The theme of this month’s club event was Petite Sirah, which meant it was time to pull our pants up, strap ourselves in and prepare for some big time wine. It’s very interesting how contradictory the name is if you think about it from the taste perspective, however, it’s called Petite because the size of the grapes are much smaller than it’s father, Syrah. Ampelographically speaking (wow, that’s a big word), Petite Sirah has also been known as Durif, named for the French botanist who developed it, which is a cross between Peloursin and Syrah, as discovered by Dr. Carole Meredith of UC-Davis. Petite Sirah has been in the U.S. since the late 1880′s, however, Syrah does not appear on the California scene until the 1940-50′s.
The group tasted 7 bottles, blind, with no other criteria other than bring a PS. I will give notes only on the top 3, but will list the remaining wines at the bottom:
WOTN: 2006 Vina Robles Jardine (Paso Robles) – The color was inky and purple and got some serious heat on the nose, but that is to be expected with PS, as well some nuttiness. On the palate, I detected licorice/anise, blackberries with strawberries right at the end. There were medium to high tannins, though not the hairiest of the night. Overall, very velvety, balanced and delicious from nose to finish.
2005 JC Cellars Frediani (Napa Valley) - Once again, very dark, with a bowl of nuts on the nose and blackberries/black cherries as well as vanilla (the wife thought of whipped cream) on the palate. This was the BMOC as chewiness goes for the evening… felt like I had shag carpeting on the tongue – awesome!
2006 Greg Norman (Paso Robles) – The nose gave off hints of spice, beef jerky, very meaty. The taste was primarily black fruit and dark cherries. I don’t want to be snobby, but I was surprised to see a Greg Norman wine making the top 3, but I cannot deny the signature PS characteristics and great balance of this wine on this particular evening.
It was interesting to see 2 of the best wines were from Paso Robles. It seems the warm/hot days followed by the
cool/breezy evenings of the Central Coast are a great match for this powerful grape. The other wines were: 2006 Writer’s Block (Lake), 2006 Guenoc (Lake), 2005 Ursa Major (Paso Robles) and 2007 Spellbound (CA)
An honorable mention from a previous post: 2006 Starry Night (Lodi)
On this evening, PS did not disappoint and even picked up a new fan in Angela, the night’s hostess. For those of you who want to get more into Petite Sirah, visit the PS I Love You site: http://www.psiloveyou.org/
Great post! Paso Robles makes some of my favorites when it comes to Petite Sirah!
Cheers!
Thanks, Randy for the comment… I gotta tell you that was something I learned at this tasting as some of my recent PS favs were mostly from Napa or Lodi… So, I am happy to see that Paso Robles is doing the grape right.
Great post Ed! Big Petite Sirah fan! Check out Girard Winery. They make a beautiful PS.
Nice, Brian.. thanks for the recommendation, I will be looking for Girard
Nice tasting. I’d throw Rosenblum out there as making nice PS at value price points. Carlisle PS are tops, too, but good luck finsing any unless on the list.
Nice job on the notes here ED
Thanks, brother, for the additional mentions.. can never get too much PS… I like Rosenblum though never had their PS, but Carlisle is new for me… thanks for the props!