Winemaking
The grapes are hand picked in early March and transported to the Kooyong Winery in the Mornington Peninsula, where they undergo a natural cold soak followed by fermentation.
Maceration lasted 2 weeks in open top fermenters. The cap was punched down by hand to extract good colour and ripe tannins.
After fermention the wine was aged for 20 months in French barriques, of which 20% was new oak.
Vintage Conditions
The 2007 Shiraz combines the elegance of mid-Victorian Shiraz with the depth and weight that characterise wines from Heathcote.
The elegance derives from excellent vineyard management which helps retain delicate perfume in the grapes, whilst picking when the grapes are fully ripe, gives power and balance.
The low levels of oak used for ageing allow the Shiraz to shine through in teh glass. The wine has a deep, youthful purple colour, giving way to rich, dark plum fruit which is balanced by supple, fine-grained tannins and a lifted acidity on the finish. It is dense, nicely layered, long, elegant and well balanced.
Vineyard Notes
The site was purchased by viticulturalist Mark Walpole, Tuscan winemaker Alberto Antonini and Master of Wine David Gleave in 2003.
The Greenstone Vineyard comprises 20 hectares of Shiraz, Sangiovese, Colorino and Monastrell were planted on the old red Cambrian soils in Colbinabbin.
The Vineyard is planted to a density of 4,545 vines per hectare to reduce vigour, and ensure low crop per vine of intensely flavoured grapes.
Row orientation is east-west in order to protect the vines from the hot summer sun, and to prevent sun burn and preserve vibrant flavours in the grapes.
Grass was planted between the rows in order to reduce vigour, add organic matter and improve the soil environment for vine root activity.
Rootstocks are 101-14, a low vigour variety.
Reviews
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Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate
Score: 91 Points
Review by: Lisa Perotti Brown
, The Wine Advocate
The 2007 Sangiovese is a marvelous first effort and one of the better Sangioveses from Australia that I’ve tried. Deep garnet purple in color, it reveals black cherry, red plum and underbrush notes with nuances of Mediterranean herbs and stewed tea. Crisp with medium-firm fine tannins and good concentration managed with a medium body, the finish is long. Drinking well now, this wine should give pleasure through 2017+. Just 200 cases made.
Greenstone Vineyard is a new operation conceived of several wine masterminds: Mark Walpole, an Australian viticulturalist, David Gleave, an MW and importer / distributor in the UK and Alberto Antonini, an Italian winemaker. Wanting to do everything their way, ten hectares of Shiraz vines were planted in 2003 and one hectare of Shiraz in 2005 at high density (4500 vines per hectare) and at an east-west orientation, which they say offers some protection from the sun and results in “livelier” fruit. These early results are indeed promising.
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2007 Greenstone Vineyard Shiraz 93 points
Score: 93 Points
Review by: Lisa Perotti Brown
, The Wine Advocate
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Greenstone Vineyard Shiraz 2007
Score: 93/100
Review by: Anthony Rose
, The Wine Gang
Perhaps because this is an Italian-accented project (wine consultant Alberto Antonini is winemaker and part-owner), or maybe it's just because of the novelty factor, but this winery's Sangiovese has earned it the most attention so far. The Shiraz is just as good, however. There's a certain wildness in the savoury, dark fruit-inflected palate, with really fine-textured tannins, bright acidity, and a rich, satisfying finish.
93/100 − £16.99 at Liberty Wines
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Greenstone Vineyard Heathcote Shiraz 2007
Review by: Jamie Goode
, wineanorak.com
From a vineyard planted in 2003, this is a really dense, savoury, backward expression of Shiraz, and I really like it.