Eldorado Road Onyx Durif 2021

"Very deep, dark purple colour. The nose is a smorgasbord of black fruits, berries, herbs and smoked meats. The palate is medium to full bodied, lush, dense and weighty but incredibly fresh. A more nuanced expression of Durif with remarkable power yet also poise. Paul Dahlenburg is a superstar."  Nick Munday, Canterbury Wines  - 95 points and Special Value Wine  ★  

Special Value Wine – Canterbury Wines  ★ 

Eldorado Road is run by Paul Dahlenburg (Bear), the winemaker at Baileys of Glenrowan, and his wife Lauretta (Laurie). Having spent a career making wine and tending to the vineyards of others, they decided to release wines under their own label in 2010 and Eldorado Road was born. They are fiercely loyal to North East Victoria and produce a superb portfolio of wines from vineyards in Eldorado, Beechworth, Glenrowan and Rutherglen.

The couple established Eldorado in the Beechworth foothills equidistant between Beechworth and Wangaratta; on Eldorado Road just outside the quaint hamlet of Eldorado. Here they planted small parcels of Nero d'Avola and Durif. The property was selected and purchased principally because it is located on a seam of free draining red decomposed granite loaded with granite buckshot, flanked by granite hills and fed by the gentle flowing Reedy Creek which weaves its way through the property on its journey to the Ovens River.

Climate mapping matched to geography and terroir suggested that Nero d'Avola would thrive on the property and discussions with Allesio Planeta, a revered producer hailing from Sicily (the indigenous home of Nero d’Avola), convinced them to plant the variety. Over a decade later, Huon Hooke believes that Eldorado Road arguably produces Australia’s best Nero d’Avola.

Durif was planted in 2008 from cuttings taken from an original Rutherglen clone kindly provided by Stanton & Killeen. Paul and Laurie believed the cooler location on Eldorado Road would produce a Durif expressing power, intense perfume and a level of finesse not often associated with the variety. They mix grapes from their cool-climate home vineyard with grapes from a proven mature vineyard in Rutherglen to add some generosity, as it always comes in at a riper Baumé than the Eldorado fruit. To quote Jeni Port, "Eldorado Roads Durif needs to be tasted by every drinker who was ever scared witless by the grape. This is not scary, rather it's brilliantly delivered as a serious wine of some beauty: aromatic, blueberry, plum, dark chocolate and spice all lifted, fresh and plush. Bravo."

Dahlenburg knows all about the magic of old vines. Since 1996 he has been making powerfully structured and rich red wines at Baileys from mature plantings of Shiraz and Durif – some dating back a century or more. In 2009 Dahlenburg approached the owners of a derelict 2ha block of Shiraz planted in the 1890s near Glenrowan to see if he could lease it from them. They tried to talk him out of it, saying it was too run-down and that he’d be better off buying fruit from other vineyards in the area. But Dahlenburg was determined - this vineyard was over 100 years old and it was special – and he set about the backbreaking job of restoring a section of the vineyard. For all his hard work, Dahlenburg retrieved only one tonne of grapes from the 2010 vintage.

These remarkable old vines were originally shipped from France to Glenrowan back in the late 1800s. Established before federation, with only rainfall to sustain them, they endured prevailing weather to forge an existence. It’s truly remarkable these vines still survive today, but thanks to Dahlenburg, this old block continues to tell its own story and reward the drinking public with wines born from another era. Only a minute amount of the Perseverance Old Vine Shiraz is produced each year - the average yield is 800kg/acre. To give perspective, Grand Cru Burgundy yields are 15x that! 

The best quality Beechworth Chardonnay is sourced from one of the coolest vineyards in the GI located at 550m above sea level. The purity of this fruit allows Eldorado Road to create a powerful, complex wine with many similarities to those of Chablis.

"Here at Eldorado Road we make good wine at a profit if we can, at a loss if we must, but always good wine."

We want you to enjoy your wines as soon as possible and endeavour to dispatch orders as quickly as we can. It may take us a little longer during sales or peak trading periods, so kindly keep that in mind if you are purchasing for a special occasion.

Shipping Cost

Delivery is free on any order of 12 or more bottles to Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Gold Coast, Newcastle, Sunshine Coast, Wollongong and rural Victoria.

On orders of 12 or more bottles to all other areas, we cover a percentage of the shipping costs. Shipping is calculated at checkout.

For orders of less than 12 bottles Australia wide, shipping is calculated at checkout.

Insurance

All orders are fully insured.

Standard Delivery

We use Australia Post and a Specialist Wine Courier (Anonymous Wine Freight) for domestic deliveries. Your location will determine which of these delivery services will be available.

Couriers will not telephone ahead to notify you of time of delivery and delivery on specific days can not be guaranteed.

While a large number of destinations are serviced within 48 hours or less, please allow up to 14 days for delivery within Australia.

Specialist Wine Delivery Service

We offer a specialist temperature-controlled wine delivery service called Anonymous Wine Freight to deliver your wine if you live close to the CBD in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney or Perth, or live in Byron Bay, Gold Coast, Mornington Peninsula or Geelong. If Anonymous Wine Freight services your postcode, the option to use them will appear on checkout. Here is a link to the list of postcodes they service. 

They are highly recommended as they ship in refrigerated transport to climate-controlled warehouses in each metro area before they make their way to your delivery address in air-conditioned vehicles for the last kilometers. In addition, they will even call you by phone at the time of delivery if they encounter any problems.

Please find their delivery schedule below.

Pick-up

If you live in Melbourne, you can pick up your order from our office in Camberwell by prior arrangement. Please select the 'Pick Up' delivery option during checkout and we will contact you to arrange a suitable time for pick-up once the order has been packed.

What if I won’t be home?

If you may not be home at the time of delivery and would like the wine left in a safe place, please give Authority to Leave (ATL) and any delivery instructions in the 'DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS & ATL' at the bottom of the shopping cart, located just above the CHECKOUT button. 

If you have requested delivery with Australia Post and have not given Authority to Leave, a signature will be required on delivery. If you miss the postman, the order will be taken to your local Post Office for collection.

If you have requested delivery with our specialist wine courier (Anonymous Wine Freight) and have not given Authority to Leave, the driver will phone you for instructions if you are not at home at the time of delivery. If he can't contact you, the order will be taken to their local depot and can be re-delivered subject to a $20.00 fee.

Summer Heat Policy

If during hot weather you would like us to delay dispatch of your order to avoid potential heat damage to your wine please let us know. We are more than happy to store your order in our climate controlled warehouse until the weather is cooler. Please add the request in the 'DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS & ATL' at the bottom of the shopping cart, located just above the CHECKOUT button.

Alternatively, we may email you and request to delay dispatch of your order until the weather is cooler. If this happens, you can of course request immediate delivery if you wish.

International Shipping

We deliver wine to a number of destinations worldwide. If you require overseas delivery, please email us with the relevant information and we will advise you if we can deliver to your selected destination and the shipping costs involved.

International orders are supplied GST free. Please be aware that you will be responsible for the payment of all duties and taxes that are levied by your local authorities.

Minimum order requirements apply.