Elderton
By David Keck
We are very proud to introduce the wines of Elderton to Vermont! The Nuriootpa vineyard in the Barossa Valley of Australia was planted in 1894, purchased by Samuel Elderton Tolley in 1916, and subsequently named ‘Elderton.’ The vineyards were allowed to go fallow as a result of the short-sighted Australian Vine Pull Scheme (more info on that here), but were revived when the Ashmead family took over the property in 1980. The offer they took? ‘If you buy the house, I’ll give you the surrounding 72 acres of old vines for nothing.” We’re glad they did.
The first Elderton wines of the modern era were released following the 1982 vintage and rose to international prominence throughout the ‘90s. The second generation of Ashmead ownership/management (Allister and Cameron) are committed to sustainability and are expanding slowly and thoughtfully. They consistently produce top bottlings from the Command Vineyard (ungrafted Shiraz planted in 1894), the Fifteen from a vineyard planted in 1915 (also ungrafted Shiraz) and acquired in 2010, and the Ashmead Vineyard, with over 70 year old vines (ungrafted Cabernet Sauvignon).
For those interested in viticultural history, the quarantine of phylloxera in Australia is pretty amazing, and South Australia managed to remain phylloxera free. Phylloxera, the little louse that tore up the vines of Europe and subsequently the rest of the world, was only halted by grafting vines onto American rootstock. This is unnecessary in South Australia, resulting in some of the oldest vines in the world on their own rootstock (the rest of Australia was less fortunate).
We brought in some of the amazing values from Elderton, but certainly have these iconic bottlings available for those that might be interested. It has always been our buying strategy when looking for affordable wine to find those that make iconic and majestic wines at the top end, knowing that an estate such as this would not sacrifice quality at any pricepoint. This is what is currently in stop at the Shepherd—happy shopping, and let us know if it’s time to rock out with one of the icons!
AVAILABLE WINES:
‘E’ Series Un-oaked Chardonnay, 2019
‘E’ Series Cab/Shiraz, 2016
Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2017
Estate Shiraz 2017
Botrytis Golden Semillon 2019 (dessert wine, 375mL)