature is very much in charge, and while wines have distinct characteristics and hard-fought reputations to consider, sometimes weather patterns override the best-laid plans and temper a wine such that it can be immensely enjoyable in its youth.
98 points, Ray Jordan, Winepilot
The style is immediately Barossa and immediately Elderton. It is bold with the structure to support the power and intensity of the fruit. The classic combination of dark plum and clove with a decent hit of roasted coffee beans emerges immediately. The tannins are firm but finely placed contributing to a wine of elegance and balance. The wine gets 24 months in a mix of new French and American oak, yet such is their balance it doesn’t show as excessively oaky. Super wine for the cellar.
96 points, Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion
Elderton’s iconic Command Shiraz is sourced from an 1894-planted block of ancestor vines on its Nuriootpa estate; matured for an extended period in new French and American oak puncheons. Full bodied, rich and commanding, as the name suggests, with thick-shouldered blackberry and plum fruits cut with baking spices, licorice, dark chocolate, earth and punchy cedar tones. Weighty and opulent with thick, gypsum-like tannin support, plenty of Barossa horsepower and a finish that trails off persistently with flavours of ripe berries, spice and cedar.
96 points, Sarah Ahmed, Decanter
Superlative, but in short supply, with yields 80% down owing to 2019’s frost and 2020’s wind. Initially, the fruit is tightly clasped. Dusty tannins cleave close. Two hours later a surge of concentrated yet energetic blackcurrant fruit makes a break for it. Deep set tannins funnel and contain it, bleeding into the fruit on an ultra-brooding finish, with black olive, sage, espresso, gunmetal and black tea undertones. Epic.
96 points, Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal
A beautifully made wine and highlights the warmth, generosity and vigour of top-notch Barossa Shiraz. With its glossy deep crimson colour, ripe dark cherry, dark chocolate aromas and flavours, velvety firm tannins and underlying new oak, it captures the essence of an exceptional yet small yielding vintage. The acidity is linear and fresh giving the wine attractive mineral-length. The wine has plenty of aging potential and will probably go along similar lines as the spectacular 1998 Command Shiraz which has now developed a lovely patina of age without losing its shine, richness and volume.
95 points, Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
Matured in a combination of both American and French oak, the 2020 Command Single Vineyard Shiraz is the clear definition of "give the people what they want." This is Barossa Shiraz to its core, and the legions of fans for this style have been, for 34 vintages, enthralled by the dense purple fruit, savory, spicy tannins and the toasty, plush oak. The trinity of these elements comes together in this 2020 wine, birthed by a warm/hot, painfully low-yielding season. The fruit here is brooding and dark, with layers of salted licorice, resin, tobacco smoke, mulberry jam, blood plum, mejool date and a swathe of gritty (bottom of the pot) black tea tannins. It's meaty, too.
95 points, Angus Hughson, Vinous
From a vineyard planted in 1894, this beautifully composed Barossan 2020 Shiraz Command offers a tempting array of aromas, including roasted meats, soy sauce, fennel seed and a hearty core of new oak, all well-balanced. Dry and firm, it is shapely thanks to layers of fleshy sweet fruits, with a firm, tannic backbone accented by aged meat and wood smoke. This is a keeper and built for the cellar.
