Review: Elderton Ashmead Family Reserve Field Blend 2020

Let’s get back into it, shall we?

Sadly, you can’t buy this Elderton Ashmead Family Reserve Field Blend 2020 – long sold out (and for a good reason). My bottle came with a beautiful book to celebrate 40 vintages of Elderton. If I had a coffee table, it would surely look good on/under it.

Anyway, what I like about this red is the audacious lusciousness of it. You glance at the alcohol and expect something of an attack, but this is seductive. It’s a hyper-concentrated Grenache blend from the Ashmead family’s Greenock vineyard. Purple edged, glossy, Grenachey, smooth and warm but a real crashing wave of luscious purple fruit. Seriously concentrated – 2020 Barossa all the way, but without the desiccated finish. Polished and seamless, it’s arguably too ripe, too much, too thick, too encompassing. But that’s also the joy of this wine too.

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Best drinking: good now. 18.5/20, 94/100. 15.3%, $55. Elderton website. Would I buy it? Worth a glass or two just to savour the weight and swagger.