2021 Patrick Underwood Chalmers Nebbiolo

95 POINTS

Jeni Port - Halliday Wine Companion

"A stunner by any measure, but especially so for nebbiolo, revealing both its beauty and its power. An elegant and fragrant introduction in rose petal and musk, red licorice, bright red fruits and wild herbs. A lovely purity is displayed on the palate, aromatic, lifted, medium bodied and well shaped in ripe, cherry tannins. It's a fine-edged youngster tight in trademark nebbiolo acidity and one with a big future." - 95 Pts Jeni Port, Halliday Wine Companion

93 POINTS

Mike Bennie - The Wine Front

From Pat Underwood, winemaker of Little Reddie: “Patrick Underwood is a new brand, an important divergence from Little Reddie forced by personal and profession growth. After bottling the 2021 Nebbiolo I realised some things had shifted in me, so to not muddle the waters I decide a new label was needed. Little Reddie will continue to be about trying to learn by pushing things in the cellar; what would happen if a particular grape from particular place was made in a particular (unusual) way.  I’ve loved this process and have learnt terrifically through it. Now, my interests, what I like to drink and where I find the most creative satisfaction, have shifted. I am far more interested in nuance, in wine referential of the canon or at a minimum working in a way that is reverent and informed by the practices of the greats”. And with that we have Chalmers Vineyards plantings (new ones) of nebbiolo to a heap of diverse clones. Pat selected fruit as a clonal selection to make this wine. Pat of course worked with Olek Bondonio in Piedmont, so has a broader reference point for this variety. A bright, vibrant, tannin-shaped red of crystalline texture, fine grip, dark cherry fruit, woody spices, some earthiness and a crackle of blood orange/amaro through its latter stages. A touch diffuse in terms of fruit character but structure and general sense of vitality and energy is in the spotlight. The tannin profile is very Italianate, as hoped or expected, fine and lacy to start with a building grumble of grippiness to close. Very pleasing, good DNA of the variety, a winning thing to drink.