Kalleske Greenock Creek Shiraz Mini Vertical

[Andrew Jordan]

On Sunday we held the mini vertical of the Greenock Creek Shiraz over lunch with a couple of friends of ours. This is something I have been meaning to do for some time as I have pretty much purchased a 6-pack of every vintage of the Greenock Creek Shiraz since 2002 (Troy's first commercial vintage ... technically speaking 1999 was his first which was made in his final year at college). Anyway after a couple of email exchanges with Troy over his thoughts on what to include (true gentlemen is Troy and really went beyond expectations on the feedback and opinions he provided) we ended up with the following line up:

Flight One - King vs Prince?
2002 Kalleske Greenock Creek Shiraz
2020 Kalleske Greenock Creek Shiraz

Flight Two - Seasonal
2017 Kalleske Greenock Creek Shiraz
2012 Kalleske Greenock Creek Shiraz
2008 Kalleske Greenock Creek Shiraz

Overall great tasting. Two wines were under cork (2002, 2008) but no issues with TCA taint or oxidation. Cork's were both in very good condition with minimal seepage. The tasting really did show the "terroir" of the vineyard with our friends saying a few times during the tasting how different the wines were to each other especially the seasonal flight.

All wines were served directly from bottle but spent up to an hour in the glass prior to tasting.

It was an extremely good tasting, all wines showing well. Overall, 2002 was considered to be the best wine of the tasting. Initially, it was a bit muted but after a bit of vigorous swirling it showed its true self. Deep fruit, savoury and a beautiful long finish. Still the best release IMHO and based on this bottle has quite a long drinking plateau before it starts to fade. I recon if you put this is a blind Grange vertical it would stand tall!

The 2020 was nicknamed the prince (or heir apparent) as it was obvious to everyone that this was a quality vintage. Even after the 2002 this showed remarkably well considering its youth. It will be interesting to see how long this takes to fully mature due to it being under screw cap ... probably a lot longer than the 2002. 3rd favourite for me currently but I can see this climbing up the rankings in the years to come. Can see why Troy has talked this vintage up.

We then moved to the 2nd flight over lunch, the "Seasonal" flight. These three wines really showed variation, both on the nose and the palate. It took us a while to even taste the wines as everyone was so fascinated by the different aromas coming from each wine. I went with the 2017 first as Troy suggested this would be quite elegant which it was. Quite a shock to everyone after the first two. Even from a wet vintage this was a very good wine, although more early drinking style. One of our friends put this in her top three for the afternoon so right now it could be in its sweet spot? It even surprised me how well it was drinking and definitely was not the red headed step child of the tasting.

The 2012 was all class. If this is a so called "Normal" vintage in the Barossa, then we all need more normal in our lives! Beautiful wine which you could drink all day. Went well with the bbq rib-eye steaks. Nicely balanced, long savoury fine tannin finish. Has a very long life a head of it. Not sure if it is going to get any better? But my 2nd favourite of the vertical.

Finished with the 2008, the big boy on the block. This was huge, rich, ball-tearing Barossa shiraz. Quite different from everything we had up to this point. But it was well balanced, no heat on the back palate which you get from a lot of these type of wines from the Barossa. Would be great on a cold winter's evening with a lamb stew! This made a few of the top 3's with its richness and fruit purity. Not sure if this will improve with age or what its peak drinking window will be but I will probably not open another for 5 years as I think it may soften a little. Although the cork does worry me but based on previous corks from Kalleske bottles, I don't think I have much to worry about.

[phillisc]

Thanks Andrew, must get around to doing some of these too! Great notes and a good lunch by the sound of it.
For clarity, this is the Kalleske single Greenock block located in the west, adjacent to the Greenock Creek.
Not any of the wines from the Greenock Creek winery (previously Michael and Annabel Waugh's property).

Cheers Craig

[JamieAdelaide]

The 2003 Greenock can have a light spritz note- quite refreshing in summer.

Great wines and I’m happy Troy has done so well. Lovely cellar door worth a visit.

[Mike Hawkins]

I stopped buying them as they’re too ripe for my tastes. Opened a 2010 Johan George on the weekend and felt the same way about it, though most liked the rich primary flavours.