2022 Elderton Ode to Lorraine Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz Merlot, Barossa Valley

The source of this excellent wine is the Elderton Nuriootpa vineyard, with vines that are now up to 128 years of age. This is a typically powerful wine but with an elegance that comes with this very good vintage. The aromas show traces of blackcurrant, bay leaf and a little olive tapenade with a slightly oyster shell minerality. The palate has a juicy feel with delicious, spicy fruits supported by fine tannins and a combination of new and seasoned French oak. A first rate wine. Drink 2025 to 2037.

96 points Ray Jordan for Wine Pilot, March 2025

52/44/4% cabernet sauvignon/shiraz/merlot this year with a lovely clarity and detail to the aromatic profile. Macerated black-fruits and juicy plum tones with hints of fine spice, red apple, olive tapenade, chocolate, dried herbs and cedar. All is harmonious and nicely set on the palate, chalky tannins providing grip and a sense of freshness as the wine fades out. Drink 2024 to 2038.

94 points Dave Brookes for Halliday Wine Companion, December 2024

The 2022 Ode to Lorraine delivers a generous and multi-layered Barossa experience with juicy blackcurrant, black cherry and black olive aromas with a reserved oak profile. This has impressive density of fruit and mouth-filling tannins. Its structure in particular marks this as something special for the cellar. Drink 2028 to 2040.

94 points Angus Hughson for Vinous, August 2025

Perhaps not the most typical blend found in the wine world, 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Shiraz and 4% Merlot, the fruit comes from their Nuriootpa vineyard, with some vines well over 100 years. It spent twenty months maturing in a mix of new and older French puncheons. A deep maroon and ruby red hue, bold cassis notes dominate the nose. It is well supported by aromas of mulberries, fresh earth, coffee grinds and mushrooms. The wine lifts even further on the palate with fresh acidity, energy, a degree of plushness, balance and excellent length. It finishes with satiny tannins and persistence. Enjoy over the next six to eight years, likely considerably longer. Drink 2025 to 2033.

93 points Ken Gargett for Wine Pilot, March 2025

The 2022 Ode To Lorraine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Merlot, and it is a gorgeous blend of the three. If you asked me to typify a Barossan blend of these varieties, it wouldn't be anything like this...fine and spicy, balanced and fresh. It speaks of plums and cranberries, red apples and cranberries. There's an emergent theme at this estate for red fruit characters today: cherry, pomegranate and plums, and the wines are medium-bodied and fine. Having said that, the tannins hold good shape through the finish and are chewy, which I like. All of the fruit for this wine was grown on the Nuriootpa estate; the vineyard is outside the beautiful old cellar door, which once served as the Ashmead family home. It's a blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Shiraz and 4% Merlot. Drink 2024 to 2044.

93 points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, September 2024

Elderton Wines was established in 1982 by Neil and Lorraine Ashmead on a historic Nuriootpa estate with vineyard origins dating to 1894. The second generation has now taken the lead, with brothers Cameron and Allister and their wives Jules and Rebecca looking after all aspects of the winery. The family vineyards span the Barossa Valley floor and the cooler, higher elevations of the Eden Valley, giving the range a breadth of style that few Barossa producers can match.

In 2002, Cameron and Allister renamed the family's Cabernet, Shiraz and Merlot blend in tribute to their mother Lorraine, co-founder of Elderton and a quietly influential figure in the Barossa whose contribution to the estate extended well beyond what most people saw. The name carries weight, and the wine is made to deserve it. Each vintage, only the finest parcels from the Nuriootpa estate are selected for the blend, with lesser fruit directed elsewhere in the range. This is one of the wines the Ashmead family uses as their calling card.

The 2022 blend — 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Shiraz and 4% Merlot — draws entirely from the Nuriootpa estate, where vines range from a gnarly 1960s Cabernet parcel to plantings stretching back to 1894. The Cabernet brings structure and a distinctly juicy herbal edge, the Shiraz adds generosity and warmth, and the Merlot rounds the whole quietly without announcing itself. Matured for twenty months in a combination of new and older French oak puncheons.

The wine shows lifted just-ripe plum and bay leaf on the nose, with cassis, sweet spice, olive tapenade and a mineral thread. The palate is generous and well-structured — juicy, fresh and fine — with chalky tannins, lively acidity and a long, satiny finish.

Enjoy with a slow-roasted leg of lamb with herbs and garlic.

Drink now through 2038.