All six blends of Cabernet Merlot (with an occasional touch of Shiraz and Petit Verdot) hail predominantly from the heart of Coonawarra’s cigar-shaped strip of rich Terra Rossa soils. After vinification, the wine is matured in new French oak barriques for 20 to 22 months. The Petaluma blends are all elegant and impressive red wines to decant and savour and they sit comfortably alongside the best Coonawarra wines. Revered for its ability to age, this Cabernet blend has been bestowed the Excellent Classification alongside a wealth of positive reviews.
In this 6-pack, you receive one bottle each of the following: Petaluma Coonawarra, Coonawarra 2010 Petalum Evans Vineyard, Coonawarra 2012 Petalum Evans Vineyard, Coonawarra 2013 Petalum Evans Vineyard, Coonawarra 2014 Petalum Evans Vineyard, Coonawarra 2015 Petalum Evans Vineyard, Coonawarra 2016
An 81/15/4% blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and shiraz. The colour is youthful and vibrant, the bouquet is fragrant, the medium to full-bodied palate with first class structure to its beguiling mix of red and black fruits, cedary oak, and fine tannins all carrying through to the finish.
96 points, Wine Companion (September 2013)
Deepish red colour with a good youthful purple tinge; the bouquet full of cassis cabernet aromas, rose petals and violets; fresh, clean and relatively fruit-driven. Red fruits but no greenness. The wine is medium to full-bodied and elegantly proportioned, smooth and fine-grained, with lovely tannins and impeccable balance. An elegant style of Coonawarra. (81% cabernet sauvignon, 15% merlot, 4% shiraz)
94 points, The Real Review (February 2015)
76% cabernet, 20% merlot, 4% shiraz, matured in Dargaud and Jaegle French oak, as it has been since day one. A finely detailed portrait of Coonawarra cabernet framed by the contribution of the merlot and (a little) shiraz. It is only medium-bodied, but its precision and length are utterly convincing, helped no doubt by the great vintage.
96 points, Wine Companion (September 2015)
It’s got a good, old school feel to it. Plenty of smoky, cedary, tobacco oak scents, but enough plum and dark berry/cassis going on to ably match. Whiffs of salt bush and mint too. Palate is thick set, dense, dark fruited, spicy, lavished with more smoky, graphite oak character and finishes with some tangy acidity and a smudge of mocha-powder (bitter) tannins. The feel is good all up, the finish a touch of a let down in its concocted feel, but the wine should settle nicely over coming years, and age for a couple of decades well. Bold, big, balanced (mostly). Solid release.
93+ points, The Wine Front (December 2016)
Sappy, herbal, mint and tea-leaf, classic Coonawarra aromas. Concentration with elegance. Stacks of soft, fine-grained tannins. Great structure and length. A top vintage for this wine. (76% cabernet sauvignon, 20% merlot, 4% shiraz.
95 points, The Real Review (November 2016)
A typical varietal mix for this wine with this release: 57% cabernet sauvignon, 40% merlot, 3% shiraz. 18 months in 90% new French oak. Fragrant mulberry aromas and mint are dominant on the bouquet, the toasty oak a quiet contributor. Smoothly textured and long on the palate, the fruit builds in depth as it goes along, with the finish built more on acid than tannin.
93 points, Wine Companion (March 2018)
85/15% cabernet sauvignon/merlot, cold soaked then fermented on skins for 2 weeks, matured in new French oak for 20 months. The new oak impacts on both the flavour and texture. Needs time to integrate, as it surely will over the next 5+ years. Great potential.
95 points, Wine Companion (September 2020)
The fruit is still primary but it feels mellow. Or it does until the strike of tannin, which firms the profile and affirms and quality. This wine offers sheer blackcurrant fruit flavour, mint, chocolate, saltbush and cedarwood flavours, all rolled seamlessly into one. It feels complete. It feels as though it will mature gracefully and well.
94 points, The Wine Front (October 2020)
Lots of purple remaining in this deep crimson colour, the bouquet shows toasty-oak laced dark berries, with a layer of very dark chocolate. It's very full-bodied and firm, rich and dense with masses of tannins providing formidable structure. A powerhouse of a cabernet. Long-term. (85% cabernet sauvignon, 15% merlot. Matured for 20 months in new French oak barrels)
96 points, The Real Review (March 2021)
63.4/32.6/4% cabernet sauvignon/merlot/shiraz. Full of oak – 90% new, aged 18 months. It is very ripe with lots of tannin and a plushness throughout. No doubt this has been built to age, but tough going now, even with a few years under its belt.
92 points, Wine Companion (January 2021)
Coonawarra
The first vines were planted in Coonawarra by John Riddoch in 1890, however it was not until the renewed interest in table wine production in the 1950's that Coonawarra was brought into the limelight. Located almost 380 km southeast of Adelaide, Coonawarra is today one of the most famous red wine regions in Australia. Its weathered limestone terra rossa soils, avaibility of water and relatively cool maritime climate make it a unique viticultural region. Extremely flat and unprotected, Coonawarra is exposed both to the swinging influences of the cool Great Southern Ocean and hot, dry northerly winds. Spring frosts also pose a major threat with the potential to wipe out entire crops. Mechanical harvesting is widely employed in the region although smaller producers prefer to tend their vines by hand. Coonawarra is best known for classically-styled Cabernet Sauvignon, although in good years, Shiraz from the region is also very compelling.
