2001 Elderton 'Command' Shiraz

Holy crap, I think I've died and gone to heaven! Un-freakin' believable! I could fill this tasting note with exclamation marks! What a great wine!

I have a few bottles of the 2001 Elderton Command Shiraz from Australia's Barossa valley. I was saving this wine for for a special occasion, and while the special occasion did not manifest itself in the way I had hoped for, I thought this wine should be the special occasion. And it was!

I was totally immersed in this wine's aromas - leading with coffee and cherry scents, and followed by a violet and other white flowers, blackberries, oak, butter and SPICY (pepper, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla). There were so many wonderful scents, and they developed and changed over the evening. I could picture myself in Starbucks with a "tall bold" and a pumpkin scone!

On the palate, this was the most 'viscous' wine I have ever tasted. This soft, thick, heavy, powerful wine coated my mouth with sweet glyerin fruit while big fat tannins pounded on the back of my tongue. "Liquid Gold". The finish was very long, seemingly infinite. While high in alcohol (15%) it was not obtrusive, everything was in good balance. While drinkable now, the tannins should soften up over the next few years. I will wait until 2010 before trying my other bottles.

Overall, this was a spectacular wine that paired very nicely with a roast beef dinner. While not cheap, I doubt you could find many better wines in this price range. This is definitely one of the best wines I have ever tasted.
15% alcohol
Score: 18.5+/20
Cost: C$79

PS-I have yet to have a bad Elderton wine. This winery produces great wines at all price levels! FYI - WS rated 96, RP rated 95