Patrick of Coonawarra Methode Cabernet Eucalypt 2021 ~ Coonawarra ~ South Australia

93/100 Mike Bennie
91/100 Q Wine
Bronze - Erin Larkin
Bronze - Huon Hooke

Mike Bennie "It’s such a compelling wine, you hound the glass, yes, eucalyptus is distinct, almost resinous to taste, but cabernet fruit and tannin are up to task and it feels like serious seasoning rather than gimmick. Peppermint, plum, tense sheath of tannin, pepper, dark chocolate jostle with that gum leaf seasoning. Texture is superb, length is too. Not a curio, a fantastic expression."

Erin Larkin "...This is certainly leafy, minty cabernet, and the power of suggestion is strong – I am literally searching for eucalypt. It is inchoate, berry laden and nice, ............ Packaged in a cool squat bottle, sealed under diam and colourful wax. Grapes planted within 50m of a row of gum trees were harvested, pressed with stems and wild fermented. Basket pressed and transferred to old oak puncheons. The theory was to test the hypothesis that vineyards amongst gumtrees uptake the aroma and character of their environment."

Huon Hooke "Very deep, dark colour with purple and black tints, the bouquet sweetly gumleafy and lifted, the palate again minty and it has that slightly raw edge of minty wines. The wine is intended to showcase the eucalyptus character and make a feature of it, and it succeeds. The tannins are light but somewhat firm; the fruit is front and centre."

Winemaker "The eucalypt flavour this year is quite pronounced when you first smell it, but then quickly develops into a luscious cherry raspberry character. You pick up the hint of eucalypt, then the fruit flavours come through after that. Méthode Eucalypt has more acidity this year than it did in 2020. I think it is overall better balanced, with the fruit, acidity and alcohol in quite a good balance with the eucalyptus a little more in the background. It is slightly lower alcohol, and feels softer and perhaps a bit more savoury to me. It reminds me a lot of a Grenache with that spicy drinking red fruit character. I’m really excited about it."

Boutique Wine Show "Balanced minty/Eucalyptus aromas and flavours add to the Cabernet Sauvignon’s complexity, creating a uniquely Australian wine. It is a wine that expresses terroir in the true sense of the word."

Patrick's of Coonawarra was founded by Patrick Tocaciu; one of Australia's leading wine (and AFL football) figures. Patrick's reputation for producing exceptional wine earned him many international accolades for the major labels he worked as Chief Winemaker, including; Tollana, Penfolds, and Hollick Wines. Patrick's distinguished reputation continued with the establishment of his own Patrick of Coonawarra Estate label. The wines are built on the solid foundation of extensive estate vineyards: 36 hectares in Coonawarra and 42 hectares in Wrattonbully. The Wrattonbully plantings contain shiraz, sauvignon blanc, and some of the riesling. All of the cabernet is grown in Coonawarra. The Estate is now managed by his eonologist son, Luke who continues the tradition of producing wines of varietal and regional excellence.

Coonawarra is the most important wine region within the Limestone Coast zone of South Australia, credited with producing some of the best red wines in the country, and often described as Australia's most famous terroir. The region's prime Terra Rossa land, which has a reddish-brown topsoil over a thick layer of soft limestone, covers a narrow strip only 12 kilometres long. The reddish colour of the soil is caused by iron-oxide (rust) formations in the clay. Vineyards on this soil benefit from good drainage and nutrient-holding capacity. It is known for the Cabernet Sauvignon wines produced on its "terra rossa" soil. Coonawarra is an Aboriginal word meaning "Honeysuckle". It is about 380 km southeast of Adelaide, close to the border with Victoria.

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the most famous red wine grape variety on Earth. It is rivaled in this regard only by its Bordeaux stablemate Merlot, and its opposite number in Burgundy, Pinot Noir. From its origins in Bordeaux, Cabernet has successfully spread to almost every winegrowing country in the world. It is now the key grape variety in many first-rate New World wine regions, most notably Napa Valley, Coonawarra and Maipo Valley. Wherever they come from, Cabernet Sauvignon wines always seem to demonstrate a handful of common character traits: deep color, good tannin structure, moderate acidity and aromas of blackcurrant, tomato leaf, dark spices and cedarwood.