Command Single Vineyard Shiraz 2003
Elderton Wines
Barossa Valley, South Australia
The Elderton Command Shiraz grapes are grown on a selected portion of the Elderton Estate vineyard, from vines planted in the early 1900’s. Grown on rich river silt soils and red brown earth over limestone, in a Mediterranean climate, with cropping levels less than 4 tonnes per hectare. 2004 was a dream year viticulturally, with mild and dry, summer conditions continuing all the way through to early late autumn. The strength and magnificence of these vines shines effortlessly through in the quality of what is in the bottle.
Winemaker’s Notes:
This is one of those wines that defies gravity. All the fruit is sourced from the oldest blocks on the Elderton Estate. It is unashamedly an intense and dense wine. For its power and depth of flavor, it displays a wonderful elegance. Dark dense sweet fruit, with plum, blackberry notes in abundance, mingle with hints of earth, spice, and chocolate. The wine is lush, sexy and the flavors just linger forever. A wine that will age for 10 to 15 years if you have the willpower.
94,The Wine Advocate
While the deep plum/ruby/garnet-tinged 2003 Shiraz Command is slightly less nuanced than the 2002, it is just as powerful and full-bodied, offering copious quantities of fruit, glycerin, tannin, and muscle. This chewy, rich offering appears to be on a faster evolutionary track than its 2002 counterpart. Give it another 2-3 years of bottle age, and consume it over the following 12-15.
94, Wine Spectator
Big, ripe and generous. This is a plush mouthful of cherry, spice and mineral flavors that rush on the finish, managing to stay in perfect balance. Has depth and grace. Best from 2009 through 2018.
93, Stephen Tanzer
Saturated ruby. Rich, oak-spicy nose shows liqueur-like boysenberry, candied plum and kirsch aromas, plus a good whack of vanilla. Outsized and thick, with dense, sweet dark berry flavors and an almost viscous texture. And yet this massive wine comes across as energetic and surprisingly elegant. The long, sappy finish features powerful dark berry liqueur flavors that won’t quit. By Josh Raynolds.
93, Wine Enthusiast
“The current release, 2003, is an excellent wine, but this vintage kicks it up a notch. It’s brighter, fresher and more vibrant than its amply endowed precursor, bursting with peppery raspberries. Creamy and rich, yet wonderfully balanced, and while you could drink it now, it will also cellar for 10-plus years.”
Excellent Category –
Langtons 2005 Classification of Australian Wine, Gourmet Traveller
