- Brett Grocke
Wine Reviews
2016
2014 L.R.C. GREENOCK SHIRAZ
From a single boundary row, wild open ferment, includes 1% Riesling and .5% Mataro, 21 dozen made. Beautifully poised, it completes the stunning releases from Eperosa. Cork. 13.7% alc To 2045 $50
Rating 95
[James Halliday - 2017 Wine Companion]
2016
2014 ELEVATION - EDEN VALLEY
Exceptionally well made. From three vineyards, the oldest dating back to 1858. Fragrant and purely fruited, its vibrancy and energy are the key to the captivating aromas. The palate is equally impressive; fine-grained, savoury tannins drive through the layers and layers of fruit, finishing poised and precise. Cork. 14.6% alc. To 2045 $45
Rating 97
[James Halliday - 2017 Wine Companion]
2016
2014 ELEVATION - BAROSSA VALLEY
An impressively fragrant bouquet redolent with red and dark fruits, its vibrancy and purity captivating. The palate is equally impressive, vibrant and rich in flavour, the thread of fine-grained, savoury tannins driving the length and finish. Cork. 14.6% alc. To 2040 $45
Rating 96
[James Halliday - 2017 Wine Companion]
2016
2014 SYNTHESIS - James Halliday
A four-vineyard 50/35/15% blend. It is complex, fragrant and finely poised. The balance and vibrancy in this wine are a testament to the care in the vineyards coupled with sensitive winemaking. Cork. 14.7% alc. To 2029 $32
Rating 96
[James Halliday - 2017 Wine Companion]
2016
2014 BLANC - James Halliday
Deeply scented with an array of citrus, lemon curd, spice and less, complexity derived from fermentation in used French hogsheads. An intense and full-flavoured palate with lovely pithy texture and remarkably well balanced acidity; long rich and complex. Cork. 13.4% alc. To 2023 $32
Rating 95
[James Halliday - 2017 Wine Companion]
2016
2014 BLANC
I think this is my first run at a white from Eperosa. It’s old vine Barossa Valley semillon. Feels like skin contact/lees/clever oxidative handling have played a part, maybe.
Lemony tang! Starburst out of the glass of citrus peel, lemon cordial, flint and grassiness. Juicy and fresh to taste, lick of saline acidity, tight then expands, then tight to finish. Has good grip, maybe even a touch skinsy or something? Good anyway. Great even! Mouthwatering and fresh to close but great hustle of personality prior – lemons and chalk and faint nuttiness and saline stuff. Like the character here, a touch wild, but wildly drinkable too.
Rated : 94 Points [Mike Bennie - The Wine Front]
2016
GORGEOUS GRENACHE - 2014 Eperosa Stonegarden Grenache, Eden Valley, SA $80
You can still find lots of big, thick Grenaches in the Barossa, but they're being eclipsed by a new wave of prettier, sprightlier, more elegant expressions of the grape. This one, made from very old vines, is a terrific example of the new style eperosa.com.au
[Max Allen - Australian Gourmet Traveller Magazine]
2016
2014 STONEGARDEN GRENACHE
From a vineyard that dates back to 1858, though I recall that there’s a spread to of vine age to mid 20th century that goes into this wine. Still, pretty impressive. Been a while between Eperosaing. I love new words.
Spicy notes, gravel, peppery sniffs, herbs, anise-stained black berries, plummy stuff. Brooding, deep, dark bouquet. Plush in palate, ripe fruit, rivulets of greener herb character, rich, long, framed with spicy oak. Has a come-hither kind of texture and fog of warm fruit to finish. Presence and power. Big mouthful, lots to enjoy.
Rated : 93 Points [Mike Bennie - The Wine Front]
2016
2014 STONEGARDEN GRENACHE
I wonder whether this comes from close to the famous Steingarten, home of Pernod Ricard's top dry Riesling? Pale to mid ruby. Very broad and sweet on the nose but wonderfully vital on the palate. Great stuff! I wish all Châteauneuf were as nimble. Chock full of extract and character with slightly dusty spice but - somehow - elegant fruit even though it is proclaimed unfined and unfiltered. Fine tannins in evidence too. Bravo!15.4% Drink 2016-2020 Imported into the UK by Indigo Wine 17/20
[Jancis Robinson]
2016
2014 STONEGARDEN GRENACHE
Organically grown on one of Australia's oldest vineyards (planted 1858-68), interplanted with small amounts of Mataro and Shiraz. This is another beautiful wine from Eperosa, the bouquet fine, perfumed and hauntingly fragrant, the palate detailed and precise finishing, with classic chalky old vine Grenache tannins. Cork. 15.4% alc. To 2030 $80
Rating 96
[James Halliday - 2017 Wine Companion]
2015
Brett Grocke is a fifth-generation Barossa grape grower, but a very unusual one.
His day job, as it were, is tending/managing 14 vineyards in the Barossa Valley, and consulting to numerous grape growers and wineries across South Australia. Unusual? It’s the core beliefs and practices that underlie his night-time occupation as owner and sole employee of Eperosa, his micro winemaking business which produces 800 dozen bottles of wine a year.
Four of his five 2013 vintage wines on sale have alcohol levels between 13% and 13.5%. “It’s harder to make shiraz at 13.5% than 15.5%; you have to start with grapes in perfect condition, picked while the berries are still firm, and with good levels of natural acidity.
“Attention to detail is essential from start to finish,” he says. “If I made wines using my head, not my heart, I would buy grapes from 100-year-old vines ripened to the point where the consequent alcohol is 15.5% — and make much more money.”
He also confesses that he dislikes raisins so much he picks them out of his breakfast muesli. Grocke makes his wines in a shed in Tanunda; “handcrafted” is a word beloved of PR blatherers, but in his case everything is done by hand and muscle.
In 2013 he entered a 50/50 partnership with Rockford Wines in a 6.2ha property on Krondorf Road with 4ha of vines and a yet-to-be-built 50-tonne winery. When asked whether it was to be built with room to expand production, his answer was a swift and emphatic no. “I want to spend maximum time in the vineyards [he has a second precious 4.1ha vineyard with vines dating back to 1896] so I can literally tend each individual vine.”
Most Burgundian and Rhône Valley vignerons would give the same answer. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that in 2003 he was selected for the Barossa/Rhône Valley exchange program, a one-month study tour.
Eperosa Elevation Eden Valley Shiraz 2013
From three Eden Valley vineyards, open-fermented, foot-stomped, plunged, wild-fermented, on skins 14 days, new and used French oak 12+ months. 105 dozen made. A wine of rare purity and intensity that slowly but inexorably unrolls its tapestry of black fruits, beads of juice and fine-grained tannins. 13% alc; screwcap. 97 points; drink to 2053; $40
Eperosa LRC Greenock Barossa Valley Shiraz 2013
A single boundary row, open and wild yeast-fermented, in one French oak barrel, includes 1% of riesling and 0.5% of mataro, 33 dozen made. A miniature painting records this single row with a solitary riesling and a random scatter of mataro vines. A living treasure, picked at the perfect moment. 13.3% alc; cork. 96 points; drink to 2053; $45
Eperosa Synthesis Barossa Valley Mataro Grenache Shiraz 2013
47% Barossa Valley mataro, 45% Barossa Valley grenache and 8% Eden Valley shiraz; open-fermented for 14 days, matured in new and used French oak on full lees. Excellent colour; a vividly fragrant bouquet and equally expressive palate, supple, silky, endlessly satisfying. 200 dozen made. 13.2% alc; cork. 96 points; drink to 2033; $30
[The Weekend Australian Magazine May 16-17 2015]
2015
2014 Eperosa Elevation Shiraz Eden Valley
A Syrah Dry Red Table wine from
Australia, Eden Valley, South Australia, Australia
eRobertParker.com #221 Oct 2015
Lisa Perrotti-Brown
93+
Drink: 2015 - 2025
Fermented with whole bunches, the 2014 Elevation Shiraz Eden Valley has an earthy and stemmy / herbal nose with a core of red cherries, red currants, pepper and a touch of meat plus hints of roses and lavender. The very pretty palate is both soft from the grape tannins with a pleasant grippiness from the stems (though without bitterness) and it has nice herbals in the finish to give it lift.
[The Wine Advocate]
2015
2013 Eperosa Stonegarden Grenache
A Grenache Dry Red Table wine from
Australia, Eden Valley, South Australia, Australia
eRobertParker.com #221 Oct 2015
Lisa Perrotti-Brown
95+
Drink: 2015 - 2025
Medium ruby-purple in color the 2013 Stonegarden Grenache has a youthful nose of kirsch, red currants and cranberries with hints of roses, anise, Ceylon tea, bay leaves and earth. Full-bodied with a taut backbone of finely grained tannins and seamless acidity, the palate is concentrated, multi-layered and seductive with fruit that just goes on and on. The wine is simply gorgeous - kudos!
[The Wine Advocate]
2012
2012 STONEGARDEN SHIRAZ
The vineyard was planted by David Randall in 1858, the ancient winery on the property heritage list; managed organically by Grocke Viticulture, the vines planted between 1860 and the '50s. Matured for 18 months in one new and one used French puncheon; 75 dozen made. By far the deepest colour of the Eperosa '12 Shirazs, and the highest alcohol; the wine is full-bodied, and simply reflects its terroir and vine age. There is so much happening here the alcohol is not at all obvious, instead there is a deep well of black fruits, with ripe tannins and oak providing a frame for the fruit.
97 points, Drink to 2042
[James Halliday Wine Companion 2015 Edition]
2012
2012 LRC Greenock Shiraz
Sourced from a single row of vines once marking the boundary row of a vineyard, the rest now covered by houses; indeed, the land is owned by the Light Regional Council, which has recognised the historic value of the 144 shiraz vines, a few rieslings (1%) and one mataro (0.5%). Matured for 14 months in new French oak; 85 dozen made. While the colour is bright, it is the lightest of the Eperosa '12 Shirazs; the fragrant bouquet, with its mix of red and black fruits, and the supple, elegant, medium-bodied palate, make the colour irrelevant; lingering, superfine tannins on the finish add the final touch.
95 Points, Drink by 2032
[James Halliday Wine Companion 2015 Edition]
2012
2012 TOTALITY
A blend of 59% Barossa Valley Mataro, 21% Barossa Valley Grenache and 12% Eden Valley Grenache. Complex, spicy and savoury, but doesn't rise to the heights of the other Eperosa '12s.
90 points, Drink by 2018
[James Halliday Wine Companion 2015 Edition]
2012
2012 ELEVATION EDEN VALLEY
Sourced from the Stone Hut vineyard at an elevation of 365m, matured for 14 months in used French oak; 165 dozen made. Medium red-purple; the texture and structure of the medium-bodied palate are built around a spicy/peppery blend of blackberry and black cherry fruit, fine-grained tannins drawing out the long finish.
95 points, Drink by 2032
[James Halliday Wine Companion 2015 Edition]
2012
2012 SYNTHESIS
A blend of 46-year-old dry-grown Eden Valley Grenache, 12% Barossa Valley Grenache and 43% Barossa Valley mataro; 210 dozen made. Light colour typical of the blend; the bouquet and palate are particularly complex, with aromas of cinnamon and nutmeg spice, bramble and savoury fruits, the palate surging with more power than expected, bringing both red and black fruits into play, tannins and French oak adding further sophistication.
95 Points, Drink by 2022
[James Halliday Wine Companion 2015 Edition]
2010
EPEROSA SYNTHESIS MATARO GRENACHE 2010
Brett Grocke is a viticulturist in the Barossa Valley, but decided to turn his hand to winemaking too... Having tasted the range, you could chalk up Eperosa under the same banner of ‘lighter shade of Barossa’ as alumni Spinifex, Ruggabellus et al. This wine is 65% mataro and 35% grenache from two separate vineyards, one for each variety. 12 months in old oak, no filtering or fining.
Black and red fruits, sweet spice, earth, brambles, dried flowers. Confident aromatic profile. The palate sets itself up in a medium weighted, loose knit frame – pliant tannins shape an expressive wash of spicy red and black berry fruit with again earthy complexity and lift of glassy, citrus-imbued acidity. Finishes with a tang and lick of brine, the wine is super drinkable and meshes the varieties together seamlessly. Dig this – get exploring.
Mike Bennie
Rated : 91 Points Tasted : JUNE12 Alcohol : 14.5% Price : $24 Closure : Cork Drink : 2012 - 2022
[Mike Bennie - The Wine Front]
2010
Posted on 05 August 2012.
670 bottles were made of this wine, it comes from Moppa Springs from something called the ‘Loveday’ vineyard (345 metres above sea level) and sees 18 months in French oak, then has no filtering or fining before bottle.
Heaps of good aromas here. Warm berries, warm cinnamon and clove spice. Almonds. Faint green herbalness too. Fresh and deep. Great to inhale. Morphs to keep you coming back to sniff. In the palate, even, medium bodied, nigh on cool fruit character with refreshing, slatey acidity and gently chewy tannins... geez, I want to keep drinking. Finishes with peppery coolness and a breeze of bright acidity. Delicious! Again, delicious! Flavours linger and the roll around the palate. Great Barossa expression here.
Rated : 92 Points Tasted : AUG12 Alcohol : 13.9% Price : $35 Closure : Cork Drink : 2012 – 2026
[Mike Bennie - The Wine Front]
2010
IT is clear the debate about alcohol levels in wine around the world is going to be with us for decades to come.
One immediate question is how much earlier ripening/higher alcohol is due to warmer seasons in specific regions or to better viticultural practices: organic/biodynamic, canopy management and crop-thinning are ever more widely practised. Healthy vines with moderate crops should ripen their grapes earlier.
In Australia, the debate often focuses on Barossa Valley shiraz: in the 1960s and '70s the weighted average alcohol for shiraz was around 12% to 12.5%; now it is 14.5% to 15%, with some highly regarded wines hitting 15% to 15.5%, and bodybuilders 16% or more. Both here and in the UK, health warnings sound strident notes over and above wine quality issues.
So is it possible to wind back the hands of time and of alcohol, and still produce high-quality, satisfying wines that retain a sense of place?
Among the 30 shirazes tasted the other day were three outstanding 2010 Eperosa shirazes made by viticulturist/winemaker owner Brett Grocke. "Eperosa has evolved from my interest in unique vineyards and great wine," he explains. "My desire is to create wine from a 'soil up' perspective and stay true to the premise that exceptional wine is born from great fruit."
The three wines featured this week fully reflect his philosophy and skill, and I wouldn't second-guess any of his antenatal and postnatal decisions. Accepting them thus, one question remains, as does one observation: the alcohol percentage is but part of a jigsaw puzzle; taken on its own, it tells you nothing. The question is whether the Eden Valley and/or Greenock wines might have been even better if picked a little earlier, to keep the alcohol at or under 14%.
Just as the makers of the best chardonnays are picking earlier (in baume/alcohol terms) than they ever believed possible for quality wine, I fancy we shall see more surprised makers of Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Coonawarra shiraz.
2010 Eperosa Elevation Eden Valley Shiraz Deep purple-crimson; from eight rows of the single "Stonehut" vineyard at an elevation of 365m; made using the full suite of hands-on winemaking techniques (four ferments, 15% whole bunch, open fermented, basket pressed to French oak). Sumptuous but fresh and vibrant black fruits are the lifeblood of a truly lovely wine, its future dependent on the life of the cork, not the wine. 14.6% alc; cork 95 points; drink to 2030; $32
2010 Eperosa Elevation Moppa Springs Shiraz Bright, clear crimson; from a single vineyard (345m) and made in the Eperosa fashion including 18 months on lees in French oak; a supremely elegant, medium-bodied wine with a rare clarity to its red and black fruits, ultra-fine tannins and oak in support. 13.9% alc; cork 95 points; drink to 2025; $32
[James Halliday]
2010
2010 Eperosa L.R.C. Greenock Barossa Valley Shiraz Vivid purple-crimson; LRC stands for the Light Regional Council, owner of the land on which sits the boundary line of a single remaining row of a vineyard long since subdivided for housing, Brett Grocke its custodian. The fullest bodied of the three shirazes, with a panoply of blackberry, plum, mocha and cedary oak; brings elegance and generosity to each and every mouthful. The alcohol simply isn't an issue. 14.7% alc; cork 95 points; drink to 2030; $40
[James Halliday]
2009 Elevation
2009 EPEROSA ELEVATION Shiraz ($30): Quality red revealing traditional Barossa Valley fruit power and elegance. [John Fordham - The Sunday Telegraph]
2009
2009 Totality Mataro/Shiraz - 92pts A 75/25 blend from two vineyards; as with all the Eperosa reds, neither fined nor filtered, and only 65 dozen made; the texture and structure are immaculate, dark berry fruits tempered by ripe, savoury tannins. 27th Jan 2011
[James Halliday - 2012 Australian Wine Companion]
2009
'But increasingly our winemakers, driven by fascination with subtle style variations, offer separate bottlings from individual vineyards, plots within vineyards or, in one lovely Barossa example (Eperosa LRC Shiraz), from a single row of vines.' [Chris Shanahan - Thoughts on Wine]
2009
2009 Synthesis 90pts
The wine is a 60%/35%/5% blend, the colour good, the bouquet aromatic and fragrant, with spice, small red fruits and a touch of Turkish delight, the light- to medium-bodied palate long and balanced. It will sail through the next 5 years.
[James Halliday - 2012 Australian Wine Companion]
2009
2009 Elevation - Eden Valley Shiraz - 95pts Deep purple-red; totally seductive, with great balance and mouthfeel to its medium-bodied palate; from the Mibus Stonehut Vineyard at an altitude of 365 m, the relatively cool climate making the 100% used French oak (18 months) the perfect match; very sensitive winemaking; 130 dozen made. 27th Jan 2011
[James Halliday - 2012 Australian Wine Companion]
2009
2009 LRC - Greenock Shiraz - 95pts This wine comes from a single row of vines saved from housing because it is owned by the local council. Although it only produced a little over 30 dozen bottles, it was picked in three parts because of the soil variation; strangely, more spicy/savoury than the Elevation, despite its higher alcohol. 27th Jan 2011
[James Halliday - 2012 Australian Wine Companion]
2009
Eperosa LRC 2009 $35 Light Regional Council Greenock Vineyard, Barossa Valley, South Australia Some time back Barossa viticulturist Brett Grocke turned to winemaking, determined to capture distinctive characters from “favourite sites throughout the Barossa and Eden Valleys”, he writes. In LRC we taste a unique, generous, elegant, spicy and savoury shiraz that could, at first sip, pass as a Canberra wine. Indeed, one of our blind tasters placed it there. The production of 400 bottles comes from a single row of vines (“144 shiraz, a few riesling, one mataro and a lone unidentified stranger”), a remnant of a larger vineyard, saved from a housing sub-division only by being on land owned by the Light Regional Council.
[Chris Shanahan - Thoughts on Wine]
2009
Eperosa Elevation Shiraz 2009 $30 Bruce and Ros Mibus “Stonehut” vineyard, Eden Valley, South Australia Brett Grocke sources “Elevation” from just eight rows of the Stonehut vineyard, “on the hillside which contained the most balanced vines”, he writes. Like LRC reviewed alongside, he matures it in aged French oak casks, giving the wine the mellowing micro-oxidative effects of oak without inserting strong woody flavours. Presumably the elevated site’s cooler than the LRC site. But the wine appears riper and fuller, driven by delicious ripe-berry varietal characters, supported by soft, fine persistent tannins. Only 1,600 bottles produced. [Chris Shanahan - Thoughts on Wine]
2007
2007 Totality (Mataro 95%/Shiraz 5%)
Mainly Barossa Mataro with plum pud,spice and floral notes. Plush yet savoury. 92/100
May 29, 2010
[Ken Gargett]
2007
Elevation 2007 Dense purple-red; an exceptionally rich and generous Shiraz for '07, with layers of black fruits of all kinds; the tannin structure is exemplary, oak handling likewise. The name comes from the vineyard situated 300m above sea level. High quality cork. 14.5% alc. Rating 94 To 2022 $38 [James Halliday - 2011 Australian Wine Companion]
2007
2007 Eperosa Totality, Mataro/Shiraz. Barossa Valley 14.5% Alc, $35
A wine of character and depth, not perfectly pristine but full of interest. Dried herbs, spices, plus jam and fruitcake accents, dried fruits, raisin toast. It's all good. Excellent layered depths on palate with some mystery and extra persistence. (25th May 2010) 92/100
[Huon Hooke - Sydney Morning Herald - Good Living -]
2007
Totality 2007 An interesting wine that certainly reflects its Mataro (Mourvedre) component, 95% of the total....The tannins, which can be the Achilles heel of Mourvedre, are good. Cork. 14.5% alc Rating 90 points 2017 $35 Tasted Feb 10 [James Halliday - 2011 Australian Wine Companion]
2006
Eperosa's 2006 Elevation is a blend of Shiraz (60%) and Cabernet Sauvignon. There's a finesse to this wine that is most attractive - and surprising given its high alcohol. Never judge a book by its cover I guess. It tastes of tar, malt, spice, blackberry and musk, and while there's some creamy oak here it;s so light that it's easy to miss it. A very well put together wine. Fine tanni. Appropriate level of flavour. Some heat through the finish, but not to any worrying degree. (Nov 11, 2009) Rated 91+ Points
[Campbell Mattinson - Winefront]
2006
2006 Eperosa Synthesis ($31). Barossa Valley blend of Grenache, Shiraz and Mataro delivers a palate pleasing result. Super smooth and elegant, It's all class from start to finish. Aug 16th, 2009
[John Fordham - The Sunday Telegraph]
2005
Eperosa owner Brett Grocke qualified as a Viticulturist in 2001, and, through Grocke Viticulture, consults and provides technical services to over 200Ha of vineyards spread across the Barossa Valley, Eden Valley, Adelaide Hills, Riverland, Langhorne Creek and Hindmarsh Valley. He is ideally placed to secure small parcels of grapes of the highest quality, and treats these with no frills winemaking methods: destemmed, macerated prior to fermentation, open fermentation, hand plunging, basket pressed, then 18 months in used French oak barrels. The wines are of impeccable quality.
2005 Totality 94 points
2005 Synthesis 93 points
2005 Elevation 91 points
[James Halliday - 2010 Australian Wine Companion]
2005
Eperosa is one of a number of tiny producers presenting tasty snapshots of every little corner of the Barossa Valley. The move is being driven by viticulturists and winemakers familiar with this very complex and old grape-growing landscape - and not happy seeing wonderful fruit sent off to anonymous blends. Eperosa belongs to viticulturist Brett Grocke. He makes his reds in batches of just 100-200cases. 'Elevation' is a soft, elegant Shiraz, with liquorice like flavours, from vines grown above 300 metres. 'Totality is a beautifully fragrant, spicy, savoury blend of Mourvedre (aka Mataro) and Shiraz. And 'Synthesis', combining Grenache, Mouvedre and Shiraz, is led by Grenache fragrance and fruitiness.
[Chris Shanahan - Thoughts on Wine]
2005
2005 Eperosa Elevation Shiraz ($35). Barossa Valley newcomer featuring outstanding fruit selection and winemaking panache. It's rousing deep spicy flavours will be enhanced with patient cellaring. Sept 2008
[John Fordham - The Sunday Telegraph]
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