Barossa Valley, South Australia.
60% American and 40% French oak in 2021. 15% of it was new.
The nose is floral with apricot blossoms and a nutty, stone-fruit kernel note. The layers go from red plum into darker fruit, black cherry liqueur and gravel. The entry is silky, immediately full-bodied and deeply concentrated. Black cherries, blackcurrants, plum, dark chocolate and molasses mingle with northern Rhône notions of graphite, spice and black olive. The intensity and round tannins give an impression of openness but the wine is tightly coiled. It finishes extremely long, with echoes of Saint-Joseph alongside soaring Barossa fruit.
“Named after an old orchard that was removed and planted out to shiraz in 1995, the Apricot block, for my schnoz at least, quite often presents as one of the broodier offerings in the Greenock Creek quiver. Characters of blackberry and cherry, prune, brandied fruits and macerated plums cut with spice, dried citrus rind and earth with a fine, chocolatey tannin bite and a crème de cassis-like intensity to the fruit on the finish.”
95 points, Dave Brooks, Halliday Wine Companion.