Brand's of Coonawarra The Patron Cabernet Sauvignon 2004
Style: Red Wine
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Closure: Screwcap
Brand's of Coonawarra The Patron Cabernet Sauvignon 2004
Camberwell
Burke Road
Camberwell VIC 3124
Australia
Producer: Brand's Laira
Country: Australia
Region: Coonawarra
Vintage: 2004
Critic Score: 96
Alcohol: 15.0%
Size: 750 ml
Drink by: 2025
"It's extraordinary. It's a beautifully fragrant combination of cedary oak and perfectly ripe cabernet sauvignon. In its fragrance, fleshiness and ripeness it reminds me of Chateau Margaux, although not in its exact aromas and flavours. The palate's luxurious and vibrant but still pure cabernet in its expression, including the firm but silk-coated tannins. This is a sensational wine with long-term cellaring potential. You wouldn't find a Bordeaux to match this quality anywhere near the price." Chris Shanahan
Expert reviews
"Superb colour; exceptionally bright, flavoursome and juicy cassis and blackcurrant fruit, the oak perfectly integrated, the tannins soft; a long and perfectly balanced finish; Cabernet Sauvignon Trophy, National Wine Show '07. Drink Now - 2024." James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion – 96 points
"Just look at all those medals! All the gold you can eat. Eric Brand would certainly have to be 'The Patron' of bottle bling. It's scented, ripe and intensely blackcurranty with additional cooler flavours of aniseed, flickers of leaf and mint and a good measure of aromatic vanilla and cedar wood oak that's bedding down nicely. Medium to full bodied and packed with sweet fruit but has some attractive tobacco and leaf flavour adding a little Cabernet strictness to the mix. It has firm fine grained tannins, freshness and clarity and finishes pure and long. Delicious wine, approachable now, but probably much better later. Textbook Coonawarra Cabernet. Drink : 2009 – 2025." Gary Walsh, Winorama - 95 points
"Don't confuse this with the old 'Patron's Blend' as that's now called 'Eric's Blend'. The new Patron's is a straight cabernet sauvignon (the old one combined four varieties) and it's extraordinary. It's a beautifully fragrant combination of cedary oak and perfectly ripe cabernet sauvignon. In its fragrance, fleshiness and ripeness it reminds me of Chateau Margaux, although not in its exact aromas and flavours. The palate's luxurious and vibrant but still pure cabernet in its expression, including the firm but silk-coated tannins. I wouldn't quibble about the price. This is a sensational wine with long-term cellaring potential. You wouldn't find a Bordeaux to match this quality anywhere near the price." Chris Shanahan
Awards
About the winery
Brand's Laira is a winery steeped in heritage with a wealth of old vine vineyards dating back to 1893. Nestled in the heart of the famed 'terra rossa' strip of the Coonawarra region in South Australia, they offer a range of elegant yet richly flavoured wines from this distinct region.
In 1893, Captain Henry Stentiford purchased a block of land right in the heart of Coonawarra. Henry Stentiford would become integral to the region's history as custodian of some of its founding vines – vines that still produce wine today. Some 50 years later, in 1950, Eric Brand and his wife Nancy Redman acquired the same 24-hectare property with just over 2 hectares of Shiraz. He named the property Laira, after a sailing vessel that is believed to have delivered the actual vines which were planted in the vineyard.
For the next 16 years, Eric worked as a 'Blocker' – the name given to Coonawarra landholders who sold their grapes to other wineries in the region. That is until 1966, when armed with an antique basket press, a must pump, 4 concrete fermenters, and blessed with the best Coonawarra weather of the decade, Eric produced his very first vintage under the Brand's Laira name.
The Brand family produced some outstanding wines, but results were not always consistent. However, in 1990, the Brand family and McWilliams joined forces, the latter acquiring 50% of Brands. In 1994, McWilliams purchased the remaining 50%. With the day-to-day operation still within the Brand family, but the resources of McWilliams now at their disposal, the quality and consistency of the wines increased almost immediately.
In 2015, McWilliams sold Brands to the Casella family of Yellow Tail fame.
Vineyards
The Laira Vineyard, established in 1893, was one of the first planted in Coonawarra. It is considered one of the region's oldest working blocks and produces the flagship Stentiford's Shiraz. Located right on the terra rossa strip from the highway back towards the winery, you can still spy the original 15 rows of Shiraz planted with great foresight in 1893. The Laira Vineyard produces all of Brand's top-of-the-range reds.
The Kirkgate Vineyard, established in 1990, took three years to complete. With a variety of soil types, fruit from this block is more intensely flavoured and is the backbone of Brand's icon wine, Blockers Cabernet Sauvignon. While Cabernet Sauvignon makes up the highest percentage of vines on this block, it is closely followed by Merlot, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Riesling, and a dash of Petit Verdo.
The 165ha Station Vineyard is nestled behind the old, iconic Coonawarra Station and was established between 1994 and 1998. The Vineyard lies primarily on black clay loam over limestone with substantial pockets of terra rossa soil. The primary planting is Cabernet Sauvignon with the vines approaching maturity and producing wines that are fresh and aromatic. The grapes form the basis of The Laira range, as well as some aromatic whites such as Chardonnay.
South Australia
South Australian is responsible for more than half the production of all Australian wine. It is home to more than 900 wineries across 18 wine regions. The regions are Adelaide Hills, Adelaide Plains, Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Coonawarra, Currency Creek, Eden Valley, Kangaroo Island, Langhorne Creek, McLaren Vale, Mount Benson, Mount Gambier, Padthaway, Riverland, Robe, Southern Fleurieu, Southern Flinders Ranges and Wrattonbully.
Many of the well-known names in the South Australian wine industry established their first vineyards in the late 1830s and early 1840s. The first vines in McLaren Vale were planted at Reynella in 1839 and Penfold's established Magill Estate on the outskirts of Adelaide in 1844.
South Australia has a vast diversity in geography and climate which allows the State to be able to produce a range of grape varieties - from cool climate Riesling in the Clare and Eden Vallies to the big, full bodied Shiraz wines of the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale. Two of Australia's best-known wines, Penfolds Grange and Henschke Hill of Grace, are produced here. There is much to discover in South Australia for the wine lover.