Winery & Vintage Info
First released from the 2008 vintage, the Grand Tourer Shiraz is a wine named after and produced in honour of Elderton co-founder, Neil Ashmead. Neil, who along with wife Lorraine, established Elderton and was a vital link in creating the Barossa’s currently enjoyed status as one of Australia’s most important viticultural areas. Infectious enthusiasm was one of Neil’s drivers in helping to pioneer the revitalisation of the region from the doom and gloom era of the late 1970s and early 80s.
Neil was a ‘Barossa Road Warrior’ like no other. Driving tirelessly from city to city with a car loaded with wine, doing tastings and dinners with whoever would listen, and generally spruiking the Barossa in a time where people were not really interested in a region that was stereotyped as a fortified producer. It was his love of fast cars that made this pursuit a little easier, thus the unusual choice for the name of this Shiraz. Unfortunately Neil passed away prematurely in 1997, however is succeeded by his two sons, Cameron and Allister, who believe this wine to be a very fitting tribute to an amazing individual who was always willing to push the boundaries of expectations and limitations.
The 2021 Grand Tourer Shiraz is perhaps our most expressive version of this style to date, after sufficient winter rains and a regular spring, our vines were able to put their best foot forward showing their true characters. All the fruit for this wine was handpicked, with picking starting at Greenock and then finishing in Nuriootpa, before co-fermenting the fruit in an open fermenter. 11% whole bunch from our Greenock vineyard was placed carefully in the bottom of the fermenter before de-stemming the remaining fruit on top. After 9 days fermentation on skins, the fruit was pressed off skins to a combination of new and seasoned French oak to complete the remainder of its primary fermentation in barrel. The wine was left on lees post malolactic fermentation, for the duration of its time in oak, with frequent lees stirring helping to build mid palate creaminess and seamless integration. - Jules Ashmead & Brock Harrison
