John Duval Eligo Shiraz 2016 (Eden Valley)
Eligo is a selection of vineyard parcels that John Duval considers to be the more structured and elegant expressions of the vintage. It is not made every year and the 2016 is the 10th vintage of this wine, which started in 2005. This year, it is 75% from the Barossa Valley and 25% from the Eden Valley. As can be expected from a winemaker who worked at Penfolds for 29 years, this is a firmly old-school wine with plenty of oak (50% new oak here), but also the refined, firm, graphite-like tannins and gamey, tea-leaf complexity of classical Barossa shiraz. But things are not standing still at this estate – 2016 also marks the year that John’s eldest son, Tim, joined the family business. This bottling of Eligo is likely to still be kicking strong in a couple of decades when John is retired and relaxing after his stellar career. (A)