I worked for a competitor of Green Point's until just recently and I think I tried most of the competition except Green Point. I have to admit... I was a hater! Every time I saw this label on the shelf I muttered curses under my breath and I heard that it "wasn't very good". It's a Domaine Chandon property after all... one of the big guys -- and those big guys don't know how to make hand crafted, delicate, elegant, terroir specific wines - or do they? Now, I feel like this blog is becoming about proving my prejudices about certain wines and spirits wrong - and I promise you - there will be scathing reviews on tipples that don't add up - but i have to say... I WAS WRONG AGAIN!
The Green Point 2005 Shiraz from Victoria (no sub region was specified although their winery is located in the bucolic Yarra Valley - outside of Melbourne) was one of 5 Shirazes from Australia that we blind tasted today at Frankly Wines http://www.franklywines.com/ with the tasting group. Cape Mentelle (another Chandon property - in Margaret River) and Cimicky Trumps from Barossa. Cape Mentelle's 2005 Shiraz was also very good, but Green Point was my favorite and I know why.
I am drawn towards the cooler climate regions in Australia (Victoria and Margaret River) then tend to have higher acidity levels - making them excellent food wines, and more subtly and elegance than a lot of the big slobbery jam/stewwy monsters from the warmer climate areas (Barossa, Southeastern Australia). I am generalizing here of course, but IN GENERAL wines from the Yarra Valley tend to be more elegant and their acidity level is higher and they are not quite as jammy as their warmer counterparts - its for this reason Yarra Valley can produce some first class Pinot Noirs and some amazing sparkling wine (Domaine Chandon figured this out after all!)
Also - as is the case with many Shirazes (shirazai?) out there, a lot of them have small quantities of Viognier blended in or co-fermented. Green Point was no exception although the amount is less than 4%. The nose is a dead give-away, that delicate violet quality with a hint of peach or orange blossom - paired with the blackberry spice... it's like a cobbler in a glass! A very elegant cobbler that is!
here are my observations:
color: ruby
nose: floral, roasted plums, spice, blackberry, peach pit
palate: more blackberry spice, delicate raspberry and mulberry - long finish
Now their website suggests that we pair this with lamb shanks ( I know Passover is coming up) or beef casserole - so grease up your Pyrex if you want to serve this wine with dinner!http://www.greenpointwines.com/stillwines.asp?stillWinesID=6
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