For a relatively minor grape variety, petit verdot sure makes a difference. It’s minor in that it’s been all but eliminated from its region of origin, Bordeaux, and also because it typically constitutes less than five percent of any cabernet blend in which it is found. A great deal more than that and it tends to bully other varieties into submission. The very reasons that make petit verdot less suitable in Bordeaux actually make it a winner in Australian vineyards. It ripens very, very late so it runs into trouble in cooler Bordeaux seasons, finding it tough to reach full maturity. Making matters worse, it doesn’t enjoy the frosts that some vineyards receive in early autumn. In Australia, however, it relishes long, late Indian summers, of which we have experienced quite a share in recent years. It’s also predominantly planted in our warm to hot regions like McLaren Vale and the Riverlands (both in South Australia), where autumn can seemingly last forever. Its grapes are thick-skinned, so petit verdot produces reds whose colours begin deep, dark and ruby-like. It’s deeply perfumed, with distinctive spicy, almost peppery aromas of violets, sweet leather and dark chocolate. It’s often smoky and spicy on the palate, delivering almost a searingly concentrated expression of blackberries, dark plums and minerals. While it’s also rather alcoholic, the best examples easily carry the fruit and richness to carry even up to 15%. Its intense, dark flavours roll seamlessly over its firm, grippy tannins. These qualities make it a wonderful blending component in Bordeaux and with other cabernet blends. In Australia it’s become instrumental in the wonderfully elegant and deeply flavoured Lake’s Folly red blend from the Hunter Valley, while it’s also an essential element in perhaps Australia’s finest cabernet blend of all, Mount Mary’s Quintet. Oddly, though, petit verdot is succeeding more visibly as a straight varietal red wine in this country. I once tasted a sample bottle of straight Mount Mary Petit Verdot and still recall being blown away by the experience. As I write these words I’m also enjoying two delicious examples from McLaren Vale in Pirramimma’s 2000 vintage and Wayne Thomas’ 2003. Ready to enjoy right now, the Pirramimma is deeply flavoured, chocolatey and slightly pruney, coated with firm tannins and supported by some very assertive mocha/vanilla oak. Significantly younger, the Wayne Thomas wine is steeped in black fruits, pepper and plain Swiss chocolate; a simply delicious and up-front red that flaunts some very classy new French oak. Both these wines cost less than $30 and pose a persuasive case to plant much more petit verdot in Australia. A delicious and cheaper alternative is Trentham Estate’s pristine and silky 2002 vintage.
