Thursday, December 22, 2011

BROWN BROTHERS PATRICIA PINOT NOIR & CHARDONNAY BRUT 2005

- King Valley, VIC
- $36-$47
- Cork
- 13.0%alc

Perhaps it's because of their commitment to an enormous and affordable range hallmarked by diversity, but Brown Brothers' reserve level Patricia wines don't seem to get the recognition they might otherwise receive. Of particular merit is the vintage dated Patricia sparkling, which must go pretty close to knocking on the door of Australia's top ten renditions of the genre.

Helloooo... alive, complex and smitten by a wicked whiff of dry crispbread overlying honey ice cream and almond biscotti notes, then further enlivened by a springy lift of sour raspberries and grapefruit, the 2005 Patricia shows plenty of development and plenty of style, with all the balancing freshness I desire. Through the mouth it's simultaneously creamy, supple and crackly - incredibly crackly actually - as it pops like pop rock candy all the way down its full length of creamy honey biscuit flavour. It's all strung in by stringy lemony acids, working the wine into a superbly balanced, long and dry finish that's firmly stamped by a bitter/savoury mineral twist and a lingering impression of true finesse. It's top shelf Aussie fizz and it's in top form, right now. Ever wished you were drinking a magnum?

ü+ Much like Hardys' spectacular 2000 Sir James Tumbarumba (95pts), Brown Brothers' 2005 Patricia goes a long way to prove Tasmania isn't the be all and end all of Australia's elite sparkling class. Beautiful. Drink to 2013.
94 points


9 comments:

  1. I would love to say I have a family interest in this winery (perhaps I do, if you go back to the barbarian Celtic/Saxon days), as their sparkling wine is superb at all price ranges.
    Though I would be reticent to grab this at $47, at $36 it would be a very interesting wine to have on a special occaision.
    I love the Tasmanian bandwagon insofar as it takes some attention away from other aspirational sparkling producing regions. This kind of review redresses the balance :-)

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  2. $47 is the price my local Cellarbrations charge for this wine. It's far from ideal really, but you should be able to source it for a lot less with ease. About $40 retail I think. Still current vintage too.

    If you could hunt down a bottle of Hardys' 2000 Sir James Tumbarumba, which sits in roughly the same price range, I'd HIGHLY recommend it. I had it at a recent tasting hosted by Ed Carr, where it sat in a line-up of several of his wines including 2 bottles of Arras, and it completely stole the day. Unanimously so with everyone in the room even. Well worthy of all the bling on the label and a real surprise as to what Tumbarumba can achieve with sparkling wines and patience.

    By the way, with your 'family' interest in Australian wine ;), how many wineries does Red have his DNA in? Red Hill, Redman, Rebank, Redgate? His lineage has been busy..... ;)

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  3. Just thought i would let you know that it is on special at 1st choice for $28... obviously someone has stuffed up somewhere in the pricing team - be quick before they realise!

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  4. i love how the way you describe this wine by brown brothers, now im intrigued if it really is what you say. I think i will be grabbing one. :)

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  7. This post was great! Love pinot noir

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