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Fast Facts: Country: Australia Region: Adelaide Hills, South Australia Winemaker: Brian Croser Variety: 70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay Closure: Cork RRP: $40 AU |
A little bit about the winery: Brian Croser is one of Australia’s great winemakers. He has been a driving force behind innovation in style and technique in the Australian winemaking industry since he first opened Petaluma in 1976.
Petaluma is now owned by New Zealand brewer Lion Nathan, but Brian Croser remains at the winemaking helm and the dedication to quality that he is renowned for, seems to have suffered no ill effects from the takeover.
Petaluma make what I consider to be Australia’s best Merlot as well as consistently good Chardonnay, Riesling, a Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot blend called “Coonawarra” and a new addition to their lineup, a Viognier.
Website: http://www.petaluma.com.au
Email: petaluma@petaluma.com.au
Tasting Note: I had not had the chance to try Petaluma’s sparkling white wine previously, and so was looking forward to this opportunity.
A light straw in colour, I found apple and pear aromas on the bouquet with a slight hint of strawberry characteristics. There was a more pronounced strawberry element on the palate with an elegant, balanced yeast flavour. A lovely, lingering finish.
Food: I had this with Salt and Pepper Calamari, which was the perfect foil for this aperitif styled sparkling wine.
Drinking Window: This wine seems to be drinking well now, and I don’t think it would benefit greatly from any extended amount of cellaring.
Score: A bit of a surprise to me, since I normally favour Tasmanian sparkling wine (and French Champagne when my bank balance can handle it), however this wine had the complete package. Considering Petaluma’s reputation, I should have expected to be rating this highly. 92 with a value rating of Good.
I may be jinxing myself, but I’ve had some pretty good luck with quality of wines tasting since starting this blog, I hope my good fortunes continue.
See “How to interpret my scores” for an explanation of how the above scores were reached.