2023 Elderton Ashmead Cabernet Sauvignon, Barossa Valley

Medium-deep crimson. Lifted pure cassis, cedar, violet aromas. Classical Claret style with lovely blackcurrant fruits, fine grained tannins and underlying vanilla, roasted chestnut notes. Finishes grippy/ leafy firm and minerally. Bloody good. Drink now–2040

96 points Andrew Caillard MW The Vintage Journal

An elegant single-vineyard Barossa Valley cabernet sauvignon matured in seasoned French oak. Crimson, with aromas of blackberry, dark cherry and boysenberry and underlying hints of dark spice, blackcurrant pastille, cedar, dark chocolate, vanillin oak, earth and licorice. It's a classically framed wine; graceful with a traditional Barossa fruit set, suffused with wood spice, fine, silty tannins and just a sprinkle of crushed herbs on the extended finish. Drink 2025-2040.

95 points Dave Brookes Halliday Wine Companion October 2025

Year in, year out, this is always one of the Barossa’s most exciting Cabernets and this latest release is no different. Stellar stuff. The wine spent eighteen months in French oak. An opaque maroon with a dark red rim, this is still very young. Lovers of flavoursome Barossa reds would do themselves a favour by holding off for three or four years, after which enjoy it for the next twenty. There is a flick of vanilla from the well-handled oak, still in the process of integration, along with notes of chocolate, bay leaves, black cherries, soy, leather, dried herbs, blackcurrants and coffee grinds. As appealing as the nose is, the wine lifts on the palate. It is impeccably balanced with a sleek, juicy texture and fine, silky tannins. The wine has seriously impressive length.

95 points Ken Gargett Wine Pilot

The 2023 Ashmead Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is leafy and detailed in this cool, wet season. In the mouth, the wine is balanced and long, with the sweet vanilla notes from the oak showing through on the finish. I like the expression of this wine in this season—it is fresh, floral, spicy, with notes of cardamom pods, clove, sweet licorice and alpine herbs abound. It's great. There is dark chocolate and cocoa nib, as well. "The vineyard was planted around 1944, and a picture of stress and suffering, with very low yields, but it deserves to exist. We like old vines, so we commit to doing as much as we can with it," said Alister Ashmead. The wine was matured for 18 months in 100% new French oak. Drink 2027-2043.

94+ points Erin Larkin, Robert Parker September 2025

This is an interesting Barossa cabernet. It’s dark in colour and in berry flavours but it nonetheless tends towards understatement. It tastes of blackcurrant and bay leaves, mainly, though earth, loganberry, tobacco and dust notes are also present, along with well-judged cedarwood oak. It’s juicy through the finish, and fine-grained of tannin, with satisfying length if not exceptional. It will improve, given time.

92+ points Campbell Mattinson The Wine Front

Deep colour with a tint of purple; the bouquet is slightly loose and suggests celery stalks, other green herbs, and displays minimal cabernet character. Tomato-stalky, too. Medium-full bodied, with nicely harmonised ripe, supple tannins. The nose doesn't beckon me, but the palate satisfies. A lighter, more restrained vintage of this wine. Drink 2027-2038.

90 points Huon Hooke The Real Review September 2025

The Ashmead is a small Nuriootpa block of 79-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon vines. It has consistently been a source of small amounts of excellent quality fruit for Elderton Wines. The soils area deep alluvial silt over red and brown earths and limestone near the banks of the North Para River. The deep-rooted vines receive minimal irrigation. The block was destined to be replanted with higher yielding vines in 1997 before the family made the decision to highlight the quality of this vineyard instead by offering it as a single vineyard wine.

2023 was a relatively cool and long season for the area, with more rainfall than in the few years prior. The old vine Cabernet Sauvignon in the Ashmead tend to have very low vigour, which significantly reduces the risk of disease. This is especially beneficial for a late-ripening variety, often maturing just as the season begins to break. After hand picking, fruit spent a week in open fermenters with gentle cap management prior to pressing and then maturation in mostly new French oak for 18 months to support the fruit and help build the structure of this wine without adding too much oak impact.

Classic warm climate Cabernet with a now established pedigree of ageing well in the bottle. Deeply coloured, lots of red fruit amongst finely tuned tannins and notes of supporting oak. Long finish.