2023 Command Shiraz 6pk
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’ aspira-tions 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: 14.90%
Aroma:
Appearance:
Taste:
Mouthfeel:
Ageing Process:
Serving Suggestion:
Cellaring
Drink now or cellar confidently for 15 - 20 years from vintage
Reviews
97 points, Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot
One of the most iconic Shiraz from the Barossa Valley, the first vintage was 1984. The release of this wine is always eagerly awaited. From a Nuriootpa Vineyard, the vines are now 132 years of age. Maturation was in a mix of new French and American oak puncheons for twenty-three months.
Opaque maroon with a dark crimson rim, it offers a most evocative nose. Seriously impressive oak integration, we have aromas of chocolate, blackberries, mocha, cocoa powder, bay leaves, vanilla, coffee beans, charcuterie, cloves and a flick of gum leaf. Exhibiting a supple and seductive texture through to satiny tannins, this is beautifully balanced with great length. A wonderful Barossa Shiraz for enjoying over the next twenty to twenty-five years. At the moment, I have it scored at the same level as the stunning 2022 vintage of this wine, however, if pushed I would probably go for the older wine by a whisker. Whether that remains so over time, we look forward to finding out.
96 points, Ray Jordan, Wine Pilot
This is a consistent trophy-winning wine that has performed exceptionally since the first release in 1984. It comes from a single block planted in 1894. This is one of the more elegant and finely balanced command shiraz wines I’ve tasted, reflecting a cooler vintage. It opens with a burst of red fruits on the nose and subtle spicy nuances. Those red berry characters flow through the palate, joined by sweet and savoury spice and darker plummy tones. It spent 23 months in new French and American oak puncheons, yet the oak is admirably absorbed by the intensity of the old-vine fruit. A refined, stylish expression of this great wine.
96 points, Erin Larkin, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Command Single Vineyard Shiraz is from a cool, wet vintage, as the note below will attest, not dissimilar to the 2017 vintage. Here, the fruit is sweet and nuanced, with licorice, cocoa and pomegranate. Having tasted these wines today going back to 1985, it is abundantly clear that these wines look so good with some bottle age. While their youth is attractive, nothing beats the complexity gained in time. It's over to you to decide when you choose to drink your wine, but I personally would like to see this wine with around seven years from harvest. 14.9% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Due to La Niña climatic patterns, Barossa's spring rainfall was one of the wettest on record, according to Elderton and the Barossa Grape and Wine Association, with an additional 131% more rain than the long-term average. Barossa experienced 53 rain days in spring. The summer rain that was predicted didn't fall in Barossa, which received only 43 millimeters. Summer days were sunny, and both maximum and minimum temperatures were average. More than 50% of the harvest was yet to be harvested after Easter, and some later sites and varieties not till May.
95 points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
There’s a lot of fruit here, and a lot of oak, and beautifully integration of the two, and the kind of softness that would make a fresh unfurled rose petal envious. You could quibble about the amount of oak here, it’s true, and the gently resinous aspect of it, but the pure sink-into-me factor is high. Fresh plums, blackberry, fennel, saltbush, cedarwood, pine and resin notes combine into one long slick of saturated flavour. A web of tannin spreads through the finish but it’s a minor player to the wealth of flavour.
94 Points, Stuart Knox, The Real Review
Deep ruby red with a full aromatic lift of dark plum, shaved cedar and star anise. The palate is full but shows poise, with ripe purple fruit well balanced by dark spice, hints of ferrous minerality and a brush of cedar wood. Tannins are built into the flow well, allowing it to glide but also providing a firmer hand when needed at the long finish.
