Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2008 Command Shiraz is inky and intense, although still savory. The season was hot, and the wine shows a density in the glass that most of the other vintages tasted in this magnificent vertical, going back to 1985, do not show. Here, the wine is loaded with a profusion of tannin, licorice fruit and cracked black peppercorns. The finish has a minty uplift, like eucalypt and dried herbs. This is a wonderful wine, a powerful wine. 14.5% alcohol
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Wine Spectator
Dark and expressive, a medium-weight style that brims with complex, savory-accented black cherry and blueberry flavors, lingering easily on the deftly balanced finish.
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Wine & Spirits
A full-on Barossa shiraz, this wine's heavy-duty tannins relent to a satin texture as it takes on air. The flavors begin red, like kirsch, and build toward super-concentrated blackberry jam, with some rooty earthiness underneath. Balanced on a large scale, this is structured to last.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
The Barossa Zone encompasses the Barossa Valley and Eden Valley. Some of the oldest vines in Australia can be found here.
Barossa Valley of course is the most important and famous wine growing region in all of Australia where 140+ year-old, dry-farmed Shiraz vines still produce inky, purple and dense juice for some of Australia's best wines.
In the cooler, wetter Eden Valley sub-region, the Hill of Grace vineyard is home to famous Shiraz vines from the 1800s but the region produces also some of Australia’s very best and age-worthy Rieslings.