Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Command Shiraz is increasingly elegant in this bracket. The wines, as they gradually become younger, also escalate in their finesse and restraint, and one would expect that correlation to be trending in the opposite direction. This is structural and pliable and so attractive. I love it. This is perhaps my favorite of the wines from 2007 to 2013. 14.5% alcohol.
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Wine Spectator
Restrained and elegant, with polished plum, blueberry and violet notes, accented by wild raspberry, anise and toffee. The elements all come together with refined, supple tannins and a long, persistent finish. Drink now through 2030.
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Wine & Spirits
This old-fashioned shiraz comes from a vineyard planted in the 1890s on the bank of the North Para River in Nuriootpa. The own-rooted vines grow in silty, alluvial soils over red and brown clay and limestone. They produced a big, oaky 2012 that shows some alcohol around the edges, while brisk and spicy tannins subsume that warmth and fruit sweetness into a structure with the potential 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.