Langton’s Selections ^3Greenock Creek Roennfeldt Road Shiraz, ^3Greenock Creek Roennfeldt Road Cabernet Sauvignon, Greenock Creek Creek Block Shiraz, Greenock Creek Seven Acre Shiraz, Greenock Creek Apricot Block Shiraz, Greenock Creek Alice’s Shiraz, Greenock Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Tucked away behind Seppeltsfield, on the western edge of the Barossa, is the Liliputian Greenock Creek established by Michael and Annabelle Waugh in 1975. The scattered vineyards lie in a pocket undulation cut by a dry creek bed on varying soils ranging from red loamy soils to alluvial, bordering on, clay soils. The original homestead was built in the 1850s with a small underground cellar – presumably to make wine – although it was never used. There are 45 acres of vines, all dry grown and cropped at an impossibly low 1.5 to 2 tonnes per acre. A newish winery, beautifully situated on the Roennfeldt Road illustrates the leaps and bounds Greenock Creek has made in recent years. The wines are vinified in open sunk slate fermenters and regularly plunged over. The free run wine and pressings are kept entirely separate to increase blending options. The wines are drained and pressed in Hypac basket presses into a combination of new and used oak, depending on the vineyard parcel. The Roennfeldt Road Cabernet Sauvignon and Roennfeldt Road Shiraz are both matured for 36 months in new French oak and come off vines planted during the early 1950s. Production is limited to just a few barrels. The wines are very opulent and impressively balanced. The Creek Block Shiraz is matured for between 26 and 27 months in a combination of 10% new and old French oak. The Waughs have a fairly laissez-faire attitude to maturation leaving the barrels bunged at 1 o’clock and no topping up. Michael Waugh is totally self-trained and hasn’t much time for techno-crap. In a former life, he was a builder and stonemason. Indeed, he rebuilt the beautiful Rockford Winery and extended the Henschke Cellars. His winemaker friends drop by to give a bit of technical advice. The whole Greenock Creek experience is one of great charm. Here is an example where intuitive and creative winemaking, together with a smattering of technical inexperience and confident enthusiasm, has combined to bring something unique to the Barossa. Since rising to fame, largely on the back of Robert Parker Jr. Reviews, Greenock Creek has established a strong reputation on the secondary wine market. The wines have traded regularly and consistently despite the constant attempts by vendors to speculate. Michael Waugh’s overall disinterest in media sycophancy, however, seems to generate more than a fair share of over the top superlatives. In fairness the wines are genuinely interesting and evocative of the heat and shimmer of the Barossa landscape. Greenock Creek’s portfolio comprises five Shirazes, two Cabernet Sauvignons and a Grenache. The latter known as Cornerstone Grenache is highly perfumed with a lovely richness and minerality. However beware the alcohols which can be at port-level 17-18 degrees. Andrew Caillard MW, Langton's