Western Australian wine is something new to this Barossa boy, so I was doubly excited to receive an email offering me this as a sample. Pepperilly Estate are located in the Ferguson Valley, in the Geographe region, one of the many excellent wine regions of Western Australia. Purple Patch is a GSM blend, but the Western Australian climate gave the grapes a different twist to my expectations.
The wine had a bright deep purple centre with a garnet rim around the edges. The nose had a subtle scents of blackberries, something I found more pronounced compared to Grenache grapes from other regions.
The palate was a similar surprise. There was the expected medium body, surprising for a wine of 14.5% alcohol, but there was nothing overly powering from this. The tannins seemed to be focussed towards the back of the tongue. The use of French Barriques gave a surprising earthiness to the wine, which complemented the excellent overall balance.
For a three year old wine it’s drinking very well now and I’d highly recommend buying it.