Region  : Leeton Australia

Alcohol : 14.0%, 750ml

Variety : Petit Verdot

Sold in : Australia

Notes  :One of the coolest years in the history of our winery. Great varietal flavour and wonderful balance.

Deep, black cherry colour; intense ripe berry fruit with violets; full, finishing rounded and soft. A SPICY ARISTOCRAT Petit Verdot is one of the officially endorsed red grape varieties in the great French winemaking district of Bordeaux.

There, in the most highly regarded sub-district of the Médoc, it shares precious vineyard space with cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and malbec, and is reputed to have a significant influence on wine structure and flavour in great vintages. Renowned British wine critic Jancis Robinson is loud in her praise of petit verdot: "Its very dark, thick-skinned grapes produce wine as deep as syrah [shiraz] and, like syrah, peppery, spicy and fragrant. Indeed, petit verdot is not unlike a seasoning for the usual Médoc encépagement, adding extra flavour and interest as well as alcohol, tannin and colour." But petit verdot is a late-ripening variety and in the cool climate of Bordeaux it often fails to ripen sufficiently to be included in the blend. In fact, its name literally translates as "the little green one".

In the warmth of the Riverina we have no problems ripening petit verdot every year and have found it to produce some of our very best dry reds — spicy and fragrant, just as suggested by Jancis Robinson, and with potential to mature gracefully for up to a decade.

 


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