Just days after the mind-spinning $500 Rutherglen Shiraz, along comes this Eldorado Road Perseverance Old Vine Shiraz 2019 to remind everyone that pricetags and cost of production aren’t always miles apart for premium Shiraz.
I’ve written about the story behind Eldorado’s top dog before, and Campbell Mattinson has offered even more context, and I’d recommend reading both for a backgrounder. Suffice to say that Perseverance is an apt name, for a wine built on hard work and authenticity.
It’s especially so with this vintage, given that Paul and Lauretta harvested just 1.8t off 15 acres, or 120kg acre. Sheesh. To give perspective, Grand Cru Burgundy yields are 10x that…
But it was worth it, as this is one beguiling Victorian Shiraz. It’s instantly powerful, yet perfumed, svelte yet with rippling muscles under the surface. Intriguingly, there is 1.5% old vine Ugni Blanc, but that’s just part of the story. Besides the achingly low yields, the winemaking complexity is undoubted – multiple ferments, different oak regimes, a solid 21 days on skins, the lot. It all adds up to something impressive.
Despite the alcohol, this indeed feels elegant, lithe, detailed. There is plum and plum skin, dandelion, boysenberry, pepper and then perfectly formed late tannins. There is fruit, red and black, but you wouldn’t call it fruity – mid weight and savoury is more the vibe. It’s not a seductive wine, per se, but something where you pick it up and every taste lobs up something new. Enchanting. Special. And worth every one of the dollars. I may even be underscoring it – let’s call it 96 points next year when it resolves in bottle even more.
Eldorado Road Perseverance Old Vine Shiraz 2019. Best drinking: now to many years. At least ten. 18.7/20, 95/100. 14.6%, $85. Eldorado Road website. Would I buy it? Yes.
P.S. What do you think of the packaging?
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3 Comments
Love the packaging, as in the label design, the shoulder label, and the tape over the seal.
Curiously, this wine was assessed as sub 85 points at the recent 2021 Rutherglen Wine Show. I’ve purchased previous vintages because of their quality so it might be time to don the lab coat and grab a clipboard ! Join me Andrew?
It happens Ray. On any given day this would look to mid-weight, too nuanced. In a show like Rutherglen, where large classes of big Shiraz are the norm, this would be a bronze medal outlier.