Greenock Creek Alice's Shiraz 2005 - Decanted for half an hour. Everything about this wine was big yet somehow in proportion. Intense aromas of blackberry with a touch of oak leaped from the decanter, literally filling up the kitchen where it was sitting. The wine was plush and silky, but it was the absolute purity of the fruit, the blackberry and plum pie filling with the hint of pepper that made this wine so special. What took this wine to the next level for me however was it's complexity and the integration of the tannins that the Alice's clearly exhibited, not simply relying on it's mouthcoating richness. The fruit was layered and multi-faceted, and the finish was longer than an All-Star game national anthem, displaying none of the hotness that I feared a wine with 17.5% alc would surely give.

This was the first RP Auzzie "blockbuster" that I have "got", the dissapointing 2006 COL a few nights later only served to highlight that fact. Will never be mistaken for a Rhone, but for what it is 96pts.

Fantastic wine yet again, plush massive fruit is balanced with firm tannins, long finish that goes for a minute. How is this a 17.5% wine? 95 points.