Good crowd for this dark horse grape. First, what I learned from P.S. I Love You, the petite sirah appreciation group:
Petite Sirah is the product of a cross between Syrah and Peloursin, created by a French priest named Durif, who was looking for a pest-resistant alternative to Syrah. Known as Durif in France, it was never very popular in that country.
Today, nearly all the world's petite sirah is planted in California. Most of that is blended in Zinfandels. In recent years, however, petite sirah has been increasingly popular, thanks to big producers like Bogle and a rise in high-quality offerings by well-known Zin producers, like Ridge and Rosenblum. But it's still a wine that is hard to find on supermarket shelves, or even in wine stores. Best bet is to visit the wineries in Sonoma, where many Zin producers also make small lots of Petite Sirah.
There is nothing "petite" about Petite Sirah (OK, the grapes themselves are smaller than Syrah, hence the name) -- it makes an inky dark, highly tannic, rustic red wine. Based on this tasting, the challenge is to have enough body and fruit to balance the monster tannins. In fact, the more I tasted, the more I understood why this is a favorite Zin blending grape -- straight Zin often has too much fruit, not enough tannin and acid. Petite Sirah is the opposite.
Enough chatter, on to the wines:
- 2003 Foppiano Russian River Valley Petite Sirah ($18): among the first wineries to make a petite sirah, this is in the classic PS style, lots of tannin, but also good fruit, very nice, will probably improve with age
- 1987 Foppiano Russian River Valley Petite Sirah ($29): same as #1, only 20 years older, this is probably a bit over the hill, but a great illustration of age on wine, toned down tannins, leaving lots of acid, a little fruit, more an education than a wine I'd reach for at this stage
- 2005 Bogle California Petite Sirah ($10): great value, easy drinking, clearly designed for mass market palate, but much better than most $10 bottles of cab (or even zin)
- 2005 Quivira Wine Creek Ranch Petite Sirah ($26): this was in the smaller decanter, good balance of tannin and fruit, probably my second favorite of the night, good value (but only available at the winery)
- 2002 Ridge Lytton Estate Petite Sirah ($30): Ridge, renowned for their Zins, makes a little Petite Sirah in select years; this was very nice out of the bottle, but dissipated more quickly than many of the others, leaving tannins and acid, but not much else
- 2005 Rosenblum Pickett Road Napa Valley Petite Sirah ($33): consensus favorite of the night, lots of body, almost unctuous, dark fruit, long finish, currently on sale at K&L for $29!
- 2003 Stag's Leap Winery Napa Valley Petite Sirah ($34): a renowned petite sirah veteran producer (and NOT the same as Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, the cabernet guys), this was probably the consensus #2 favorite, classic tannic and rustic petite sirah, could use some age to integrate all the tannins, I thought
- 1998 Teldeschi Dry Creek Valley Petite Sirah ($32): a nice demonstration of the benefit of a little age, and also a softer style, distinctly more "French" in both bouquet and flavor profile than the others
- 2003 Lolonis Sisters Blend Redwood Valley Petite Sirah ($25): this was the consensus least liked of the night, strange menthol overtones, green and stemmy on the palate, strange
- 2004 Unti Dry Creek Valley Petite Sirah ($26): shows great promise, but still too young, with monster tannins (this was the "other" #7 for those in the front room)
- 2004 Biale Thomann Station Napa Valley Petite Sirah ($48): nice place to finish, a bit sweeter, dark, not as tannic, with a long, interesting finish (came from a cracked bottle, so may not be representative)
