Greenock Creek's first white in decades points to the Barossa winery's evolution

Greenock Creek has produced its first white in decades. Grown on the organically farmed Tscharke vineyard in Marananga, fermented in stainless steel on skins and matured on full lees in both stainless steel and clay amphora, the 2024 Grenache Blanc is a great wine. It’s also, deliberately or not, emblematic of the Barossa Valley winery’s evolution.

Founded in 1984 by brickie-turned-winemaker Michael Waugh and his wife Annabelle, Greenock Creek shot to stardom after a string of 100-point scores from highly influential US critic Robert Parker in the ’90s and early ’00s. Outside of the handful of chardonnays that featured among its earliest releases, it is predominantly a producer of red wines, and has a particular reputation for rich, robust and ageworthy styles of shiraz. 

Greenock Creek winemaker Alex Peel.

While the introduction of a single white isn’t enough to tip those scales, it’s not the only evidence of a change in direction. Ever since he was appointed winemaker by Greenock Creek’s new owners, a group led by Sydney-based entrepreneur Jimmy Chen, who bought the business after the Waughs retired in 2018, Alex Peel has worked to refine and modernise the wines while staying true to the essence of the brand.

When we visited the winery in mid-June, Alex took me, Katrina Butler (Halliday’s head of tasting and general manager) and regional taster Dave Brookes through Greenock Creek’s entire portfolio, including current and upcoming releases, as well as wines still in barrel and some select back vintages.  

Greenock Creek is historically a producer of red wines, with a particular reputation for big, bold shiraz.

Part of Alex’s strategy is to focus more on the lighter end of the range. As well as the Grenache Blanc – of which the ’25 iteration is richer, with more fruit definition and phenolic grip than its ’24 counterpart – this includes the entry-level Moppa Grenache, the more structured Cornerstone Grenache, the ultra-premium, cellar-door-only Roennfeldt Road Grenache, and the delightfully bright and meaty Mataro. 

Even among the weightier wines, from the Cabernet Sauvignon through the seven-odd shiraz wines, including the Roennfeldt Road and Creek Block flagships, there is elegance and grace in spades. With the wines still made to tradition, in basket presses and open-top concrete fermenters, these refinements are the result of better management of both the Seppeltsfield and Marananga vineyards, earlier picking, and oak selection (Alex was particularly excited by a Staggemeyer barrel made from white American oak), opting for vessels that are tighter grained and only lightly toasted. 

Improvements in the vineyard contribute to the change in wine style.

Yet, while these changes and improvements are clear, especially in the structured ’25s and fragrant ’26s, they are subtle – the wines are still firmly Greenock Creek. They just feel more relevant. Fruit purity has been dialled up, and alcohol dialled down, largely sitting at a much more approachable and civilised 14.5 per cent, rather than the 16.5 per cent of yore. They’re still built to age, and with much more balance in the wines, will likely age even better. 

Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing how the white portfolio evolves – especially with Alex currently considering what variety to plant on a vacant block on the Seppeltsfield vineyard. We’ll have to watch this space.

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