Petit Verdot is a grape that you don't usually see as a single varietal. Often you will notice it included in Bordeaux (its homeland) and Meritage blends, but in very small quantities. This is because it is a very hard grape to ripen fully, but gives extra colour, flavour and tannin to blends. One place that has had success in ripening the grape is Australia - one of the few places that you can find single varietal Petit Verdot in all its glory. Enter the Dean De Bortoli Petit Verdot from South Australia...
De Bortoli Vat 4 Petit Verdot 200514.5% ABV, $18.99 CAD
BC Liquor Store availability
This Petit Verdot is not for the faint of heart - it is massively endowed in every way. You can tell right away from the colour: a dark black core fading to a dark purple at the rim. The nose is huge with tremendous amounts of dark fruit (cherries, blackberries) layered overtop cedar/cigar box, cocoa, mocha and subtle violet components. On the palate, the wine is full bodied with cherry, plum vanilla and caramel flavours. It finishes dry and quite long.
I found this to be quite an interesting example of Petit Verdot, and while it tastes somewhat over the top (i.e. the intensity of the fruit flavours is off balance in comparison to the rest of the wine's structure), it was an enjoyable experience, one that many people who enjoy very potent New World fruit-explosion-in-your-mouth type wines would also like. For under $20, this is definitely worth a whirl.
