The Man from Mosel River

I am on my way to Europe again. My last evening at home in Jakarta we spend with a bottle of ‘2005 Understudy Cabernet Petit Verdot’ from Pertaringa Vineyards, a winery in the McLaren Vale, South Australia.

I bought it in our local duty free shop at Jalan Fatmawati for US $ 15.50 and its a ripper of a wine with a great quality-price ratio.

It is made of 70% Cabernet and 30% Petit Verdot grapes, traditionally vinified and matured in French and American oak. The ‘Understudy Cabernet Petit Verdot’ is Pertaringa’s “second wine” after the flagship reds (Pertaringa’s Rifle and Hunt Cabernet Sauvignon).

The wine has a dark red colour and a very intense nose of blackcurrant. It is spicy and rich in flavour, has a good structure, length and a long finish. needless to say that it won a couple of awards in various wine shows.

Pertaringa is not exactly a small vineyard (www.pertaringa.com.au). It has 31 ha under grapes, most of it Shiraz (13 ha), but also Chardonnay (4 ha), Pinot Noir (4.5 ha), Riesling and Semillon (3 ha each), and smaller areas of Cabernet, Sauvignon Blanc and Frontignac. The vineyard was planted in 1970 and purchased by Ian Leask and Geoff Hardy in 1980. Ever since it’s been run by them and their families. Pertaringa is an Aboriginal name and means ‘belonging to the hills’.

Understudy Cabernet Petit Verdot

Address:
Pertaringa Wines
Conerner of Hunt and Rifle Range Roads
McLaren vale
South Australia 5171
Ph.: +61-8-83238125
Cellar door open seven days a week (Mon-Fri 10am-5pm, rest 11am-5pm)

PS: I’ll be gone for a while. Please leave messages.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 at 11:51 am and is filed under food and wine, general. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.