Petit Verdot Ironstone
2013
Pirramimma was founded by Alexander Campbell Johnston in 1892 and has been owned and operated by the Johnston family ever since. The Johnston family arrived in South Australia in 1839 and in 1892 Alexander, the tenth of thirteen children, purchased 97 hectares of rich farmland southeast of the then fledgling village of McLaren Vale. He named his land Pirramimma, an Aboriginal phrase meaning "the moon and the stars." The vineyard soils vary from sandy, on the rise, to rich dark loam on the flat....
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Over 124 years ago travelling from Oakbank in the Adelaide Hills, aboard Rounsevell’s stagecoach, Alexander Campbell Johnston arrived in McLaren Vale. He purchased a parcel of land from the Stock’s family which was adjacent to the township of McLaren Vale, it was predominately farming land with 8 acres planted to Grenache and Zante currants at the highest point of the estate. This is where Alexander planted his first vines due to the topography hillside location, sandy red loam, over shallow conglomerate ironstone and piped hollow ironstone, with exceptional drainage.
Fruit from four distinct soil types and locations was hand selected for this premium Petit Verdot. Fifty percent of the juice was barrel fermented in new French oak, with the other 50% matured in 3 and 4 year old French barriques. Oak maturation was 28 months.
This powerful intense wine displays a bouquet of violets, olives, blue damson and spicy cedary oak, with hints of lavender and rosemary. The palate delivers blueberry, star of anise, Kalamata olive, black cherry and bramble, all enveloped by firm controlled tannins and lemony oak. This big brooding wine will require serious aerating to consume with food in its youth or will reward long term cellaring under the right conditions.
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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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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