Introducing the Brown Brothers ‘Patricia’ Wine Range

I would dear say nearly everyone wino in Australia and probably New Zealand too has heard of the wine brand – Brown Brothers. If you haven’t, then you’ve been living under a rock. However, you may not have come across the uber luxe and special range of Brown Brothers wines called, ‘Patricia’.

These wines, as winemaker, Katherine Brown put it, are only made in years when they know the wines are going to be “bloody good”. They are created from only the best grapes and are given the utmost attention and care.

The new releases are launched every year on March 17th – which you probably know as St Patrick’s day, however it’s also a very important wine lady’s birthday…

Patricia Brown

Patricia was the matriarch of the Brown family, and I would dear say she still is even though she sadly passed away in September 2004, at the age of 89. Not only has Patricia played a pivotal role in the Brown Brothers history but she is also a significant figure in the Australian wine industry.

From what I have heard and read about her, she was a real life superwoman; raising 4 sons, running a household, travelling around the country to promote the winery and leading the way for wine and food matching within the business.

There’s no doubt Patricia played a huge part of this amazingly successful family owned business. Which is why Brown Brothers’ flagship wine range was named ‘Patricia’. When she was told the wine range was to be named after her she simply said, “they better be bloody good”. And as I experienced last night, they are pretty bloody good!

The Finest Five – Patricia Wine Launch 2017

Firstly a big thanks to Brown Brothers, Broadsheet and Parker Communications for inviting me along to the Perth launch of the ‘Finest Five’ at Cleaver St & Co Studio. I had a brilliant night getting to know Brown Brothers more and indulging in some amazing wine and food combinations!

As mentioned above, Patricia can be thanked for Brown Brothers fascination with flavours – in both wine and food. Because of this, the launch for the latest new releases from the Patricia range was a night all about matching flavours. It was described as a “A roaming food and wine celebration showcasing the best local produce to launch the new-release Patricia wines” by Broadsheet.

Oh and what a night it was! The night was hosted by 2 sisters from the Brown family, Caroline the Public Relations Manager and Katherine – the first female winemaker in the family. Both ladies were so friendly and approachable and I was very lucky to steal some of their time to chat and of course grab a wee pic or three…

As the sisters put it, they want to ‘create adventures in wine’ and that’s what the launch was all about and we were encouraged to create our very own adventures. If we wanted to start at the cheese and dessert wine and end with the sparkling wine and salmon – then why not! As most of you know I am very much a ‘do what tastes right to you’ kind of girl – so I really enjoyed Caroline and Katherine’s attitude to wine and wine and food matching.

The Latest Patricia Wine Release

As you know, when I go to events I don’t write tasting notes as it’s simply too complicated and very anti social (not the best multi-tasker nor do I have enough hands for drinking, eating, taking photos and typing/writing). Instead I soak it all up and enjoy an overall impression of the wine. I then later try to hunt out the wines so I can have myself my own little intimate tasting at home and give each wine the time and attention it deserves.

From my experience at the event it’s no surprise the Chardonnay was my top pick, however the bubbles and the dessert wine also really sweet-talked my palate.

Here’s what we tasted:

• Patricia 2010 Pinot Noir & Chardonnay Sparkling
• Patricia 2012 Chardonnay (sold out unfortunately!)
• Patricia 2012 Shiraz
• Patricia 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon
• Patricia 2013 Noble Riesling

And we were also lucky enough to get a swirl of the decanted 2002 Patricia Cabernet Sauvignon – which was nicely filtered through a black serviette by Katherine. Please click on the hyperlinks for more details about each wine on the Brown Brothers website.

The Food

I was really excited about the wine and food matching aspect since it’s such a big part of who Brown Brothers are. The idea behind the event was to team up with five local West Australian food produces to showcase an awesome wine and food match.

I have to admit, I really enjoyed all the pairings. I was particularly impressed with how the 2012 Chardonnay went with the chorizo and fresh lemon – this is a wine and food match I’ll be adding to my favourites list for sure! Anyway enough of my blabbing – here’s what we enjoyed:

Patricia 2010 Sparkling & Smoked Wild Salmon Tartar

The incredibly bread-a-licious Bread In Common served up a super tasty morsel of smoked wild salmon tartar on rye bread. Alongside this they had fresh bread with homemade butters – one of the butters was this gorgeous tomato infused creamy goodness. I could have seriously stood there and drank the bubbles and simply ate bread and butter all night. If only my waistline would approve!

Patricia 2012 Chardonnay & Porky Goodness

Cured meats and Chardonnay – my new love! The Jindong Free Range Pork company know what they’re doing when it comes to Pork. They just about convinced me to drive down to Margaret River this weekend, load my car up with all the pork products from their farm and then live in a pork bliss for the next few months! It’s very tempting after trying firstly their beautiful house cured ham followed by the tastiest fresh chorizo with a good squeeze of fresh lemon over. So amazing by devouring them on their own and they were even further enhanced by the Chardy! The son-in-law and father-in-law team serving us up did a top notch job for sure!

Patricia 2012 Shiraz & Mini Steamed Bun Grass-fed Beef Sliders

Oh my – these Blackwood Valley Organic Beef were the most amazing teeny-tiny burgers I have ever had! The beef was cooked to perfection – medium – and that little steamed bun was melt in the mouth goodness. I could have ate at least 10, but I was polite.

Patricia 2012 Cabernet & Chicken-Liver Parfait

Sadly this one went to waste on me, as I’m not a fan of chicken liver or any kind of pâté products. However everyone around me was nodding their appreciation so they must have been good! The parfait was made from Mt Barker Chicken by the talented Brian Miller – chef at The Trustee.

Patricia 2013 Noble Riesling & Cheese

I just about went straight to this table – you can’t really go wrong with big wheels of cheese. It’s just a pity I didn’t take my oversized handbag to stash one in 😉 Cambray Cheese hand-make all their cheeses using fresh milk from the sheep on their farm – who by the way sound like they’re treated like royalty – happy sheep makes tasty cheese I guess. The cheese and the lovely balance of sweetness and acidity in the wine were a match made in heaven.

It was a night of pure epicurean delight that I wouldn’t mind tasting my way through again and again. A big thank you to all those involved and for igniting the wine and food matching lover in me further. There’s nothing better in life than enjoying the perfect wine and food match with great family and friends. Cheers to you Patricia.

PS: Brown Brothers also do some wine-infused delicacies.

PPS: If anyone from Brown Brothers is reading this “Orange Muscat Marmalade which was to die for, but they have stopped making it. :(” – might be time to bring it back guys 😉