Volume 34, Issue 9: July 2010 In a slow but continuing climb back to full grace in California, this year’s versions of Petite Sirah edge closer to what might be called “brawny accessibility”. It matters not that massively tannic Petite Sirah can age for a couple of decades or more (a thesis we will test one of these days with wine from our cellars going all the way back to the early 70s). What matters is that this muscular wine, when not littered with unmannerly astringency, has a center of fruit that cuts through its mass and muscle as a mealtime mate to sturdy hunks of savory beef, lamb and venison. With wines of that ilk on the increase, Petite Sirah is likely to continue to gain popularity.
Sort By [Vintage   ][Winery  ] [Rating ][Price ][Appellation ] Good Value Found 54 results. Displaying 1-30. 89 CONCANNON Heritage Petite Sirah Livermore Valley. San Francisco Bay. 2004 $50.00 Long before Petite Sirah gained popularity, Concannon was making it in the Livermore Valley, and when it began to lose its place a couple of dozen years ago, the winery stayed with the grape and were the leading volume producer of it for years. While there may be others who have usurped that one title, no one is going to challenge the place of Concannon as the winery whose stylish versions of the grape were then, and are now today, worthy of emulation. To be sure, this aged, rich wine is no shrinking violet with its with peppery, meaty focus and its broad yet tannic palatal impressions. It is a wine that invites service with rich meats and can age a bit as well. 81 HERINGER Holland Landing Petite Sirah Clarksburg 2005 $21.00 Although its peculiar mix of dried herbs, old leather, earth and souring berries might be charitably called complex, this murky take on Petite is both too tart and too tannic, and it misses any reasonable varietal mark. 78 JUDD'S HILL Old Vine Petite Sirah Lodi 2006 $30.00 Even without its off-putting infusion of stewed vegetation, this heavy, poorly constructed wine is at the same time so fat and so tough that it would be hard to like even with age. It is one that is easy to leave on the shelf. 87 LANGTRY Serpentine Meadow Petite Sirah Guenoc Valley 2006 $40.00 If leaning a little to ripeness, this weighty wine musters a fair bit of dark-berry fruit all the way through, and its accents of sweet oak and cocoa afford it a nice boost in richness. It is not without considerable tannin, but it is never austere or wildly astringent, and its ongoing richness assures mealtime success with hearty hunks of well-seasoned meats. 88 LAVA CAP Granite Hills Reserve Petite Sirah El Dorado 2006 $30.00 Perhaps it is the Zinfandel that has pushed this wine away from Petite Sirah in focus, but whatever the genesis, this one smells more of boysenberry and cranberry than it does of anything one might associate with the variety. It gets tannic and a bit angular in the late going and takes advantage of direct fruit to offset its rustic turn. 89 PARDUCCI True Grit Petite Sirah Mendocino County 2006 $30.00 The Parducci True Grit Petite Sirah has become a perennial CGCW favorite, and the latest again hits the mark as classic Petite Sirah. Big and bold and showing plenty of varietal sinew and swagger, it balances plentiful blackberry fruit against its considerable tannins and never quite crosses the line into excessive toughness. It seems certain to grow for a decade or more but is so rich that forgiving fans of the grape will find lots to like in the shorter term. 83 PEDRONCELLI Petite Sirah Dry Creek Valley 2006 $15.00 A bit tense and nervy on the nose with a sparse smattering of woody spice, this oddly hollow, decidedly crude customer lacks clear fruity direction right from the start and fails to find it as sere, tannin-induced dryness becomes its most lasting trait. 84 RETRO Old Vine Petite Sirah Howell Mountain 2006 $45.00 While it may not claim high alcohol, this fat and very full-bodied wine is in all ways fixed on ripeness, and its meager glimmers of dried-berry fruit are simply overwhelmed by dark chocolate and fierce, tongue-numbing tannins. It may be varietal, but it lacks a sense of balance and control, and it cannot but grow ever drier and drier with time. 86 CONCANNON Captain Joe's Petite Sirah Livermore Valley 2006 $30.00 It may be fair to complain that this wine compares a touch too closely with the producer's Nina's Cuvée in that its aromas show more interest that do its flavors, but, in this instance, it is a bit better filled and weathers its formidable finishing astringency without giving up. Beauty, however, is now and will remain well out of its reach, and it is a wine that needs tagging for drinking with rustic fare. 85 CONCANNON Nina's Cuvée Petite Sirah Livermore Valley 2006 $30.00 There is a lot to like in the complex and concentrated ripe-berry nose of this very promising wine, but promise is not met on the palate, and the its limited flavors come up surprisingly shallow and lacking in range. If it is slightly lighter in tannin by varietal standards, its truncated finish is dry and puckery owing to the absence of fruit. 88 CLAYHOUSE Estate Petite Sirah Paso Robles 2006 $23.00 Ripe and slightly blousy in its aromas of blackberries with a tinge of a somewhat syrupy component, this full-bodied wine is noticeably more firmly and tightly structured on the palate even though its flavors do drift in the direction of high ripeness. Their berry-like focus is joined by a hint of tea leaf and by typical tannins that argue against near-term drinking. 92 CONCANNON Reserve Petite Sirah Livermore Valley 2006 $38.00 Our easy pick as the best of the current Concannon bunch, this deep and very outgoing effort offers up lots of ripe, chocolate-tinged, berry-like fruit graced with highlights of sweet oak and classic peppery spice. Full-bodied, fleshy and still fairly rugged, it comes complete with a good dose of gruff tannin, yet it is not ever coarse or overly tough. It is, in fact, both vital and balanced, and its combination of structure and fruity drive tag it as one to wait on for at least five or six years. 87 GRGICH HILLS Miljenko's Vineyard Petite Sirah Napa Valley 2006 $45.00 Resiny, sinewy, ripe and tough-smelling, if such a thing is possible, this wine flirts with disappointment in the low level of fruit shown by its aromas and with its drying, alum-like pucker on the palate. Those willing to wait for it to open up are going to need a half decade of patience but should be rewarded with a more evenly shaped wine. 86 BERRYESSA GAP Reserve Petite Sirah Yolo County 2006 $18.00 It would be hard to argue that this wine is especially revealing of classic Petite, but its milder manner and accessible, slightly strawberry-like fruit are far from being liabilities. It slowly gives ground to back-palate tannins and gets a bit gritty and sere at the end, but its fruit never quite fades from view and has a fair chance of surviving the half-dozen or so years of cellaring that seems called for here. 89 BOGLE Phantom Petite Sirah California 2006 $16.00 GOOD VALUE This Petite Sirah-based blend is fairly supple and nicely balanced on the palate with not a hair out of place. Its blackberryish fruit notes come with mildly spicy and minerally nuances, and its nice background lift from supportive oak helps out by bringing a spot of richness to the proceedings. Somewhat tannic but not overly so, this wine rates as a great buy now and a likeable wine both today and if given some three to five years to soften. 85 BOGLE Petite Sirah California 2006 $11.00 GOOD VALUE You have to hand it to Bogle-three solid wines at their stated prices. This one is seemingly a bit stiffer than its 2007 mate above and less dense in its fruit, but it has clean, bright, direct character and decent balance, and if not Petite Sirah in the classic, brawny manner, it is a wholly useful wine for lighter red meat dishes. 87 URSA Shell Creek Vineyards Petite Sirah Paso Robles 2006 $22.00 While this bottling displays a clear bias to ripeness, neither its chocolaty leanings nor its sizeable tannins get in the way of its expression of well-defined, somewhat peppery, blackberry fruit. Fans of the grape will find its astringency forgivable and, in fact, very much to the varietal point, and those with less tolerance to Petite Sirah toughness should find it a useful partner to savory stews in but a few years. 85 URSA Old Vines Reserve. Shell Creek Vineyard. Petite Sirah Paso Robles 2006 $30.00 If rife with dark chocolate and very dense on the palate, this brawny wine comes up short on the fruity essentials. It is full-bodied, fairly tough and a touch thick in feel, and it is too soon blunted by bitter back-end tannins and finishes with a bit of a thud. 85 URSA Vineyard Blend Petite Sirah California 2006 $16.00 But for its slightly outsized tannins, this bottling says little about Petite Sirah. It smacks loosely of cherries and red berries and is trimmed with a spark of acidy brightness. A bit lighter in body than is the varietal norm, it gets a little too puckery for its own good at the finish. 84 URSA Naggiar Vineyards Petite Sirah Sierra Foothills 2006 $22.00 The softest and ripest of the four Ursa offerings, this bottling starts out with a solidly spicy Petite Sirah nose, but its comes up heavy and flat on the palate with nominal tannins and a bit of heat surpassing its fleeting fruit. 87 TRINITAS Old Vine Petite Sirah Lodi 2006 $22.00 A bit of heavy-handedness shows up in this rich wine, but it has enough bacony, ripe blackberry, meaty character at its heart to overcome that minor distraction. It is, instead, full and supple at the front of the palate with a noticeable but not abrasive streak of expected astringency. It could use a few years of cellar aging but does not demand it. 91 TRUE VINE Petite Sirah California 2006 $38.00 Although brooding and backward at first and a wine with no dearth of tannin, this brawny youngster possesses a wealth of rich fruit, and its sinewy toughness becomes easy to forgive. Ripe and spicy and redolent of blackberries from front to back, this is a solid and serious wine that makes no pretense to being other than pure Petite Sirah, and, as tough as it is now, it has the depth to develop for years and easily hold for at least a decade or two. 87 HERINGER Heringer Vineyards Petite Sirah Clarksburg 2006 $25.00 Far and away the preferred of the Heringer bottlings, this hefty, well-ripened wine is very much fixed on the peppery, blackberry traits of Petite Sirah and has the fruity substance to effectively buffer its undisguised tannins. Gruff now and likely to be later as well, it will take well to aging and should develop for another five to ten years. 87 TRUE VINE Estate Petite Sirah El Dorado County 2007 $28.00 Ripeness is as prominent as keenly defined fruit here, yet this bottling conveys a certain accessible richness with suggestions of blackberries, earthy spice and chocolate running its length. It toughens up as pushy tannins take hold, but it does not dry out, and it has the concentration and depth to carry it for a good eight to ten years. 84 VICTOR HUGO Petite Sirah Paso Robles 2007 $22.00 Moderately fruit and sweetly oaked at first sniff, then revealing itself to be somewhat less than fully ripened in its fruit, this wine is medium-full in the mouth and somewhat stiff in texture. Initial flavors of blackberries give ground to green acidity by mid-palate and offer limited hope for the future. 91 VINA ROBLES Jardine Petite Sirah Paso Robles 2007 $26.00 Let us start by saying that this is most definitely not a wine for the faint of heart, but then Petite Sirah is rarely chosen for its delicacy. This one is a big, expressive, fully-ripened version that seems sure to scare off those cannot abide high-alcohol reds, but the rest of us will find plenty to like in its deep, genuinely juicy blackberry fruit. It does not wander into chocolaty excess and is surprisingly well-balanced for the sizeable wine that it is, and, while it has a full complement of varietal tannin, it is no tougher than young Petite should be. Look for five to ten years of certain improvement. 84 CANIS MAJOR Petite Sirah Dry Creek Valley 2007 $25.00 To its credit, this very dense and highly ripened Petite Sirah is wholly on point with respect to varietal sinew and strength, but it is undermined by a marked streak of sourness, and its combination of stiffening acids and hard-edged tannins leaves it well short of success. 90 CLAYHOUSE Show Pony. Red Cedar Vineyard. Petite Sirah Paso Robles 2007 $40.00 Rich and ripe in the best, generous manner of the wines from this area, the Show Pony Petite Sirah smells of dark berries with whiffs of dried violet, milk chocolate, minerally spice and a hint of dried grape sweetness. Full and rich on the palate, deep, very ripe and intense in flavor and fleshy to the point that some will find it too soft for their liking, this wine has plenty of appeal to fans of big, well-stuffed wines. Try it with chewy hunks of well-spiced lamb or beef. 85 BOGLE Petite Sirah California 2007 $11.00 GOOD VALUE If you do not mind a little caramel heading to molasses in your medium-bodied Petite Sirah, and you are not one who requires mass and muscle as part of the deal, then this direct, easy-going effort will reward both your palate and your pocketbook. 90 AVER FAMILY Hope Petite Sirah California 2007 $35.00 An intriguing blend, this wine uses Petite Sirah as the structural frame upon which is hung more expressive fruit than the variety typically manages. Its blackberry, black pepper, caramel/vanilla notes in its aromas are paralleled by an equally attractive, richly cast set of flavors whose light overlay of chocolate simply adds to the wine's ability to charm. With Petite Sirah reduced in scale here, the wine keeps its tannins well in check, and while it can grow with aging, it needs only a bit.
Tasting Note View
 
+Rating System
 THREE STARS:(95-98 points) An exceptional wine. Worth a special search of the market.
 TWO STARS:(91-94 points) A highly distinctive wine. Likely to be memorable.
 ONE STAR:(87-90 points) Fine example of a type or style of wine. Without notable flaws.
Note: Wines not marked with stars are often delightful wines. Each has unique virtues and any of these wines may be the best wine to serve your needs based on value, availability or for your dining and taste preferences.
95-98 3 Stars
91-94 2 Stars
87-90 1 Star
80-86 Wines of varying quality and value. See tasting notes for details.
70-79 Flawed wines to be avoided.
+Ageworthiness
 Drinkable now. Unlikely to improve with further aging.
 Drinkable now. Further bottle aging can improve this wine.
 Cellar for future drinking. Wine will improve with bottle aging.
 Not suitable for drinking.
+Food & Wine Pairings
 Soft and fruity wine Quaffable by itself or with light foods.
 Crisp white. Medium acid and dry. Fish or delicate flavored foods.
 Mellow white. Dry to slightly sweet. Enough acid for white meats.
 Full and balanced dry white. Try with rich seafood and fowl dishes.
 Light Red and powerhouse White. Fowl, veal and light meats.
 Medium Red. Balanced, good depth, medium tannin. Beef and lamb.
 Robust Red. Full tannin, intense flavors. For highly spiced meat dishes.
 Sweet Dessert wine. Enjoyable by itself or with sweet desserts.
+Availability
 Generally available in most markets.
 Limited production and/or limited geographic distribution.
 Very limited availability.
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