John Duval, Eligo

VARIETIES: Shiraz 100%. Eligo represents the best of my 2018 vintage and is sourced from some excellent Shiraz vineyards in the Barossa Valley and Eden Valley regions.

WINEMAKING: Fermentation with submerged cap in small stainless steel fermenters. Some batches had up to 2 weeks on skins.

OAK MATURATION: 100% barrel matured for 20 months with 60% new fine grain French oak hogsheads (300 litre) and the balance 2 and 3 year old hogsheads.

John Duval’s aim with Eligo is to produce a structured but elegant expression of Barossa Shiraz. A wine with restrained power, rich texture and palate length. Eligo is a vineyard selection of the best, low yielding parcels of exceptional fruit that he finds during the vintage.

For 2018 vintage, ater good winter and early spring rains the soil profiles were generally full, but a combination of a windy spring with northern Barossa frosts did dramatically reduce the production for some vineyards. A dry late spring and hot start to summer was brought to a halt on Valentine’s day by significant rain and then cooler conditions for the remainder of vintage. These cooler conditions provided an extended ripening period and allowed excellent flavour to build.

Colour: Deep purple red.
Nose: Lifted black plum, blackberry and blueberry with hints of earth, anise and spicy, savoury oak.
Palate: Elegant expression of rich dark fruits with some earthy savouriness and smoked meat flavours. Long and intense with excellent fruit purity and freshness, finishing with a taut backbone and persistent fine tannin structure.