Eldorado Road Onyx Durif 2021

"Shout it from the rooftops – Eldorado Road, as a label, should be much more famous. The wines are too interesting, too keen, too complex to be 'just another Victorian producer'."  Andrew Graham

Eldorado Road is run by Paul Dahlenburg (Bear), the winemaker at Baileys of Glenrowan, and his wife Lauretta. They are fiercely loyal to North East Victoria and produce a superb portfolio of wines from vineyards in Eldorado, Beechworth, Glenrowan and Rutherglen. The 2021 Onyx Durif is a 50/50 blend from two vineyards; their home vineyard in Eldorado, and a proven mature vineyard in Rutherglen. The cooler location on Eldorado Road produces a Durif with power and intense perfume, but with a level of finesse not often associated with the variety. The Rutherglen component adds generosity to the blend. Arguably the best durif in the country.

"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."  Jeni Port

"Our 2021 Onyx Durif is a 50/50 blend from two different vineyards; our home vineyard in Eldorado, and a proven mature vineyard in Rutherglen.

Our home vineyard in Eldorado was planted in 2008 from cuttings taken from an original Rutherglen clone kindly provided by Stanton & Killeen. The site is much cooler than Durif would normally experience, but this allows us to make a more restrained rendition than most would be familiar with. 2021 delivered unfortunately low yields across our home blocks and we only secured 1.9 tonnes of Durif, which is 50% less than we would normally expect. As is often the case with low yields, there is a silver lining – the quality was exceptional.

The second parcel was secured from a proven mature vineyard in Rutherglen. We are well-acquainted with this exceptionally managed vineyard, having received fruit from it for over 10 years. It always comes in at a riper Baumé than the Eldorado fruit and sets a strong and straight backbone that carries its weight effortlessly and allows the wonderfully elegant and floral characteristics of our Eldorado vineyard fruit to shine."  Eldorado Road

Expert reviews

"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  ★  

Awards

Special Value Wine – Canterbury Wines  ★ 

About the winery

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."