We tried last night (2/7/07) Some New PetiteSirahs:
1. ShannonRidgeVnyds TwoAngels PetiteSirah LakeCnty (?%) C&B by TwoAngels/Oakville 2003:
Black color; very strong plummy/licorice some Am.oaked bit closed nose; soft/fat/porky
plummy/licorice some vanilla/oak flavor; med.short bit tannic/astringent soft/porky
licorice/plummy oaked finish; bit on the simple side and too porky. $26.00
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2. AugustBriggs LakeCnty PetiteSirah (15.3%) 2004: Black color; strong perfumed/aromatic/
peppery/spicy berry/plummy some toasty/oak lovely nose; soft rather tannic strong
plummy/berry rather toasty/oak interesting flavor; long rather tannic/hard plummy/berry/
licorice some toasty/charred/oak/pungent finish; needs 2-5 yrs; quite an attractive
PS if a bit pricey. $36.00
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3. Barnwood SantaBarbaraCnty LongShadow PetiteSirah (14.1%; http://www.BarnwoodWine.com) 2004:
Black color; strong plummy/blackberry/boysenberry/jammy/very ripe some minerally/
spicy bit Fr.oak/vanilla attractive nose; very soft ripe/overripe plummy/boysenberry/
very jammy slight spicy some vanilla/oak flavor; med.long soft/porky/fat plummy/
jammy/boysenberry/overripe finish w/ little tannins; attractive if overripe nose
but lacks structure on the palate; Oz in style; fairly priced at $18.00
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4. Consilience SantaBarbaraCnty PetiteSirah (16.5%) 2004: Black color; strong toasty/oak
rather hot/alcoholic/fumey slight plummy/overripe nose; soft/fat/porky very hot/fumey/
alcoholic slight plummy/jammy/Smuckers/overripe rather toasty/oak flavor; med.long
plummy/overripe rather hot/fumey finish w/ some tannins; a bit lacking in fruit,
rather overripe in character and quite hot & fumey. $24.00
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5. RosenblumCllrs RhodesVnyd/RedwoodVlly PS (15.7%; http://www.RosenblumCllrs.com) 2004: Black
color; strong vanilla/oaked ripe/PS/plummy/peppery loads of fruit nose; soft/lush
boysenberry/plummy/blackberry huge fruit strong vanilla/oak flavor; long ripe some
tannic loads of plummy/boysenberry/fruit/spicy/peppery finish; needs several yrs; bit
lacking in structure but loads of PS fruit. $25.00
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6. DavidFulton PetiteSirah NapaVlly (EB; 15.5%) 2002: Black color; spme toasty/vanilla/oak
some peppery/plummy some old vines/dusty attractive nose; soft/lush licorice/plummy/
blackberry/PS some buttery/vanilla/oak bit tannic flavor; long ripe/peppery fairly
plummy/blackberry vanilla/toasty/buttery/oak finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs;
quite good PS if a bit on the pricey side. $40.00
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7. Ridge Calif PetiteSirah DynamiteHill/YorkCreekVnyd/SpringMtnDistrict (14.6%; 40 brls;
Drk: 6/04-6/19) 2002: Black color; strong peppery/blackberry/boysenberry/PS bit pungent/
toasty/vanilla/oak rather perfumed nose; bit tannic bit alcoholic vanilla/smokey/toasty/
oak huge/extracted blackberry/peppery/spicy some dusty/old vines flavor; very long rather
tannic big/extracted/spicy/blackberry/peppery some pungent/smokey/oak finish; very big
wine that needs age; one of the best Ridge PSs of late; very good price at $30.00
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8. Turley RattlesnakeRidge/HowellMtn PetiteSirah (15.2%) 2004: Very black color; beautiful/
exotic cracked black pepper/blackberry some charred/toasty/roasted/oak complex nose; rather
tannic huge/extracted intense cracked black pepper intense blackberry/boysenberry/spicy
flavor; very long cracked black pepper intense blackberry/boysenberry loads of fruit finish
w/ ample tannins; very structured and needs age; should go at least 10 yrs; very exotic/
interesting PS. $48.50
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9. Turley NapaVlly LibraryVnyd PS (15.3%) 2003: Black color; very intense blackberry/boysenberry
huge fruit light toasty/oak nose; soft huge fruit/blackberry/boysenberry light toasty/oak
smooth/balanced/lush flavor; very long/lush blackberry/boysenberry/PS huge fruit bit tannic
finish; huge PS fruit, bit simpler than to '03. $42.50
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10. Turley NapaVlly PetiteSirah LibraryVnyd (15.5%) 2004: Black color; rather roasted/black
pepper/pungent ripe blackberry/boysenberry/PS light toasty/oak some complex nose; soft/lush
some black pepper/pungent light toasty/oak big/blackberry/boysenberry/PS bit more complex
flavor; rather tannic huge/blackberry/boysenberry/PS some black pepper finish; needs
2-6 yrs; terrific huge PS. $43.00
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11. Turley TurleyEstate/NapaVlly PetiteSirah (14.6%) 2004: Black color; beautiful bit peppery/
smoked/charred/pungent toasty/oak intense boysenberry/blackberry/PS complex some spicy/
complex nose; soft/lush/mouthfilling huge blackberry/boysenberry/PS some toasty/smokey
spicy/peppery slight tannic flavor; very long intense/extracted boysenberry/blackberry/
ripe/PS some tannic finish; needs 2-6 yrs; a big huge extracted PS. $42.50
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12. Turley NapaVlly HayneVnyd PS (15.0%) 2003: Black color; huge bit alcoholic/hot intense
blackberry/boysenberry/PS slight peppery/spicy huge fruit light toasty/oak nose; somewhat
hot/alcoholic huge/blackberry/boysenberry/PS light toasty/oak light spicy/peppery bit
earthy/dusty flavor; very long intense/boysenberry/blackberry/PS some alcoholic bit dusty
fairly tannic finish; needs much age. $79.50
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13. Turley NapaVlly PetiteSirah HayneVnyd (15.0%) 2004: Very black/opaque color; more juicy/
jammy very intense blackberry/boysenberry/PS/slight peppery very ripe/lush huge fruit nose;
soft very ripe/overripe/lush extracted boysenberry/blackberry/jammy/spicy/peppery/plummy
huge fruit flavor; very long/lingering some tannic jammy/boysenberry/blackberry/PS slight
peppery finish w/ some tannins underneath; needs 2-8 yrs; killer PS but not worth the
tariff over the other Turleys. $80.00
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14. Jaffurs ThompsonVnyd/SantaBarbaraCnty PetiteSirah (ArchibaldCuvee; 15.8%) 2005: Very black
to extreme black color; huge/ripe blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/perfumed loads of fruit
nose; tart huge/rich/extracted very spicy/blackberry/boysenberry/PS/peppery some toasty/
smokey/oak loads of fruit flavor; very long/lingering huge/very spicy/blackberry/boysenberry/
PS/peppery finish w/ ample tannins; needs 2-8 yrs; huge/intense fruit rare for PS; a stunning
example of PS. $28.50
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15. Callaway Vnyd&Wnry PetiteSirah (EB; 13.5%) 1974: Med.dark color; slight mousy/earthy/old
wine/decayed leaves rather toasty/smokey/pungent/charred slight spicy/peppery some complex
slight alcoholic nose; soft/smooth/velvety burnt/charred/oak/pungent/forest fire some tarry/
pungent slight earthy/decayed leaves some complex flavor; med.long smooth/elegant/complex
some tarry/earthy/pungent/smokey bit earthy/decayed leaves finish w/ light tannins; quite
an interesting wine a bit like old Nebbiolo; on the downside but quite smooth. Blair's
mystery wine.
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More rambling thoughts from the BloodyPulpit:
1. Plows: Being a Kansas plowboy, I know a thing or two about plows. We're big on tools
like that. I happened to serve the Rosenblum & the Fulton together. Both of them
have a drawing of the Fulton plow on them. Kent's plow is an old one he has sitting
there on his LoneTree property. DavidFulton was the founder of FultonWnry. It was
inherited 10 yrs ago by FultonMather, the great grandson of David. David was the
inventor of the Fulton plow, the first one-horse plow that allowed the farmers then in
the middle 1800's to cultivate between their rows of vines. It became wildly popular
w/ small farmers who could only afford one horse. I remember when ol'man McGee, down
the street, brought his horse and Fulton plow to our back yard and plowed up the
ground for our garden, back when I was young (not so long ago).
Thus endeth today's lecture on plows. Next week we'll talk about the history
of manure spreaders, another tool on which I have some expertise.
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2. Consilience: This is one winery I have trouble with. So many of their wines are way
too alcoholic and over the top and fumey. And then, every once in awhile, I'll hit
one I really like. But the odds seem to be worse than Burgundy.
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3. Callaway PS: MyMyMy...this wine was a blast from the past. Back in the early '70's, Ely
Callaway started the first real planting down in the Temecula. He of the shirt and
golf club whacker fame. In addition to mostly whites (alas, no Viognier yet), he also
planted Cabernet and PetiteSirah. Those wines were some of the blackest wines I ever
done see'd. I just knew that they'd live forever. Ely's big schtick was the use of small
German oak. It was well toasted and gave the wines a rather bizarre flavor, in addition
to the strange terroir flavors. The were awfully bizarre reds and were highly villified
by the wine press for their lack of typicity. Just way too strange for most folks.
Eventually, they gave up and pulled all those red vines and focused on the whites.
Alas, my btls have long since gone. Blair had one more left and brought it. Although
it wasn't a killer PS, it was quite interesting because of its background. It was one
of those very rare old Calif reds where the tannins had resolved very well and the wine
didn't end up tasting old/tired and dried out/astringent. It still had some life in it
and kinda piroetted across the palate; something PetiteSirahs seldom do.
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4. Turley PS: I've come to the realization that I actually like the PSs better than I like
the Zins, as a rule. They are usually a bit more restrained in alcohol (though I find
most of the Turley wines carry the alcohol well and are, generally, not over-the-top)
and often more structured. And, 'cept for the Hayne, not unreasonably priced. Ehren
manages to get more fruit extraction than most from his PS, yet the tannin levels seem
pretty restrained.
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5. Jaffurs PS: This is consistently one incredible PS; one of the best made in Calif. Huge
and packed w/ fruit, yet not over-the-top I think. Should you ever encounter a btl
of this wine w/ an "Archibald Cuvee" stamp on the label, that one of the many btls that
came to LosAlamos. The "Archibald Cuvee" is a tribute to LarryArchibald's contribution
to the making of this wine. He had the very important job of sorting...out the earwigs
that came in with the grapes. The pay is pretty lousy ($0/hr), but the fringe benefits
are to die for...all the earwigs you can eat for lunch.
TomHill
