2006 Petite Sirah

For lovers of big, extracted red wines, packed with flavor and fine tannins, this is the variety for you! Not to be confused with Syrah…Petite Sirah was originally discovered by a French botanist Francois Durif, working at the Montpellier Viticultural Institute in southern France. He found this variety growing in a Peloursin vineyard and discovered that it had good resistance to downy mildew and named it for himself, Durif. Unfortunately, the tight clusters were prone to bunch rot and the wines that were produced were considered too big and tannic for the French palate and the variety was eliminated and is no longer found in France. It did make its way to California and other parts of the world where it is known as Petite Sirah. There is nothing “petite” about it, even the berries are very large and the wines can be enormous. The key to user friendliness is patience to allow the seeds to ripen, allowing the tannins to relax.

Through genetics it was determined that this variety was the result of pollination of a Peloursin flower with Syrah pollen. With Petite Sirah mountain and valley floor vineyards producing remarkably different character in recent vintages, we just had to celebrate these different personalities and share them with our friends. To have blended them together would have been a missed opportunity…and so we present two 2006 Petite Sirahs: Pepperland and Muscle Man!

MUSCLE MAN– You want it BIG!? The warmth of the northern valley floor ripened this Muscle Man Petite Sirah into a big burly berry pie of a wine. Inky in color, the wine glass is coated in purple crank case fluid, staining the stainless. Huge and viscous on the palate, mouth coating flavors of ripe blackberry pie will stick to your teeth and linger in a finish that lasts for a half-hour. Do not drink this and drive – you will not fool anyone, it’s hopeless.

PEPPERLAND – Named for its generous offering of crushed white pepper, briar, and ripe berry notes, Pepperland is big on the palate. The mountain fruit acidity imparts an elegance of balance for such a big wine, and assures a fine complement to game, pork, and pasta.

750 ml. $60.00
1.5 L $130.00

SOLD OUT CURRENT VINTAGE - 2007 PETITE SIRAH