WTN: Biale NapaVlly PetiteSirah 1995...

Tried this last weekend:
1. RobertBialeVnyds OldVnyds NapaVlly PetiteSirah (16.1%; 250 cs) 1995: Very dark/black color w/ little browning; rather pencilly/cigar box/sweet oak peppery/blackberry/PS complex/perfumed/aromatic nose; soft bit alcoholic strong blackberry/plummy/peppery/PS some dusty/old vines/earthy rather pencilly/cedary slightly dried out/tannic flavor; long very cedary/pencilly/oak plummy/blueberry/peppery/PS slight tannic/dried out complex finish; has come together very well and a pleasure to drink but starting its downhill slide.
Tom

I just got on the Biale mailing list this past year. Gives me some idea of when to open the recent release of Petit Sirah (not for awhile it appears).

JC,
You sound like a LosAlamos guy....making a wild extrapolation from a data point of one!!
I find PSs are damnably tough to predict how they will age. When they age well...they do it very/very well. But, often as not, an oafish/clunky young PS will age into an old oafish/clunky PS. Very frustrating.
The key, I suspect, is the amount of fruit in them when they're young. And the Biale PSs typical have a lot of fruit young.
Tom

Sounds like you caught that one just in time. Other than the few that are approachable on release, Bogle for example, I tend to give the aging PSs nine to start with.

Incidentally, JC isn't a "guy."

Girls can sound like the LosAlamos guys just as well as a guy can.
Los Alamos guys a good on making WAGs (wild-a$$ guesses) on the flimsiest of data.
We do it all the time.
Tom

Let's hope they've gotten better at not losing classified computer disks or whatever.

Tom, speaking of aging petite sirah, how well do Carlisle's age?

Sorry, Mark.....but no real data on that. I had a '99 sometime in the last year and it was still going strong and no signs of drying out or dropping fruit. So an old Carlisle PS probably doesn't exist.
However....I'm a LosAlamos guy...we can draw the most persuasive of conclusions based on zero data. Mike's PSs have a heap of huge fruit, plenty of tannin and structure. I see no reason that they won't age out 10-15-20 yrs. Whether the do that magically comming-together thing and become an absolute pleasure to drink, that's an open question. And their high alcohol levels cause a bit of concern... those wines, as they lose fruit, can start to smell/taste late harvesty in character.
Nonethless, I'll be taking some data point. Check back with me in 10 yrs!!
Tom