WINE > Petaluma Coonawarra - Evans Vineyard 1985

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Recently I had the opportunity to collect a few vintage magnums of the classic Petaluma Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon Merlo blend, I was interested to see how well the wine was holding up especially in at the magnum format – I always recall some years back wine writer Phillip Rich saying to me “wine always tastes better when it comes from a magnum”.

So Langtons had magnum releases of the 1985 and the 1996 and I bought a few of each to see how they are tasting today. Before I get into the detail the answer is they are tasting beautiful – to think that the ’85 is 38 years old and still holds plenty of power is a testament to the wine making and to quality of the grapes.

The Winery

The Evans vineyard was planted in 1968 and grown by the Evans Wine Company until Brian Croser and Petaluma acquired the company and its 10 hectare vineyard in the Coonawarra in 1978 and from then on released Petaluma wines from there under the Evans Vineyard label.

Brian Croser AO and his wife Ann began Petaluma in 1976 setting out from the beginning to establish vineyards and wines that spoke of the terroir of their location. He established vineyards in Clare, the Adelaide Hills and of course the aforementioned vineyard in the Coonawarra.

Brian together with Len Evans (who became chairman of Petaluma in 1978) forged a transformation of Australian Wine, Brian going on to establish the highly regarded wine making course in the NSW Riverina, he was possibly best known for what was possibly Australia’s favourite sparkling wine Croser which was first released in 1987 and became an instant hit.

Brian also established, with Rollin Soles, Argyle winery in Oregon in 1985, then later the Tunkalilla Vineyard, a Riesling and Pinot Noir vineyard in the Eola Hills just north of Salem in Oregon and today he has his family winery Tapanappa after a dramatic take over of Petaluma by Lion Nathan in 2001.

Tasting the Wine

Given the wine was in a magnum I started trying a little of the wine using Coravin. The cork was still in excellent condition and so I was comfortable in trialling the wine over a couple of weeks, but what was apparent it still required a solid ‘rest’ or decant to get the wine to really open up. If you drank it right away you would have said this is pleasant, still in good condition but a bit flat.

However left 30 minutes or so to aerate and it is a different situation entirely.

The colour of the wine was a bright and strong, it looks like a good cab should in the glass and there was no hint of it turning brown yet with the brilliance and clarity of a wine in peak condition.

The nose started slow – as mentioned above but after 30 minutes or so savoury cabernet characteristics come through with classic eucalyptus and herbaceous flavours.

On the palate the wine is very well balanced 38 years of maturing have seen integration of the flavour profile and there is sweet red berry and plum stone fruit that rounds out with toasty vanilla.

The finish is long, with the wine holding its power and balance in the aftertaste, the acid level is muted and the tannins are relatively subdued.

Reading critics review of the 1985 releases there are mixed opinions of this period which came before the much more celebrated releases in the late 1980s and early 1990’s. According to Jeremy Oliver writing in Wine Genius

“From 1980 to 1985 inclusive, the Coonawarra went through a bad patch. Croser used 12 shiraz in 1980 and 1982, didn’t release a wine in 1983 understandably, given the wretched season in Coonawarra and began introducing merlot to the wine in 1984 50 and 1985 30. Ultimately, though, these wines failed because foremost in Croser’s mind was the search for elegance and fineness which culminated in the use of totally protective techniques in the winery and cool temperature fermentations designed to maximise flavour retention. Furthermore, the 1984 and 1985 wines were made with what Croser today describes as a ‘radical’ no sulphur regime which affected the merlot components of the wines adversely.” “As a group these vintages lack weight and integrity and are handicapped by weedy greenish flavours, but so were so many Australian cabernet blends made around this time, especially from Coonawarra. This was the height of the cool-climate fad in Australia and winemakers were caught in a Quixote-like quest for ethereal elegance which even resulted in much the same characters occurring in cabernets from the Barossa Valley!”
Jeremy Oliver, Wine Genius

I would have expected the lack of sulphur mentioned above to seriously diminished the preserving quality of the wine, under a classic cork but it is quite remarkable that it is drinking so well. I am looking forward to trying those 1996 releases soon!

This is still a great wine and a tribute to the wine making legacy that Brian Croser created at Petaluma – 92/100 points.