ELDORADO ROAD
CURRENT RELEASES

2021 ‘PERSEVERANCE’ OLD VINE SHIRAZ

97 POINTS - “Planted in the 1890s, dry grown, hand picked, open fermented, basket pressed to French oak. The complexity & beauty of these Glenrowan-based old vines are something to behold. Extremely low yields have produced highly concentrated fruit intensity but with so much life & freshness. Deep & dense in crimson shades. Signature Perseverance aromas of dark violet, black fruits, bramble, thyme, sage & earth. Seamless as it rolls gently, smoothly & long-lasting to the finish. Something special in so many ways.” Jeni Port, HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION, Aug ‘23

2021 Riserva Nero D’AVOLA

96 POINTS - “A selection of the best couple of barrels from a 'prized' section of the vineyard, wild-yeast fermentation in Italian concrete, matured in seasoned French oak. Wow! What a masterful exhibition of wine growing/winemaking. This wine establishes nero d'Avola as a serious contender in the Australian red wine arena. Gloriously fragrant & rich in black cherry, dried herbs, anise & dusty cocoa with savoury, smoky charcuterie notes. Glides with a light textural presence across the palate, dark fruited & brooding, with supple yet dense tannins. Impressive on a number of levels, not least that long, lasting finish. Double wow!” Jeni Port, HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION, Aug ‘23

2023 ‘WALLFLOWER’ VIOGNIER MARSANNE

95 POINTS - “70/30% viognier/marsanne. Fermented wild in stainless steel, maturation in seasoned French puncheons. So smooth, so calm & confident, & so not 'wallflower' material (the name refers to being passed over by the winemaker for some vintages). Jasmine, wildflowers, hay, apple, pear & peach are fresh & alive. The palate is where warmth & creamy generosity come into play beautifully. A dynamic duo.” Jeni Port, HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION, Aug ‘24

2023 ‘LUMINOSo’ ROSE

93 POINTS - “This is 50/45/5% nero d'Avola/sangiovese/shiraz. A slight change in winemaking direction designed to highlight 'bright, fresh fruits' pays dividends. Nero stands tall, bringing its cherry & raspberry-fuelled freshness, while its buddies supply a decent splash of spice & textural interest. Juicy acidity completes an impressive rosé.” Jeni Port, HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION, Feb ‘24

2019 ‘ONYX’ DURIF

96 POINTS - “Fruit sourced from 3 different vineyards. All parcels fermented with cultured yeast, 13–21 days on skins, basked pressed to new & seasoned French puncheons & barriques (20% new). Matured 18 months in oak on full lees. Durif re-imagined, courtesy of cool-climate elegance (Beechworth) mixed with a dose of generosity (Rutherglen) that needs to be tasted by every drinker who was ever scared witless by the grape. This is not scary, rather it's brilliantly delivered as a serious wine of some beauty: aromatic, blueberry, plum, dark chocolate, spice all lifted, fresh & plush. Bravo.”
Jeni Port, HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION, Aug ‘22

95 POINTS - “Incredibly deep ruby-red colour in the glass. Blood plum, sage & spiced morcilla aromas. A big wine, dense & weighty yet the fruit maintains its sense of freshness alongside dark, savoury & powerful spice complexities. The tannins are powerful but wrapped in velvet, which carries it rather than driving it to an incredibly long finish. Remarkable power yet also poise. It has many years ahead of it.”
Stuart Knox, THE REAL REVIEW, Mar ‘22

94 POINTS - “It definitely has that shiny dark ruby colour resembling of onyx, charming. Certainly loads of black fruits, cherries, blackberries, plums. Glossy with liquorice core, dark chocolate & cocoa powder tannins. Brooding, beetroot juice. Sage & smoked meat. It’s also bloody & ferrous in texture. It hits the whole spectrum of flavours in the mouth, from a shy but high violet note, mid-palate fruit concentration to low-sitting earthy weight. So there you go, it is a real GEM.”
Kasia Sobiesiak, WINEFRONT, Nov ‘22

93 POINTS - “Very deep, bright red-purple colour; deep, rich concentrated plum-pip, dark-berry & gently herbal aromas, the wine is lushly fruited on the palate, with generous softness & tannins which are drying & supple & balanced. The wine is juicy & also savoury, finishing clean & harmonious. An exemplary durif.”
Huon Hooke, THE REAL REVIEW, Jun ‘22

93 POINTS - “Character & control like this variety rarely sees. Layers of black plum & black cherry fruit, a tinge of liquorice & layers of spice. A sweet fruit core is well toned by fine-grained, confident tannins that draw out a finish of medium persistence”
Tyson Stelzer, WINE BUSINESS MONTHLY, Aug ‘22

2022 ‘quasimodo’ nero D’avola, shiraz, durif

95 POINTS - “Three grape varieties are sourced from four North East wine regions, each bringing its own particular qualities to bear. Most definitely medium bodied, emphatically approachable & full of drinking pleasure in layers of dark fruits, lifted spices, chocolate, tilled earth, warm oak & well-managed tannins, all seamlessly blended. Fab quality for the price.”
Jeni Port, HALLIDAY, Jun ‘24

2022 BEECHWORTH sYRAH

92 POINTS - “Composed of 97/3% shiraz/viognier. Four different shiraz clones, four separate ferments & a whole lot of winemaking, including fermentation in an imported Italian concentrate 'tulip', go into this little beauty. Deepest purple hues. Makes a youthful, almost playful fist of shiraz with plenty of lively black & red-fruited energy & pretty aromatics. Violet, sage, peppercorn, earth, allspice & dark cocoa powder pack the palate. It's complex, slurpy delicious & has an astringent, dry finish.”
Jeni Port, HALLIDAY, Aug ‘24

2022 ‘COMRADE’ NERO D’AVOLA

95 POINTS - “Few Australian winemakers understand nero d'Avola as well as Paul Dahlenburg. He has worked hard to deliver a complex, self-assured, masterful interpretation that is a long way from the fruity, easy-drinking examples we see. A swish of air & watch this wine open: bramble, dark cherry, blueberry, wild herbs, licorice, dark chocolate, woodsy spice – deep, dark, elegantly savoury. Six micro-ferments join in producing this textural, fine, cherry-pip-tannined, well-proportioned wine with an Italianesque flourish of astringency to close.”
Jeni Port, HALLIDAY, Aug ‘24

PREVIOUS RELEASES

2019 ‘PERSEVERANCE’ OLD VINE SHIRAZ

97 POINTS - “Fruit was divided between 2 open fermenters with a mix of whole berries & free-run juice, left 21 days on skins, basket pressed to French puncheons & matured 18 months in oak. Only a meagre 1.8T of fruit was harvested from 6ha of old vines in 2019. That said, the concentration of fruit is truly extraordinary. Seductive in deep purple, gloriously complex & in total harmony, Perseverance is a wonderful celebration of old vines. Dark violet aromas meet a groundswell of black fruits, plum, anise, sage & tilled earth. Unfolds gently, seamlessly, elegantly & so long. Only 118 dozen produced.” Jeni Port, HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION, Aug ‘22

97 POINTS - “Vibrant purple hue. Exciting lift of plum & blackberry fruit interwoven with mixed spice & intricately supported by a splay of fine-grained tannins that carry the finish long & triumphant. Cool acidity joins the parade, promising a grand future.”
Tyson Stelzer, WINE BUSINESS MONTHLY, June ‘22

2021 BEECHWORTH sYRAH

92 POINTS - “Hand-picked, small open pot fermenters with some whole bunches & 1–2% viognier, basket pressed to French oak for 18 months maturation. A work in progress, as the Dahlenburgs bring back a local vineyard after a period of decline. A concentrated, deep purple hue with scents of earth, dark berries, licorice, chocolate & woodsy spice. True to its 'syrah' moniker with a medium weight & warmly spiced palate that hums along at a lively pace.”
James Halliday, HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION, Dec ‘22

2019 Beechworth Syrah

93 POINTS - “Paul Dahlenburg & his family produce superb wine at their Eldorado property, which is outside any formal geographical region. they also make chardonnay & shiraz grapes grown in nearby Beechworth. Fruit drives this wine: there are fresh plum & cherry-jam aromas, bright & clean, while the palate is taut & firm with an appropriate touch of grip, & the fruit flavour is rich & satisfying, well-concentrated & fleshy-textured, with lingering persistence. It’s lovely now, & well worth cellaring. A stylish Big Red.”
Huon Hooke, THE REAL REVIEW, Apr ‘21

2019 ‘COMRADE’ NERO D’AVOLA

95 POINTS - “Deep, bright purple/red hue. Smoky oak or sulfide bouquet at first sniff, moving into a lovely sweet entry to the palate, which has a warmth of alcohol that arrives quickly & continues to the finish. The tannins are ample but ripely supple, & fruit sweetness lingers. Superb dark cherry & blackberry aromas developed with time. A delicious wine that grew & grew in the glass. Outstanding value.”
Huon Hooke, THE REAL REVIEW, Apr ‘21

2021 ‘quasimodo’ nero D’avola, shiraz, durif

95 POINTS - “A blend of 36/35/29% nero d'Avola/shiraz/durif; matured in French oak. Don't assume this will be full bodied. It's a juicy, medium-bodied wine that is as fresh as a just-picked bunch of spring daisies. The strands of cherry & blood plum are woven into the wine's tapestry. It's an exercise in balance & length.”
James Halliday, HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION, Dec ‘22