Petite Sirah Deserves More Respect And Attention

I love Petite Sirah.  When made right it can be extraordinary and it is hardly Petite.  It is big and bold and in your face.  However, the best ones have a great mouthfeel and show some elegance as well.  It has been one of my favorite grapes for a long time.  This post will highlight some of the best Petite Sirahs that we have covered over the last several months.

I am going to open this post with 2 of my favorite Petite Sirahs.  They are made by the same producer.  The winemaker is Carol Shelton and she makes an awesome Petite Sirah from Rockpile called “Rockpile Reserve.”  Now I said 2 wines.  Those 2 options are the 2006 and the 2007 vintages of this wine.  They are both Excellent.  First is the 2006 “Rockpile Reserve” for $40.  It was the best wine that I tried on my trip to California in the fall of 2008.  At the time, I said this wine rocked my world.  So we had to try another bottle of it.  We pulled it out for our most recent blind tasting.  As a group we scored it 93 points and it was just a point below the Carlisle we will cover below.  It is still full-bodied, very well balanced, smooth, and silky.  This time we described its flavors as black raspberry with hints of cherry, vanilla oak, and dark chocolate mixed in.  Its dusty tannins have now settled down and they sail on for a very long time.

Next up is the 2007 “Rockpile Reserve” for $40.  Now this option has just been released or will be shortly.  And like the 2006, I scored it 94 points and labeled it Excellent.  There is a caveat however, this wine is very young and needs some time to breathe.  I noted in the review, that it just got better and better over the 3 to 4 days the bottle was open.  Like the 2006, this wine is very nicely balanced and smooth.  Its flavor profile is a delicious spicy ripe blackberry with notes of blueberry and mild black currant.  There was also a hint of oak in the background.  It is a big time winner and would pair perfectly with a filet mignon from Starks.

(Both these Petites are wine club only wines.  So you will have to call the winery, join the club, and plead with Carol for decent allocation.  For this wine, groveling is not below you)

The next Petite we loved has a good news and bad news story.  The good news is the 2006 Carlisle “Yorktown Highlands” Petite Sirah for $36 is Excellent and it recently won our mini blind tasting of Petite Sirahs.  The bad news is that there was a mere 172 cases made and they are sold out at the winery.  The group found this Petite to be full-bodied, very well balanced, and smooth.  Its flavor profile is a very tasty black raspberry and blueberry blend with notes of black pepper nicely integrated throughout.  The group commented on how complex this wine was.  It shows a refined palate presence and then closes in a big way, which leads us to suggest decanting it for an hour before serving it with a cowboy ribeye.  With a little research on 1000 Corks you can find a bottle or 2 online.

The next wine is a very big wine so it may not be for everyone but I sure liked it.  It finished in third place in the blind tasting with 92 points.  The 2007 Rosenblum Cellars “Pickett Road” Petite Sirah for $35 is a very big boy.  It will even appeal to Port lovers, but it is not quite that big or heavy.  It opens with a huge black raspberry and raisin-like bouquet.  On the palate, this wine is full-bodied and dense.  It displays concentrated blackberry flavors with notes of anise, prune, and walnuts.  This beauty would be perfect for warming you on a cold winter night here in the Northeast.

The next 4 offerings all scored 90 points.  We will start off with the Four Vines 2007 “Heretic” Petite Sirah for $40 from Paso Robles.  This year’s vintage opens with an attractive and aromatic black raspberry bouquet with hints of tobacco, mint, and plum.  On the palate, this wine is full-bodied, very nicely balanced, and coats the mouth with very juicy ripe blackberry and boysenberry flavors.  Tasters of this wine thought this year’s vintage is more of a fruit bomb as opposed to past offerings of this wine.  For instance, the 2006 was a much bigger wine.  However, we did find that with some air, the 2007 was one of the most elegant and refined Petite Sirahs we have tried recently.

Clayhouse has been making terrific Paso Robles based Petite Sirahs for many years.  This year we covered the 2006 “Estate” which costs $25.  We found this offering to be full-bodied, balanced, and very smooth.  Especially on day two.  It displays ripe blackberry flavors with notes of black raspberry, black pepper, and black licorice.  Like the other winning Petite Sirahs we noted that it showed more finesse than most.  I thought it would be a perfect match for Beef Bourguignon.

The Rosenblum 2007 “Rockpile Road Vineyard” Petite Sirah is very different than the Pickett Road.  This wine is more similar to the Clayhouse and Heretic in style.  It is full-bodied and balanced plum and black currant flavors.  A panelist also detected hints of black pepper and oak mixed in.  It is a good option with food, especially pot roast.

The final 90 pointer was the 2007 Jaffurs “Thompson Vineyard” Petite Sirah for $34.  This offering had a bit more acidity than the others so panelists that like that style migrated towards this wine.  The flavor profile was a mild black currant with notes of black raspberry and spice with a little black pepper mixed in as well.  Its moderate dusty tannins make it a good match for a grilled New York strip steak.

Other Very Good Petite Sirahs To Consider:

1) EOS 2006 Petite Sirah “Private Reserve” (Paso Robles, CA) $25 (89)
2) Earthquake 2006 Petite Sirah (Lodi, CA) $28 (89)
3) Epiphany 2005 Petite Sirah “Rodney’s Vineyard” (Santa Barbara, CA) $25 (89)
4) Two Angels 2006 Petite Sirah (High Valley, CA) $25 (88)
5) Fortress 2007 Petite Sirah “Red Hills” (Lake Country, CA) $35 (88)

We hope you enjoyed this post on Petite Sirah and we hope you get a chance to try some of these very tasty wines.  For a complete list of all the Petite Sirahs we recommend, check out our Petite Sirah page on KensWineGuide.com.  If after sampling some of these gems, you turn into a fan of this great grape, you might even want to check out this group and webpage dedicated to fans of the Petite Sirah grape.  It is called PS I Love You.  It is a website chalk full of tidbits and information on Petite Sirah.

Enjoy and Cheers!
Ken