WTN: Crikey! aka Tales of the Unexpected

Me? Praising an Aussie red? With my reputation?

Tonight I made some lamb, so I was going to open up a Musar 1999 to go with that. Unfortunately I noticed that all my '99s had mysteriously evaporated... But, no worries, for I had a scary bottle waiting to be opened.

Petaluma Coonawarra 2002 51% Cab Sauv & 49% Merlot; 14% abv sticker stamped over the original 13,5% abv; 39,70€ (ouch!) from the special selection

Dark red (not purple, gladly). The nose is typical of the grapes. It has a very refreshing savoury quality, mint and Cassis from the CabS but underneath that loveliness I find a touch over-ripe (for my funny tastes only, I presume) dark toned Merlot-fruit. The mix of the grapes works very well (though I would hope that the Merlot wasn't quite so sweet and ripe).

The palate is rather big and too extracted, but it does have juicy fruit, delicious acidity and soft but noticable tannins. Thanks to the acidity and the Cabernet's (thankfully) not-overripeness, it is very moreish. The aftertaste is delightfully fresh and long.

Whereas too many Aussies imported over here are too much work to drink, this one begs me to take another sip. Despite it being in a more savoury style it isn't like Bordeaux - and IMO it shouldn't be, since it isn't Bordeaux. Despite my slight reservation on what I sense to be too ripe Merlot, I can't help but say that I wish more Aussie wines were like this. Nice stuff! Not entirely to my taste, but it certainly is in the right direction.

2002 is supposedly the coolest of recent years in Coonawarra. Is this the reason I find this wine so appealing? Or is this savoury style the house style? Whichever it is, bravo!

-Otto-

[Robin Garr]

Coonawarra.

Otto, in my somewhat limited experience, Coonawarra wines, like those from Western Australia, tend to be more, um, balanced than the hefty bruisers from Barossa and McLaren Vale that have become the poster children for Australian blockbusters.

I've had some fine reds from Penley in Coonawarra that, to my tastes, pretty much match your description of the Petaluma.

Otto,

I reckon you would "really" like the 2004 Wynn's Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. It has been prostituted by, brand owner, Foster's to about 12 euros (half of what it would normally cost) over here in recent times. Is it available in Finland? If so, how much do they want for it?

Robin, I understand that Coonawarra is a cooler region, so that might be one of the reasons I liked this wine. I just wish we would get more Aussies here so I could get some sense of the terroirs of the huge country.

David, Not available here, sorry. John Riddoch (also Wynn's I beleive) 1996 Cab S is available at my favourite restaurant Carelia for 88€. Is that a decent price for a restaurant? Carelia's prices tend to be very fair for the mid- and high-end stuff...

-O-