John Duval Wines Eligo Shiraz 2021

Tasting Note

Attractive waves of black fruit with hints of anise, clove and florals. Richly textured with a multitude of tightly packed dark fruit layers. Deep, pure fruited and commanding. The palate also displays hints of ironstone and licorice, finishing with integrated, chocolatey tannins. While seductive in its primary fruited youth, the 2021 Eligo will benefit from at least five years of cellaring and should age gracefully for over twenty years.

Awards & Accolades

96 Points, Gold Medal
Decanter World Wine Awards 2025

Hugely concentrated with tiers of prune, plum and raspberry jam shrouded in finely toasted oak and a delectable crunch of blueberry texture lining the palate.

97 Points
Halliday Wine Companion

From the stellar '21 vintage, the Eligo represents the best of the range of amazing vineyard sites from the Barossa (62%) and Eden (38%) Valleys. Its concentration and essence-like with deep, resonant blackberry, black cherry and Doris plum fruits with hints of clove, cinnamon, purple flowers, licorice, dark chocolate, cedar, olive tapenade, pan juices and earth. Thick shouldered but balanced and harmonious with melt in the mouth, chocolatey tannins and exceptional length of flavour.

- Dave Brookes

96 Points
The Real Review

Deep and rich ruby colour. Mulberry, vanilla pod and ironstone aromas. Palate sings with a harmony of black fruits, iron and violets. Still primary in its offering but with time in the glass a bloody depth builds. All the while powerful, well-wrought tannins bring tension and focus to the power on show. Cellar it and reap the rewards.

- Stuart Knox

The Story

The process of creating Eligo begins in the vineyard, where we identify the most exceptional parcels of fruit. Aiming for a structured but elegant expression of Barossa Shiraz. The Barossa Valley components deliver depth and structure to the palate with an overlay of rich concentrated fruit flavour, the Eden Valley components bring vibrant aromatics. Post maturation, a final classification is made to produce what we can confidently proclaim to be the finest Shiraz of the vintage from John Duval Wines.

Vintage

With better winter rains, and a perfectly timed 30mm event at the start of February, we were rewarded with better crops and berry size after a few drought-affected lean years. Conditions through late February, March and April could only be described as perfect with mild to warm days with no heat spikes, combined with cool nights. This meant a long even ripening period and a lovely pace to the vintage. 2021 will be remembered as an exceptional Barossa vintage.

Vineyards

Sourced from old vineyards in the Ebenezer (Hoffmann), Krondorf (Stoll) and Moppa (Chapman) sub regions of the Barossa Valley and the Moculta (Fechner) and Mt McKenzie (Knight/Severin) sub regions of the Eden Valley comprising 62% Barossa Valley and 38% Eden Valley Shiraz.

Winemaking

The parcels of fruit were fermented separately in small stainless-steel fermenters, some with submerged caps. Some batches were left on skins for up to two weeks to extract additional colour and structure. Post classification, the component wines were matured in oak for 18months - 42% new fine grain French oak and the balance older hogsheads and puncheons.