Petit Verdot Ironstone
2018
Pirramimma a été fondée en 1892 par Alexander Campbell Johnston et la famille en est demeurée propriétaire depuis ce jour, en plus d'en avoir assuré l'exploitation. La famille Johnston s’est établie en Australie-Méridionale en 1839 et en 1892, Alexander, le dixième des treize enfants, a fait l’acquisition de 97 hectares de riches terres agricoles situées au sud-est du village de McLaren Vale, qui commençait alors tout juste à se développer. Il a baptisé sa terre « Pirramimma...
Hulking red with dry tannin ricocheting to all corners of the mouth, (thankfully) backed by a substantial volume of both curranty fruit and toasty/coffeed oak. The epitome of the 'cellaring style'. It needs to be left alone for some years.
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Long an advocate of this grape variety, largely a workhorse and back-blending agent, Pirramimma does a very good job. While inherently devoid of charm, petit verdot boasts a fine bone of gritty tannin. Almost Italianate and laced with licorice and tapenade, it corrals dark-fruit accents into a successful, savoury and nourishing whole. Structural mettle, its opus.
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This is an absolute giant of a red wine from the Fleurieu District in McLaren Vale. It's entirely petit verdot, a variety that used to ripen in Bordeaux once a decade, but that obviously has no issues with achieving ripeness in McLaren Vale, especially at Pirramimma where they have a great feeling for this variety. The wine spends 24 months in a mix of French and American oak that seems to have little effect on the boisterous, spicy, blackberry, boysenberry and black olive flavours that swarm your palate. As big as it is, the tannins are dense and rich with polished edges.
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A complex meld of French oak across age, provenance and size, placating searing vinous power. This is in the throes of ageing well. Aside from tangy acidity across the back end: sage and underbrush, mingling with anise, clove and an arsenal of saturated dark fruits.
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