We tasted last night (6/24/15) some Archive Petite Sirah:
1. Ramsay PetiteSirah NapaVlly (13%) 1989: Med.color w/ some bricking; rather earthy/dusty/cedary/pencilly/oldRed
slight funky/unclean/wet dog fur rather tired nose; tired/metallic cedary/pencilly/oldRed somewhat unclean/funky/
wet Army blanket flavor w/ light hard/astringent tannins; pretty much dead & gone.
_______________
1a. Ramsay PetiteSirah NapaVlly (13%) 1990: Very dark color w/ some bricking; rather earthy/dusty some toasty/oak
rather cedary/pencilly/oldRed/smokeysome licorice/peppery/PS/spicy flavor w/ light bitey tannins; med.long quite
cedary/pencilly/oldRed slight icorice/PS/peppery rather earthy/dusty finish w/ light astringent/drying tannins;
much more cedary/tobaccoy character than the '89; still alive but starting to dry out.
_______________
2. KentRasmussenWnry PetiteSirah NapaVlly (13%) 1987: Dark color w/ little bricking; rather earthy/dusty bit minty
some balckberry/PS/peppery fairly complex nose; soft light cedary/pencilly/oldRed fairly earthy/dusty slight
minty/peppery/PS/blackberry flavor w/ light/tangy tannins; med.long earthy/dusty rather cedary/pencilly/oldRed
slight peppery/PS/blackberry some complex finish w/ light/drying tannins; still has a bit of fruit left and
lots of cedary/pencilly/oldRed character but going down.
_______________
3. EaglepointRanch PetiteSirah MendoCnty (14.5%; www.EaglePointRanch.com) 2002: Very dark color w/ no bricking; rather
earthy/dusty some peppery/blackberry/PS fairly intense fruit light toasty/oak bit complex nose; soft peppery/PS/
blackberry/spicy slight alcoholic rather earthy/dusty/tomatoey/mushroomy flavor w/ modest hard tannins; very long
earthy/dusty/mushroomy strong blackberry/PS/peppery/spicy quite structured good fruit finish w/ some hard tannins;
a pretty classic Mendo PS that's still going strong and evolving slowly.
_______________
4. Blockheadia RingNosii PetiteSirah NapaVlly (14.2%; 30-50 yr old dry farmed near Rutherford/StHelena)
MichaelOuellette/Lorenza-LakeWnry/Yountville 1994: Med.dark color w/ slight bricking; strong eucalyptus/minty
fairly strong blackberry/PS/peppery bit herbal/leafy/earthy some complex nose; bit tart/dried out slight PS/
blackberry/eucalyptus some earthy/dusty bit complex flavor w/ light/dried-out tannins; med.long slight blackberry/
PS/earthy bit eucalyptus finish w/ light astringent tannins; rather interesting/mature nose but somewhat dried-
out on the palate. $20.00
_______________
5. Ridge Calif PetiteSirah YorkCreekRanch/SpringMtn/NapaCnty (13.9%; Bttld: August 1987; Drk: 8/87-8/94-8/95: PD)
1985: Very dark color w/ slight bricking; rather smokey/vanilla/oak some earthy/dusty bit licorice/pungent/smokey
slight peppery complex nose; bit tart light earthy/dusty some smokey/vanilla/oak slight peppery/blackberry/PS
slight herbal fairly complex flavor w/ very smooth/velvety tannins; very long/lingering some vanilla/Am.oak/
smokey light peppery/PS/blackberry some earthy/dusty complex finish w/ light ripe/silky tannins; not a lot of
fruit left and a bit on the quiet side but incredibly silky smooth on the palate. $23.00
_______________
6. Ridge PetiteSirah YorkCreek/SpringMtn/NapaVlly (12.8%; bttld: May 97; Drk: 3/97-3/02-3/07: PD) 1995: Dark color
w/ some bricking; much stronger blackberry/peppery/PS/herbal some smokey/oak/toast slight earthy/dusty rather
complex nose; bit tart rather peppery/PS/blackberry/plummy/herbal/licorice some smokey/vanilla/Am.oak bit complex
flavor w/ light hard/rough tannins; very long/lingering stronger PS/blackberry/peppery/herbal some dusty/earthy
strong smokey/vanilla/oak complex finish w/ modest hard/rough tannins; more blackberry/PS fruit & more structure
and can probably go another 5 yrs; quite a lovely/interesting PS. $21.00
_______________
7. RosenblumCllrs PetiteSirah PalisadesVnyd/Calistoga/Napa (13.5%) 1990: Dark color w/ little bricking; rather smokey/
toasty/vanilla/oak some peppery/PS/blackberry bit licorice lovely complex nose; soft/rich/ripe earthy/peppery/PS
slight blackberry/licorice some toasty/oak complex flavor w/ light/tangy tannins; long toasty/vanilla/oak some
peppery/PS/blackberry/licorice/earthy complex finish w/ light/bitey tannins; loads of vanilla/Am.oak; still
holding quite well but not going to get better.
_______________
8. SeanThackrey Sirius PetiteSirah MarstonVnyd/NapaVlly (OldVines; 13.4%) 1990: Med.dark color w/ some bricking;
rather pungent/eucalyptus some charred/toasty/oak slight earthy/PS complex nose; soft rather eucalyptus/minty
some charred/toasty/oak bit blackberry/PS flavor w/ very long bit soft some peppery/blackberry/PS rather charred/
oak some earthy/eucalyptus finish w/ light/gentle tannins; still in quite good condition; classic Thackrey
signature eucalyptus.
_______________
9. Turley PetiteSirah RattlesnakeAcres/NapaVlly (15.0%) 1997: Very dark color w/ some bricking; strong pungent/
smokey/toasty/oak bit alcoholic/fumey light licorice/peppery/PS slight wet wool/wet dog fur nose; soft rather
metallic/tangy bit alcoholic/hot light peppery/PS/earthy some smokey/toasty/oak flavor w/ some hard/drying tannins;
med.long light earthy/dusty/peppery/PS strong toasty/smokey/oak finish w/ some drying/astringent tannins; pleasant
enough nose but pretty far along on the palate. $42.00
_______________
10. Turley PetiteSirah HayneVnyd/NapaVlly (15.0%) 2003: Near black color w/ no bricking; light smokey/toasty/oak
strong pungent/licorice/blackberry/blueberry bit subtle nose; soft rich/lush/monolithis/primary strong licorice/
pungent/blueberry/blackberry/PS/peppery bit smokey/toasty/oak flavor w/ ample soft/ripe tannins; very long soft/
fat strong blueberry/blackberry/PS/peppery some toasty/oak bit alcoholic/hot finish w/ ample soft/ripe tannins;
loads of ripe/blueberry/blackberry fruit but lacks structure and sorta porky; bit disappointing. $75.00
_______________
11. Carlisle PetiteSirah DryCreekVlly (14.3%; 75 cs) 1998: Very dark color w/ slight bricking; slight valve oil/
grapefruity strong licorice/PS/peppery bit herbal/rosemary light smokey/toasty/oak some blackberry/Zin-like
some complex nose; soft lush/ripe bit metallic/tangy/grapefruity light smokey/oak strong blueberry/blackberry/
ripe PS bit eartht bit complex finish w/ light bit tangy/bitey tannins; very long strong blueberry/blackberry/
PS/ripe/licorice light smokey/oak finish w/ light/bitey tannins; holding well w/ lots of PS fruit but maybe
drying a bit on the palate.
_______________
12. Carlisle PetiteSirah PalisadesVnyd/NapaVlly (15.9%; 115 cs) 2009: Very dark/black color; very intense milk of
magnesia huge fruit/boysenberry/blackberry/PS/framboise slight alcoholic very primary/PS nose; soft intense
boysenberry/blackberry/PS/framboise bit milk of magnesia light toasty/oak slight earthy/mineral flavor w/
ample soft/ripe tannins; very long/lingering intense blackberry/boysenberry/licorice/PS/framboise light toasty/
oak finish w/ lots of soft/ripe/lush tannins; huge fruit yet doesn't seem over the top; a beautiful example
of PS.
_______________
13. Panza PetiteSirah Stags'Leap Ranch/NapaVlly (14.4%) QuixoteWnry/Napa 2002: Black color; intense boysenberry/PS/
blueberry/blackberry/licorice huge fruit bit earthy/peppery light toasty/oak beautiful PS nose; soft/rich/lush
intense blueberry/boysenberry/PS/licorice light earthy some toasty/oak flavor w/ light soft/ripe/round tannins;
very long/lingering intense boysenberry/blueberry/PS/licorice/ripe some toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins;
a soft/fleshy huge fruit PS showing no signs of age. $25.00
__________________________________________________________________________________________
More stuff from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. This tasting was much better than last week's Archive Syrah tasting in that none of the wines were totally shot;
they all offered up some degree of pleasure. OTOH, none of the PS's had evolved into anything really/really
interesting. I find that this is all too typical of PS. They oftentimes start out their life on the oafish side
and never really evolve into something not oafish. Unlike Syrah, say. The number of PS's I've had that have
aged into something exciting is pretty small. OTOH, the Ridge YorkCreek '71 was one of the greatest Calif PS's
I've ever had. Maybe you really can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear..unless you're PaulDraper.
_______________
2. Eaglepoint: This wine was closed by the hard/plastic SupremCorq. Never/ever a good sign for a wine w/ any age
on it. However, this one seemed to have held up well and was showing very little signs of age.
_______________
3. Blockheadia: This was a cutsey label created by Michael Ouellette. At the time, he was working as manager at
Mustard's Grill. He founded the VinTap operation of putting up good wines in steel casks for use at restaurants
in the by-the-glass program. I gather that Blockheadia is still a going label.
_______________
4. Sirius: I had high expectations for this wine. It was good, just that. The Marston Vnyd was made famous when
FrankMahoney/CarnerosCreek and MikeBernstein/MtVeederWnry each made a '75 MarstonVnyd PS. They were both
incredible. Inky black in color. Both went out 20 yrs in fine form. It appears that the Marston Family Vnyd
pulled all those old-vine PS vines to put in more Cabernet. So sad.
_______________
5. Panza: This is the 2'nd label for DonQuixote Wnry. DQ is owned by CarlDoumani, who became famous w/ his
Stags'LeapWnry PS back in the '70's. He sold the property in '97 and started anew, specializing again in PS.
The DQ PS is fairly expensive, but the Panza is his QPR PS. The old Stags'Leap vnyd is apparently now owned
by the Beringer folks. I don't know if they kept the old PS block, but the emphasis is now clearly on Cab.
The wnry has a very bizzare construction, designed by Austrian artist Hundertwasser. Worth taking a
look-see (www.quixotewinery.com/)
_______________
6. Ridge: Their YorkCreek PS's are consistently some of the finest made in Calif. I find them much better than
their LyttonSprings PS's, which seem to be more on the coarse & rustic side. I liked both these PS's quite
a lot, but didn't find them as profound as some Ridge PS's I've had from YorkCreek. And clearly these are not
of the level of the legendary YC PS '71 or even the '75.
Tom