2022 Command Shiraz
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.
Estate grown on the Nuriootpa vineyard, the fruit is sourced from a single block planted in 1894, classed as an Ancestor vineyard by the Barossa Old Vine Charter.
Vineyard Source 100% Estate grown, Nuriootpa
Vine Age 128 years
Winemaker Notes
Tasting Notes
Alcohol: 14.9%
Aroma:
Appearance:
Taste:
Mouthfeel:
Ageing Process:
Serving Suggestion:
Cellaring
Drink now or cellar confidently for 15 - 20 years from vintage
Reviews
97 points, Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate
The 2022 Command Single Vineyard Shiraz is approachable and fluffy as both a vintage and, specifically, in the context of this cuvée. Red fruits and licorice, sweet paprika and fennel abound. This is the first year where Nico Velo concrete tulips were purchased and used by the winery, and this promotes purity and freshness in the wine. Excellent! I'd add that the alcohol is a non-event in this wine—the fruit is fresh and buoyant. This is the first year that the toast profile with AP Johns was customized for Elderton, utilizing a longer, lighter toast. The fruit in the Command vineyard is picked in batches, which afford blending options and components to the winemaking team and, equally, constant research and development in viticulture and vineyard management. 15.2% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. According to the Barossa Grape and Wine Association, the 2021 winter was the wettest winter recorded at Nuriootpa Weather Station since 1996. The forecast and expected summer rains from La Nina did not eventuate, however. The coming months were variable with a nice January, without prolonged heat. On 28 February another severe storm came through the Barossa, and Elderton said this time it hit some of the northern vineyards, bringing more damaging hail and rain.
95 Points - Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion
Elderton's Command Shiraz has a strong pedigree indeed; sourced from a single block of 1894-planted shiraz on the outskirts of Nuriootpa. It's full-bodied but not overbearing, classically structured but with a contemporary edge, and there is no doubt that it is a regional classic. Ripe doris plum, blackberry and black cherry with complex layers of brown spice and French and American oak. Hints of dark chocolate, pan juices, cedar, tobacco, light leather tones and earth. Impressive depth and fruit weight is on show with spicy oak sliding into the black fruits, a curtain of fine-grained tannin and a persistent, elegant finish.
97 points - Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal
Medium-deep crimson. Intense blackberry. Mocha spice aromas with
hints of wax polish and marzipan. Supple and evolved blackberry,
spice, mocha, espresso flavours, lovely mid-palate richness and plentiful
chalky/ touch ferruginious tannins. Some cedarwood, roasted chestnut
notes at the finish. Very classical Drink now–2040
97 points - Ken Gargett, winepilot.com
I’ve been looking forward to this wine, ever since I tasted the previous vintage – both are superb Barossa years. Would it, could it, match the majestic 2021? It was always going to be an immensely difficult task, but at this early stage, it comes ever so close. In the years to come, it will be fascinating to watch the pair. The fruit comes from a vineyard planted back in 1894. The wine spends time in a mix of French and American oak. An opaque maroon, this is fresh and energetic, with good focus. There is quality oak, well into integration. The nose exhibits notes of chocolate, blackberries, florals, coffee beans, mocha, aniseed and plums. Ideally balanced with great length, the wine finishes with the silkiest of tannins. Perhaps more classically structured than the 21, which offered more plushness, but there is such promise here. A cracker. Twenty to twenty-five years of pleasure ahead. In the pantheon of great Barossa Shiraz, this is sensational value.
95 points - Angus Hughson, Vinous
The 2022 Shiraz Command is exceptional. This is deceptively compact and composed yet rippling with ripe mulberry, blackberry, new leather and oak notes that are poised and precise in a claret style. There’s great strength and tension here. The powerful fruit still remains in its shell and is encased with structural, balanced tannins that will reward time in the cellar.
95 points - Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
The balance here is impeccable. Indeed so too is the freshness, and the character. It tastes of redcurrant and fresh plums, fragrant herbs, cream and cedar, with wafts of bay leaves and/or peppercorns. But the note that really stands out here is a rust-like character, which extends both through the fruit and the tannin, and this note helps to give the wine both beauty and charm. Yes there’s some alcohol warmth but the wine carries it in its stride, and the finish is then beautifully well sustained.
95 points - JAMESSUCKLING.COM
A well-shaped, focused, flavorful and driven shiraz with aromas of wild berries, dried herbs, fresh peppercorns and baking spices. Full-bodied with finely grained tannins. It's fleshy yet in control. Generous fruit mingles with the spices on the linear, serious and driven palate. Long, flavorful, peppery finish. Drink or hold. Screw cap.
Matthew Jukes 100 Best Australian Wines 2026 Report
My headline 2021 vintage of Command Shiraz and the 2022 that follows it are the two finest wines this estate has ever made. Amazingly expansive, with a fondanty black fruit core, there are electrifying red fruit bolts of lightning that fire up your senses and stir the loins. Luxurious and detailed, 2021 was a once-in-a-generation vintage for this legendary vineyard, until I tasted the 2022. It turns out that these two wines are remarkably different but every bit as enticing as each other. The 2022, which arrives in late 2026, is a relaxed, harmonious and almost balletic wine with a stunningly fresh finish. These two vintages show the indelible class of this amazing, ancient vineyard and how it responds to the vagaries of each vintage, making individual masterpieces for us to savour. Command is still one of the hidden gems of Barossa, and the Ashmead family is the finest curator imaginable for these historic vineyards and their collection of wines.
