Winemaker Notes
#86 Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Cellar Selections of 2019
This Shiraz is rich dark purple-black in color. It is very intense aromatically and immediately indicates an impressive, mighty and sophisticated wine. Oozing classic ripe Barossa Shiraz, the wine has aromas of blueberry, fruit cake, deep florals, cocoa, sweet tobacco, licorice and a hint of vanilla bean. The complex palate is rich and full-bodied. Intense dark fruits dominate, complimented bysubtle oak barrel nuances. The dense fruit is framed by strong, fully-integrated tannins. This is a wine of great purity and utmost calibre. Greenock is a complex, refined and classy Barossa Shiraz that has a long cellaring future.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
One of the Barossa's long standing families has produced another classy, full-bodied, single-vineyard Shiraz. The nose whispers rather than shouts its aromas of cherry, currant, coffee, dark chocolate and baking spices. The palate is tightly wound, with grainy, woody tannins and tangy plum and cherry fruit. Finely structured for the long haul, this could be drunk now with a decant or cellared through 2035.
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James Suckling
Loads of morello cherries on this shiraz, as well as black plums, vanilla and baking spices. Full-bodied with ripe and round tannins and a chewy finish.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Historically and presently the most important wine-producing region of Australia, the Barossa Valley is set in the Barossa zone of South Australia, where more than half of the country’s wine is made. Because the climate is very hot and dry, vineyard managers work diligently to ensure grapes reach the perfect levels of phenolic ripeness.
The intense heat is ideal for plush, bold reds, particularly Shiraz on its own or Rhône Blends. Often Shiraz and Cabernet partner up for plump and powerful reds.
While much less prevalent, light-skinned varieties such as Riesling, Viognier or Semillon produce vibrant Barossa Valley whites.
Most of Australia’s largest wine producers are based here and Shiraz plantings date back as far as the 1850s or before. Many of them are dry farmed and bush trained, still offering less than one ton per acre of inky, intense, purple juice.