Elderton, Merlot, Barossa

The deeper purple tones and fruit aromas gave me an initial optimisation for this bottle, but the fimish came up short. Some lovely initial blackcurrant / fruit fades quickly, and feels 'flat'. To those holding a bottle, I think it's drink now.

Predictably passé and vinegary.

Very sweet blackberry, plum, very fruity, spicy notes. Fleshy mid palate, not much structure and almost no tannins to speak of, just juice.

Century Wine Club - May 2007 (Scarborough, Pokolbin) : Fantastic example of what aged Merlot can look like. Fooled everyone into thinking it was another blend at the tasting as the body was super smooth and very much dominated by secondary characters rather than the plummyness one might expect.

I personally believe that Elderton is the most underrated winery in Australia. I know that Penfolds, Rosemount, etc get most of the ink, but Elderton is every bit as good if not better. They are most noted for their Shiraz's, but I have fell in love with their Merlot's. One of the best merlot's I have ever tasted was their 2000 vintage. It was borderline epiphany. Their 99 was not far from it either. When I had this wine 6 …