Greenstone embodies everything that we search for in quality wine producers: vineyard specific wines of elegance, complexity and drinkability; wines that speak of place; wines that work well with food. The Greenstone project brings together English MW David Gleave, Italian winemaker Alberto Antonini and viticulturalist Mark Walpole. Wapole has taken the revolutionary step of planting the Greenstone vineyard to an east-west row orientation to shield the fruit from the strong, summer sun, to allow for a more gradual ripening process and to retain natural acidity. The wine is made by Sandro Mosele at Kooyong Winery, with Alberto Antonini’s involvement. The resulting wine is about as far removed from the blockbuster-styled Heathcote reds as you can imagine and this suits us down to the ground. This is a pure, refined, spicy Syrah that reeks of class. As James Halliday has written, with such a young vineyard producing wines of this quality “…one wonders just how exceptional the site is.” The first four vintages of Greenstone released have elicited 95-Points (2005), 95-Points (2006), 95-Points (2007) and now 96 Points (2008) from James Halliday. Somewhat obviously it is rated as a 5-Star Winery.
Four different Shiraz clones were selected for the unique aspects of the Greenstone Vineyard, three from the Barossa (1654, 2626 and 1127) and one from Coonawarra (R6WV28). Grapes are hand picked in and transported to the Kooyong Winery on the Mornington Peninsula where Alberto Antonini and Sandro Mosele collaborate on the vinification. Grapes underwent a natural cold soak and were fermented with natural yeasts. Treated to a period of two weeks maceration in open top fermenters. The cap is punched down by hand to extract good colour and ripe tannins. After fermentation, the wine was aged eighteen months in a combination of new and prior use French oak barriques
The 2008 is the most serious and powerful Greenstone yet, which is a statement in itself given the elegance this label is already known for. Indeed by the time I had looked at this a couple of times, I was making mental comparisons with the likes of Dalwhinnie, Bests, Langi and St Peters. Yep, it is seriously good. The nose is about deep, dark berried fruit with some lifted violet and musky notes and hints of both oak and mint/eucalypt. The dark fruited theme continues in the mouth with juicy plum and cherry on a long palate of line and length, the ample fruit is nicely balanced by the supple, fine grained tannins and a lifted acidity on the finish. This is as good a young Heathcote Shiraz can be and the brute power here is the complexity, not the weight – which is medium to full. I loved it with some air time, I suspect I will love it more with 5 to 8 years down time when it will reveal itself as an absolute bargain buy. Exceptional stuff! Drink: Now – 2018+; Quality: Exceptional; BW; WineStar© July 2011
Right up there with the best of prior Greenstone releases, an exercise in refined elegance; the colour is excellent, the red and black cherry fruit aromatic and lively, the tannins smooth, the oak perfectly balanced and integrated, the natural acidity underlining the fresh finish. Classic medium-bodied red, inviting the second glass, not just the second taste. Rating 96 Points; Drink to 2023 $30 Date Published on 12 Jan 2011; James Halliday Australian Wine Companion