[SOLD-OUT] Greenock Creek Roennfeldt Road Shiraz 2011

I'm tempted to say that upon release, this is the most approachable Roennfeldt Road Shiraz yet. I'd almost be willing to suggest it's the first 'drink-now' RR, which feels very naughty and sounds, of course, very silly. It seems to forecast the touch of aniseed from the 2014 Apricot Block, which grew just down the hill three years later. But beyond that edgy bit, and the sharp American oak the fruit is eating since I opened the bottle, it's all gel and jujube territory in here.

Like many of the best 2011 reds, I suspect these grapes had some botrytis under their skin: just enough to begin making glycerol in the juice before the noble rot began to show to the picker's eye, like on the skin outside. I am happy to be proven wrong, but texturally this wine seems to have more gel and glycerol than the usual. Combine that with softer tannins and you get what I reckon might be a Roennfeldt for the next decade more than the next century. Like I'd pop one in two years and another in five, hoping that somebody had committed a miracle and left another six-pack in the dungeon for the ten year party.

At which point I wouldn't be at all surprised to see you put four of those back in your own secret spot for the next decade. All the blackberry/blueberry/blackcurrant/prune/marello/licorice aromas and flavours are here in amazing intensity, but set, if you like, in a liqueur jelly made of silk and black chrome. I often relate the Greenock Creek wines to the Italian fruit-and-nut slice, the panforte, with all its cinnamon and nutmeg. This is perhaps the first time I've devoured a Roennfeldt Shiraz that I'd love to have with the panforte at eleven or four, winter sunlight spilling from the tall windows.

Philip White, 2016

Country:

Australia

Region:

SA- Barossa Valley

Variety:

Wine Red - Shiraz

Size:

750mL