Elderton Command Shiraz 2021

My first thought on tasting this wine was simply, wow, this might just be the very best Command Shiraz I can recall, since the first release from 1984 (and remember, their 1996 won Best Shiraz in the World at the London International Wine and Spirit Competition). If one were to arrange a collection of the elite Barossa Shiraz, the prestige releases, this would sit with the finest and I suspect might well be the best value among them, bar none. A single vineyard site, the vines are now an extraordinary 127 years of age. The wine spends two years in a mix of new French and American oak puncheons. An opaque purple hue, the nose is ripe, rich and concentrated. Stunning aromas, we have mocha, coffee beans, cassis, florals, blackberries, and just dripping with molten dark chocolate. Plush, absolutely saturated, and so finely balanced, this is seamless with great length and such silky tannins. The oak is certainly evident, but it is impeccably handled. This is essence of Barossa Shiraz and will give pleasure for twenty years. What a brilliant wine.

Ken Gargett

Contributor at Winepilot

Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.

Wine writer and critic