Deep garnet in color with slight breaking edges. Rich nose of blackberries, tar, and hint of leather. Rich taste of crushed blackberries, mentor, dark, cherries, and a slight earthiness. Plush with great depth. Wonderful balance and complexity. Interestingly, did not taste nearly as nice from Corvin. In a great spot now, but may improve for another 3 to 5 years. Drink a whore for five years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Purchased on release from the winery and well-stored in our cellar. Opened with friends at a restaurant, and it was a WOW-er. Bigger than I expected, and I have had hundreds of Greenocks, but not many Alice's, so the American oak caught me off guard at first. Lots of the typical tar/asphalt and big fruit typically with Greenocks, but nicely integrated vanilla oak. Can't imagine it getting any better, but was so well balanced and big, it would surely hold another decade. Another great wine from Michael and Annabelle, and I immediately searched for more, but the older Greenocks are hard to find these days. I came across one in Del Mar, CA, grabbed it and had it in April 2022. Great again, but probably scoring more like a 94/95. Possibly not quite as well stored and it was from a high-end store, but on an open shelf, so not sure when it was acquired nor how it was stored, but the fill was excellent.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
This was probably fantastic at one point, but maybe a little too old now in 2021. Nose is menthol, asparagus, and asphalt. Tannins have softened and acidity is strong. Palate has dark and blue fruit, spice, and vegetal notes. Good wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Amazing nose. Sweet fruit but super complex also. Was best after 3 hours of air. Layered and concentrated. All elements are there. Nose initial approach on the pallette. Mid pallette. And finish. Wow.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
At Entrada with Wendy and Simon, good excuse to open a nicely aged Aussie. This one bought at auction several years back. PnP at the restaurant.
Dark inky purple, some sediment. Nose of dark fruits, earth, asphalt and graphite. Palate showing blackberry, blue fruits, truffle, charcoal. A lot going on here, had this wine several years back and it was much more opulent - still fruit forward and classic Aussie but a bit more settled. Full body, 20-30 second finish
This was better about 30 minutes in, would let it open if venue allows, a strain/decant would get some of the sediment out, but its not too bad. Will drink the remainder of these over next few years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
From memory-really great stuff, more complex than expected. More menthol, mint and balancing factors to the fruit then other Aussie Shiraz’s of this era that I’ve had.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Earthy but pleasant nose. Very soft tannins,huge fruit and full mouth feel. It appears it’s at it’s best or just past it. I’ve got a couple more, but I’ll have them imminently
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Not my type of wine but incredible quality. Extremely rich and full in taste and fragrance. Thick as if you can cut the taste but still elegant and overpowering at the same time. This wine you can only drink with small sips. Complex but too much
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Heavy cranberry nose with a little pepper. Syrupy texture with a cherry meets peppery blackberry menthol flavor. No tight tannins. Seems either a better bottle or a change in profile from 4 years ago. Still a portly like Shiraz but drinking pretty smooth albeit concentrated
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Very smooth and silky with that classic South Aussie earthen dusty smoke flavour present but not overpoweringly so. The best SA Shiraz's all portray this quality - being disarmingly light and approachable despite a big fruit content and fairly high alcohol levels. This also came across bright open and straightforwards, which paired very well with steak.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
One of the most offensive wines I have ever had. I am perfectly open to a big Aussie Shiraz, indeed some of the best wines I have ever had are from the Barossa (I am thinking 2010 Grange and 2004 Godolphin here).
But this is awful. Interesting enough on the nose (blackcurrant, cream, a hint of menthol) there is absolutely nothing to like about how this tastes. It is sweet, bland and one-dimensional. It does not even taste like Ribena - more like blackcurrant flavoured cough syrup.
I opened this for a Sunday dinner and after tasting it, giving it another hour and tasting it again I tipped it down the sink. I don't think I have ever done that before with a wine that wasn't flawed or defective and certainly not with one this expensive.
This is a hefty wine, with a lofty oak treatment, but it is overly perfumed (like an elderly lady can be) and lacking layers, complexity and refinement.
Very nice Shiraz. Dark ruby color. Big nose of sweet black berry and plum. Not over powering and was very smooth. Went well with a meat and cheese plate at midnight. Looking forward to the 2005 vintage soon.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Interesting to taste 2 bottles of the same wine at the same blind tasting. One bottle showed very ripe and super sweet blackcurrant nose of taste. Another bottle showed more sweet spices and herbs. The common thing was both of them had ripe, rich and fruity black fruits with aroma of Asian spices. Drank smoothly. Good power and depth with long finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Might be past time to have drunk this bottle. Very leathery tastes, needed to be drunk with food like cheeses or meat. Seemed like a Bordeaux style wine from Barossa which seemed a bit unusual. Complex but too old world like flavors and style for me.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Being a Burgundy lover this is a challenge for my tastebuds. However the nose was quite nice with plenty of plum and blackberry notes. A massive wine, but I did not find any overjammy or stewed notes as found usually in big bold shiraz wines. Perhaps the years in bottle has helped. Instead 'cool' notes, some eucalyptus and a very long aftertaste. I like the balance in this wine and served with duck it came out quite nice.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Decided on a return to the big ol Aussie bombs from last decade...strong deep red fruit nose, eucalyptus, prune, meat...silky smooth but heavily extracted. This is the much belied frankenwine of 2000 Aussie. Almost like a wine/port blend where the "brandy" has been scaled back. If you like this sort of thing you will love this....matter of fact...serve it with dessert!!
The more I drink this, the more I think it might be cooked. Make a killer wine reduction with some balsamic though....
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
A Sunday BBQ with some Shiraz; 6/9/2013-6/12/2013 (The Garden): In years gone past they would have used this as a hair restore cure for old bald men. Its a massive wine, with an incredible nose of smoke, earth and meat. With 15.5% alcohol and a rich extraction its a wine that appears to be well endowed. At the same time though its not cloying like some large wines can be and there is no heat on the nose or the finish. I gave this a 20 hour decant before drinking and even now, 4 days after opening, the last glass is only just starting to oxidise. I actually thought my tastes was moving towards wine with more elegance and less alcohol, but this was like a 1000 volt electric shock to the tastebuds and I survived. Brilliant.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Wow--this was a rough one. Virtually undrinkable, and I really like Aussie shiraz when it's well done. But this was so stewed, so pruney & gloppy that I did something I NEVER do--poured 3/4 of the bottle down the sink. Maybe it was a bad bottle, but there were no discernible flaws I noticed (other than it being undrinkable :). And ouch on the QPR front too--considering what I paid for it.
Based on other reviews, I wish I had chocolate cake to eat with this! Was smooth as. Will defo have a few years left in it also. Quite a floral nose. Strawberry. Quite a full palate. A bit underwhelmed. But a decent Sunday eve wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
I really wish I had bought more of this one. It is one of the best, if not the best Alice's I have had. Loads of fruit, silky tannins and oak only a bit part player. Saved a glass for the next night and it was still excellent. Went really well with the wife's (very) rich chocolate birthday cake. WIll go a few more years yet.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
- Brick color with slow forming legs and aromas of strawberry jam, ethanol and oak. It's unbalanced and has flavours of oak, smokey, strawberry and ethanol with a medium/full body. Smooth texture with a medium finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Could have thought this was the Creek Block if I'd had it blind (albeit less polished) due to the unique saltiness, swampy characteristics. I also got a bit of Brett, both on the nose as well as on the palate. Could have been a bad bottle.
Not a bad wine, and my first experience with GC's 'cheapie'.
Will go another 5 years I reckon.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
PnP. Consumed over 2 nights, night one far superior to night 2. Purple toward opaque with no sign of age. Delicious nose of blackberry, charcoal, clove, fresh baked bread and a touch of menthol. Chewy, juicy flavors of blackberry pie, raspberry, red licorice. Multi-layered, multi-faceted. I know that wines of this style can sometimes go too far overboard, but this was brilliantly framed with muscular tannins and plenty of juicy acidity to keep it clean. Delicious, and most enjoyable by itself. The Purple Angel that it was served next to proved the much better food wine, and gained favor even on night 2. Recommended, 15% abv, drink thru 2018.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
on the nose, sweaty leather pouch of dried prune. color, dark as it gets Mouth feel is ballanced, just a slight burn, its not a girly wine. Tasty treat, years to go, top shelf
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Trying to go by memory. Massive wine on the nose even more so than the Eileen Hardy 99 and 01 that I have had recently. Mostly red fruit, predominantly strawberries for me, with oak taking the backseat. Creamy palate that was mouthcoating but not mouthstaining if that makes any sense. Although this was a big wine I didn't find it to be clumsy at all. There were gobs of fruit but I wouldn't classify this wine as a fruitbomb. I thought this wine was very precise in some ways. I detected a little bit of acidity toward the backend which makes me think this may hold for another year or two before starting the decline. Tannins have all been resolved and this is certainly drinking quite well right now. I didn't get the black olive component as predominantly as some. I could see this wine being very polarizing. For some this could be a desert island wine while others would rather drink the seawater. I really like it and am glad I have some more.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Rating above is averaged over 2 days of drinking. Stored in temp/humidity controlled cellar. On day 1 I decanted half the bottle and drank over 3-4 hours. The bottle was stoppered and was returned to cellar after I poured first half. On day 2, wine decanted for half hour.
Day 1: Over the top, highly extracted style typical of the region. Also very viscous and very low tannins. Nice fruit. Quite pleasurable if you know what to expect. Would have scored 88-89 for first day alone.
Day 2: I have never noted such an unfavorable development. The wine had transformed into olive juice, or more specifically olive brine. It was undrinkable. I could not detect another single flavor or aroma. I had to pour out the rest. Very unfortunate.
Please do yourself a favor and finish the bottle on the first day. For my palate there was a noticeable improvement at day 1 over the first couple of hours as some of the alcohol blew off.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Yes, big as you would expect. Lots of cream, spice and dark fruits. Very extracted. However, I still find it reasonably balanced as there is a fair amount of acidity in the mix. Compared to a year ago, the olive component is a bit too prominent. There is no question you will not eek out complex hints of a zillion flavors and scents....what you drink this for is flavor; not for thought, but for pleasure. Greenock is okay in my book for that, though in this instance the olive was just a bit too much.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
A Trio of Very Aussie Wines (Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck, Paragon): An unashamedly huge, modern, unbridedly fruit-driven Aussie Shiraz. Usually not my cup of tea, but this was pretty well-done. Really nice nose - lots of savoury notes with earth, meaty scents, umami nuances, sprinkled with bramble and minty notes on a bed of rich, rich blackrurrant, blueberries and plummy fruit, all wafting out of glass alongside perfumy floral tone and sniffs of smoke and licorice. Ridiculously attractive. Plus point was that the thick glycerol fumes that accompany so many of these wines were absent. Palate was predictably rich and plush, with oodles of plum, cassis and blackberry - definitely on the sweet side, but I did not think it was candied or artificial in any way. In fact, I found the fruit expression deep and pure. Not for Rhone lovers maybe, and I certainly felt that more acidity and some tannin structure would have been welcome, but the wine had decent balance and nice depth. The savoury notes on the nose were also picked up on the mid-palate, where meaty notes mingled nicely with earthy, umami tones. Finish showed a bit of alcohol, before a nice lengthy tail with more earthy smoky tones. Not quite my style, but this was enjoyable in a really hedonistic, fruit-driven way. We decanted it for a quick 15 minutes before serving, which certainly helped, but I am not sure this needs too long or decant or, indeed, much longer aging time in the bottle. It just does not have the structure and shape for long aging, quite unlike the Orlando we had alongside.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Huge, over the top Aussie Shiraz that Crocodile Dundee would have loved: "that's not a wine, mate; THIS is a wine". 15% alcohol burns a bit on the finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
opened and decanted for a good three hours. this wine is completely disjointed. i have seen that other bottles that were bought off of wine bid have been flawed so there is certainly a greater than zero chance this bottle was off as well. huge nose of dried fruit raisins and pruns, very port like. lots of smoke coming off as well which i usually enjoy, but not here for some off putting reason that i cant put my finger on. maybe a little burnt ham? mouthfeel is not bad just very porty and way over extracted. too much manipulation. the tannins have intergrated perfectly and the finish certainly could have been worse, which makes me think that this bottle is not bad but just bad. would not buy again. i have one bottle left and ill give it a year or two, but i opened two and they were identicle...poor expression of shriaz if you ask me
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
I was told this was a very refined example of Aussie Shiraz, not the gloppy sweet garbage I seek to avoid. Oops. Smells good, like well made Shiraz. Floral, sweet, fruity, olives. Some pepper notes on the palate. Tastes like cough syrup. Fat, thick, undrinkable. Sweet. Thick. Yuck. Dumper. Tastes like the world's worst port.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
I tried a few of these Greenock Shiraz's recently. I can't say I understand the attraction. Decanted and drank over a two day period. Stewed, porty, clumsy, alcoholic, heavily extracted on the nose and the mouth. Just not my style, and I don't know that more bottle age would change my view. The only Aussie Shiraz I've tasted that can hold a candle to northern Rhone is the d'Arenberg Dead Arm
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Huge. Huge. Huge...but, how do they do it? Somehow or another this thing just works. Unreal amounts of blackberry and blueberry, with cream, tar and spice. Palate staining, and the body of a milkshake. Unbelievably focused fruit, and an even more amazing lack of heat. Greenock has got to be one of my favorite Aussie producers because it, without shame, does what should be done with these plots of land. It does not try to be something it should not, instead taking huge, concentrated fruit and somehow or another balancing it in a package that just makes sense. Not for the light of heart, but for those seeking hedonism with complexity.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Super-ripe black fruit liqueur and spice. Really dominated by oak-driven flavors on the palate - full of clove and allspice type notes. Creamy, weighty palate. Very young and aggressive. Big wine, but not my style.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
A stunning effort that definitely held it's own being drunk side by side with the classic '98 Penfolds grange (which I scored 98+). Pitch dark in color, Unique aromas of sweet ripe plums, dark cherries, blueberries, cream de cassis, and exotic spices. Full bodied, dense and extremely focused with sweet tannins, and seamless structure. Finishing up very long with dark fruit and spices rolling on and on. - JD95
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Complex and layered, this shows tart black fruit with plums and black cherries in the front and black mulberry to follow backed by barnyard hints. The super rich structure is complemented by an elegant balance and ends in with spicy long finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Deep red/purple with shimmering blue throughout - not black and not bricking at all near the rim. Nose is monolithic giving off plenty of sweet wood and sweet black fruit. Super ripe and thick on the palate with tannin and acid in the background - in fact very difficult to detect the qualitity of the acids. Overall this will be a very polarising wine that I find very easy and quite pleasurable to drink now, but I'm unsure how long it will keep.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
I think Jay Miller nailed it. What makes this wine so unusual is that combination of dense blackberry fruit that one expects from a big shiraz with startling finesse. This could be the Muhammad Ali of wines - floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
1/1/2024 - efeldhake@yahoo.com Likes this wine: 94 Points
Deep garnet in color with slight breaking edges. Rich nose of blackberries, tar, and hint of leather. Rich taste of crushed blackberries, mentor, dark, cherries, and a slight earthiness. Plush with great depth. Wonderful balance and complexity. Interestingly, did not taste nearly as nice from Corvin. In a great spot now, but may improve for another 3 to 5 years. Drink a whore for five years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/11/2021 - Kdubs Likes this wine: 97 Points
Purchased on release from the winery and well-stored in our cellar. Opened with friends at a restaurant, and it was a WOW-er. Bigger than I expected, and I have had hundreds of Greenocks, but not many Alice's, so the American oak caught me off guard at first. Lots of the typical tar/asphalt and big fruit typically with Greenocks, but nicely integrated vanilla oak. Can't imagine it getting any better, but was so well balanced and big, it would surely hold another decade. Another great wine from Michael and Annabelle, and I immediately searched for more, but the older Greenocks are hard to find these days. I came across one in Del Mar, CA, grabbed it and had it in April 2022. Great again, but probably scoring more like a 94/95. Possibly not quite as well stored and it was from a high-end store, but on an open shelf, so not sure when it was acquired nor how it was stored, but the fill was excellent.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/14/2021 - IrvineCellar Likes this wine: 88 Points
This was probably fantastic at one point, but maybe a little too old now in 2021. Nose is menthol, asparagus, and asphalt. Tannins have softened and acidity is strong. Palate has dark and blue fruit, spice, and vegetal notes. Good wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/30/2020 - Winokdub wrote: 94 Points
Amazing nose. Sweet fruit but super complex also. Was best after 3 hours of air. Layered and concentrated. All elements are there. Nose initial approach on the pallette. Mid pallette. And finish. Wow.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/8/2018 - walkerjfw wrote: 92 Points
At Entrada with Wendy and Simon, good excuse to open a nicely aged Aussie. This one bought at auction several years back. PnP at the restaurant.
Dark inky purple, some sediment. Nose of dark fruits, earth, asphalt and graphite. Palate showing blackberry, blue fruits, truffle, charcoal. A lot going on here, had this wine several years back and it was much more opulent - still fruit forward and classic Aussie but a bit more settled. Full body, 20-30 second finish
This was better about 30 minutes in, would let it open if venue allows, a strain/decant would get some of the sediment out, but its not too bad. Will drink the remainder of these over next few years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/22/2018 - erictayl wrote: 94 Points
From memory-really great stuff, more complex than expected. More menthol, mint and balancing factors to the fruit then other Aussie Shiraz’s of this era that I’ve had.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/16/2018 - Yannis57 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Earthy but pleasant nose. Very soft tannins,huge fruit and full mouth feel. It appears it’s at it’s best or just past it. I’ve got a couple more, but I’ll have them imminently
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/6/2018 - afu wrote: 80 Points
Coravin sampled. It was tight but with promise. 1/12 uncorked. Wine was shot. There was a stain on the capsule. Another bad Aussie cork.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/19/2017 - martijnkriens wrote: 94 Points
Not my type of wine but incredible quality. Extremely rich and full in taste and fragrance. Thick as if you can cut the taste but still elegant and overpowering at the same time. This wine you can only drink with small sips. Complex but too much
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/19/2017 - NTR wrote: 92 Points
Heavy cranberry nose with a little pepper. Syrupy texture with a cherry meets peppery blackberry menthol flavor. No tight tannins. Seems either a better bottle or a change in profile from 4 years ago. Still a portly like Shiraz but drinking pretty smooth albeit concentrated
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/14/2016 - Wine Poor Likes this wine: 92 Points
Drank this before going out to dinner. Lots of flavour, and very enjoyable without food.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/12/2015 - bengti Likes this wine: 91 Points
Very smooth and silky with that classic South Aussie earthen dusty smoke flavour present but not overpoweringly so. The best SA Shiraz's all portray this quality - being disarmingly light and approachable despite a big fruit content and fairly high alcohol levels. This also came across bright open and straightforwards, which paired very well with steak.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/7/2015 - JSOL Does not like this wine: 81 Points
One of the most offensive wines I have ever had. I am perfectly open to a big Aussie Shiraz, indeed some of the best wines I have ever had are from the Barossa (I am thinking 2010 Grange and 2004 Godolphin here).
But this is awful. Interesting enough on the nose (blackcurrant, cream, a hint of menthol) there is absolutely nothing to like about how this tastes. It is sweet, bland and one-dimensional. It does not even taste like Ribena - more like blackcurrant flavoured cough syrup.
I opened this for a Sunday dinner and after tasting it, giving it another hour and tasting it again I tipped it down the sink. I don't think I have ever done that before with a wine that wasn't flawed or defective and certainly not with one this expensive.
A disgrace.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (3)
5/26/2015 - StefanAkiko Likes this wine: 91 Points
Big Mama, but Small B**bs.
This is a hefty wine, with a lofty oak treatment, but it is overly perfumed (like an elderly lady can be) and lacking layers, complexity and refinement.
Insanely too expensive for what it is.
Had with yakiniku in Tokyo.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (2)
4/3/2015 - Wine Poor wrote: 92 Points
Very nice Shiraz. Dark ruby color. Big nose of sweet black berry and plum. Not over powering and was very smooth. Went well with a meat and cheese plate at midnight. Looking forward to the 2005 vintage soon.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/5/2014 - dimdic wrote: 93 Points
Interesting to taste 2 bottles of the same wine at the same blind tasting. One bottle showed very ripe and super sweet blackcurrant nose of taste. Another bottle showed more sweet spices and herbs. The common thing was both of them had ripe, rich and fruity black fruits with aroma of Asian spices. Drank smoothly. Good power and depth with long finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/2/2014 - Grinner wrote: flawed
18th Annual Lyon 10 Year Retrospective (Lyon Down Inn): Second royally TCA'd bottle of the tasting
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/11/2014 - capnkirk wrote: 87 Points
Might be past time to have drunk this bottle. Very leathery tastes, needed to be drunk with food like cheeses or meat. Seemed like a Bordeaux style wine from Barossa which seemed a bit unusual. Complex but too old world like flavors and style for me.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/25/2013 - burgund Likes this wine: 92 Points
Being a Burgundy lover this is a challenge for my tastebuds. However the nose was quite nice with plenty of plum and blackberry notes. A massive wine, but I did not find any overjammy or stewed notes as found usually in big bold shiraz wines. Perhaps the years in bottle has helped. Instead 'cool' notes, some eucalyptus and a very long aftertaste. I like the balance in this wine and served with duck it came out quite nice.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/7/2013 - red.red.vino wrote: 95 Points
I love this wine. It is a big wine, very ripe and fruity, yet smooth and elegant. Drinking perfectly now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/20/2013 - NTR wrote: 90 Points
Decided on a return to the big ol Aussie bombs from last decade...strong deep red fruit nose, eucalyptus, prune, meat...silky smooth but heavily extracted. This is the much belied frankenwine of 2000 Aussie. Almost like a wine/port blend where the "brandy" has been scaled back. If you like this sort of thing you will love this....matter of fact...serve it with dessert!!
The more I drink this, the more I think it might be cooked. Make a killer wine reduction with some balsamic though....
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/12/2013 - mychurch wrote: 95 Points
A Sunday BBQ with some Shiraz; 6/9/2013-6/12/2013 (The Garden): In years gone past they would have used this as a hair restore cure for old bald men. Its a massive wine, with an incredible nose of smoke, earth and meat. With 15.5% alcohol and a rich extraction its a wine that appears to be well endowed. At the same time though its not cloying like some large wines can be and there is no heat on the nose or the finish. I gave this a 20 hour decant before drinking and even now, 4 days after opening, the last glass is only just starting to oxidise. I actually thought my tastes was moving towards wine with more elegance and less alcohol, but this was like a 1000 volt electric shock to the tastebuds and I survived. Brilliant.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/8/2013 - rockguit Does not like this wine: 75 Points
Wow--this was a rough one. Virtually undrinkable, and I really like Aussie shiraz when it's well done. But this was so stewed, so pruney & gloppy that I did something I NEVER do--poured 3/4 of the bottle down the sink. Maybe it was a bad bottle, but there were no discernible flaws I noticed (other than it being undrinkable :). And ouch on the QPR front too--considering what I paid for it.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comments (1)
10/7/2012 - cshall wrote: 90 Points
Based on other reviews, I wish I had chocolate cake to eat with this! Was smooth as. Will defo have a few years left in it also. Quite a floral nose. Strawberry. Quite a full palate. A bit underwhelmed. But a decent Sunday eve wine.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/5/2012 - Wine Poor wrote: 93 Points
Better suited to a rich chocolate cake than a meal. We enjoyed this with snacks and sweets. Nice fruit and low tannins made this a treat to sip.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/23/2012 - ticklenow1 wrote: 93 Points
I really wish I had bought more of this one. It is one of the best, if not the best Alice's I have had. Loads of fruit, silky tannins and oak only a bit part player. Saved a glass for the next night and it was still excellent. Went really well with the wife's (very) rich chocolate birthday cake. WIll go a few more years yet.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/14/2012 - kellersc wrote: 90 Points
- Brick color with slow forming legs and aromas of strawberry jam, ethanol and oak. It's unbalanced and has flavours of oak, smokey, strawberry and ethanol with a medium/full body. Smooth texture with a medium finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/25/2011 - tonsta wrote: 91 Points
Could have thought this was the Creek Block if I'd had it blind (albeit less polished) due to the unique saltiness, swampy characteristics. I also got a bit of Brett, both on the nose as well as on the palate. Could have been a bad bottle.
Not a bad wine, and my first experience with GC's 'cheapie'.
Will go another 5 years I reckon.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/3/2011 - Tim Heaton Likes this wine:
PnP. Consumed over 2 nights, night one far superior to night 2. Purple toward opaque with no sign of age. Delicious nose of blackberry, charcoal, clove, fresh baked bread and a touch of menthol. Chewy, juicy flavors of blackberry pie, raspberry, red licorice. Multi-layered, multi-faceted. I know that wines of this style can sometimes go too far overboard, but this was brilliantly framed with muscular tannins and plenty of juicy acidity to keep it clean. Delicious, and most enjoyable by itself. The Purple Angel that it was served next to proved the much better food wine, and gained favor even on night 2. Recommended, 15% abv, drink thru 2018.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/30/2011 - shadow wrote: 94 Points
on the nose, sweaty leather pouch of dried prune.
color, dark as it gets
Mouth feel is ballanced, just a slight burn, its not a girly wine.
Tasty treat, years to go, top shelf
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/8/2010 - cob wrote: 94 Points
Trying to go by memory. Massive wine on the nose even more so than the Eileen Hardy 99 and 01 that I have had recently. Mostly red fruit, predominantly strawberries for me, with oak taking the backseat. Creamy palate that was mouthcoating but not mouthstaining if that makes any sense. Although this was a big wine I didn't find it to be clumsy at all. There were gobs of fruit but I wouldn't classify this wine as a fruitbomb. I thought this wine was very precise in some ways. I detected a little bit of acidity toward the backend which makes me think this may hold for another year or two before starting the decline. Tannins have all been resolved and this is certainly drinking quite well right now. I didn't get the black olive component as predominantly as some. I could see this wine being very polarizing. For some this could be a desert island wine while others would rather drink the seawater. I really like it and am glad I have some more.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/24/2010 - SAvino Does not like this wine: 80 Points
Rating above is averaged over 2 days of drinking. Stored in temp/humidity controlled cellar. On day 1 I decanted half the bottle and drank over 3-4 hours. The bottle was stoppered and was returned to cellar after I poured first half. On day 2, wine decanted for half hour.
Day 1: Over the top, highly extracted style typical of the region. Also very viscous and very low tannins. Nice fruit. Quite pleasurable if you know what to expect. Would have scored 88-89 for first day alone.
Day 2: I have never noted such an unfavorable development. The wine had transformed into olive juice, or more specifically olive brine. It was undrinkable. I could not detect another single flavor or aroma. I had to pour out the rest. Very unfortunate.
Please do yourself a favor and finish the bottle on the first day. For my palate there was a noticeable improvement at day 1 over the first couple of hours as some of the alcohol blew off.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/4/2010 - cadamson wrote: 89 Points
Yes, big as you would expect. Lots of cream, spice and dark fruits. Very extracted. However, I still find it reasonably balanced as there is a fair amount of acidity in the mix. Compared to a year ago, the olive component is a bit too prominent. There is no question you will not eek out complex hints of a zillion flavors and scents....what you drink this for is flavor; not for thought, but for pleasure. Greenock is okay in my book for that, though in this instance the olive was just a bit too much.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/28/2010 - Paul S wrote: 92 Points
A Trio of Very Aussie Wines (Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck, Paragon): An unashamedly huge, modern, unbridedly fruit-driven Aussie Shiraz. Usually not my cup of tea, but this was pretty well-done. Really nice nose - lots of savoury notes with earth, meaty scents, umami nuances, sprinkled with bramble and minty notes on a bed of rich, rich blackrurrant, blueberries and plummy fruit, all wafting out of glass alongside perfumy floral tone and sniffs of smoke and licorice. Ridiculously attractive. Plus point was that the thick glycerol fumes that accompany so many of these wines were absent. Palate was predictably rich and plush, with oodles of plum, cassis and blackberry - definitely on the sweet side, but I did not think it was candied or artificial in any way. In fact, I found the fruit expression deep and pure. Not for Rhone lovers maybe, and I certainly felt that more acidity and some tannin structure would have been welcome, but the wine had decent balance and nice depth. The savoury notes on the nose were also picked up on the mid-palate, where meaty notes mingled nicely with earthy, umami tones. Finish showed a bit of alcohol, before a nice lengthy tail with more earthy smoky tones. Not quite my style, but this was enjoyable in a really hedonistic, fruit-driven way. We decanted it for a quick 15 minutes before serving, which certainly helped, but I am not sure this needs too long or decant or, indeed, much longer aging time in the bottle. It just does not have the structure and shape for long aging, quite unlike the Orlando we had alongside.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/4/2010 - princeton wrote:
Huge, over the top Aussie Shiraz that Crocodile Dundee would have loved: "that's not a wine, mate; THIS is a wine". 15% alcohol burns a bit on the finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/12/2009 - Harneloot wrote: 89 Points
Deep, dark, dense....but weird flavors as well. Band-aid maybe?
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
11/3/2009 - mattjohnson_78 wrote: 88 Points
opened and decanted for a good three hours. this wine is completely disjointed. i have seen that other bottles that were bought off of wine bid have been flawed so there is certainly a greater than zero chance this bottle was off as well. huge nose of dried fruit raisins and pruns, very port like. lots of smoke coming off as well which i usually enjoy, but not here for some off putting reason that i cant put my finger on. maybe a little burnt ham? mouthfeel is not bad just very porty and way over extracted. too much manipulation. the tannins have intergrated perfectly and the finish certainly could have been worse, which makes me think that this bottle is not bad but just bad. would not buy again. i have one bottle left and ill give it a year or two, but i opened two and they were identicle...poor expression of shriaz if you ask me
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/30/2009 - atwkite wrote: 91 Points
Big Aussie, but too tart for me at this point. still hoping for some balance and integration over time.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/25/2009 - milwaukeewino wrote:
I was told this was a very refined example of Aussie Shiraz, not the gloppy sweet garbage I seek to avoid. Oops.
Smells good, like well made Shiraz. Floral, sweet, fruity, olives. Some pepper notes on the palate.
Tastes like cough syrup. Fat, thick, undrinkable. Sweet. Thick.
Yuck. Dumper. Tastes like the world's worst port.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
10/14/2009 - JohnnyBark wrote: flawed
This is an amazing wine that I've had good luck with until the night I opened 4 cooked rotten bottles from winebid.com.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/2/2009 - Enfantterrible wrote: 70 Points
I tried a few of these Greenock Shiraz's recently. I can't say I understand the attraction. Decanted and drank over a two day period. Stewed, porty, clumsy, alcoholic, heavily extracted on the nose and the mouth. Just not my style, and I don't know that more bottle age would change my view. The only Aussie Shiraz I've tasted that can hold a candle to northern Rhone is the d'Arenberg Dead Arm
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
6/22/2009 - rstark wrote: 88 Points
Rhone Varietals, NYC June 2009 (Tribecca Grill): Off-putting nose. Rotting fruit? Overly sweet, strawberry, spiced fruit. Syrupy, sticks-to-the-front-of-mouth finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/6/2009 - cadamson wrote: 93 Points
Huge. Huge. Huge...but, how do they do it? Somehow or another this thing just works. Unreal amounts of blackberry and blueberry, with cream, tar and spice. Palate staining, and the body of a milkshake. Unbelievably focused fruit, and an even more amazing lack of heat. Greenock has got to be one of my favorite Aussie producers because it, without shame, does what should be done with these plots of land. It does not try to be something it should not, instead taking huge, concentrated fruit and somehow or another balancing it in a package that just makes sense. Not for the light of heart, but for those seeking hedonism with complexity.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/16/2009 - gr8r84u wrote:
Same as psmith. Not my style.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/2/2009 - psmith wrote:
Super-ripe black fruit liqueur and spice. Really dominated by oak-driven flavors on the palate - full of clove and allspice type notes. Creamy, weighty palate. Very young and aggressive. Big wine, but not my style.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/28/2009 - InternationalWineReport wrote: 95 Points
A stunning effort that definitely held it's own being drunk side by side with the classic '98 Penfolds grange (which I scored 98+). Pitch dark in color, Unique aromas of sweet ripe plums, dark cherries, blueberries, cream de cassis, and exotic spices. Full bodied, dense and extremely focused with sweet tannins, and seamless structure. Finishing up very long with dark fruit and spices rolling on and on. - JD95
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/27/2009 - Umay Ceviker wrote: 96 Points
Complex and layered, this shows tart black fruit with plums and black cherries in the front and black mulberry to follow backed by barnyard hints. The super rich structure is complemented by an elegant balance and ends in with spicy long finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/9/2009 - JonathanP wrote: 90 Points
Deep red/purple with shimmering blue throughout - not black and not bricking at all near the rim. Nose is monolithic giving off plenty of sweet wood and sweet black fruit. Super ripe and thick on the palate with tannin and acid in the background - in fact very difficult to detect the qualitity of the acids. Overall this will be a very polarising wine that I find very easy and quite pleasurable to drink now, but I'm unsure how long it will keep.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/15/2008 - jaylew1 wrote: 96 Points
I think Jay Miller nailed it. What makes this wine so unusual is that combination of dense blackberry fruit that one expects from a big shiraz with startling finesse. This could be the Muhammad Ali of wines - floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/3/2007 - EMichels wrote: 93 Points
Excellent nose; Excellent palate; Excellent
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment