Petite Sirah California’s unsung hero - Part 1

posted by Gregory in Snooth, Wine

 Say Wha? You say? No it’s true, well as true as something like this can be.

Petite Sirah, aka Duriff, has toiled in anonymity for years. It’s a solid blending grape and has added punch and color to some of the greatest bottles of jug wine ever to come out of California. It survived prohibition being a thick skinned solution to shipping woes.  While Petite Sirah has had trouble gaining a following we are at least blessed with these old vine beuties, much of them dry’farmed, head pruned relics of a day gone by.

This stubborn vine that refuses to quit has a bit of a mixed past. A cross of Peloursin and Syrah, and named for it’s resemblance to the “petite” clone of Syrah, Petty is slowly establishing itself as a premium Wine and earning the respect it deserves. From the first varietally labeled bottle, Concannon’s 1961, to today’s broad range of  producers, it’s been a long, slow journey.

So we have we arrived? Never before have so many high quality Petites been available, and at such reasonable price points. One of the beautiful things that Petites offer are tremendously long drinking windows. For example, last night I enjoyed a 1987 Louis Martini Proprietors Reserve Petite Sirah that remained purple and rich with just a hint of development. If you had told me the wine was a 2004 I would not have been surprised. The wine continued to offer wonderfully ripe, round fruit in classic PS style and had just a subtle layer of tertiary complexity enhancing the black pepper spice and earth note the wines are famous for.

When young Petite Sirah has a rich yet chewy texture and a nice peppery note to the black berried fruit. There can be an almost starchy green note that seems to stick around for a few years in some cases and of course there is the black color. In the mouth the wines almost always have wonderful acidity and surprisingly modest alcohol, figure 13.5 to 14%. This results in a wonderfully drinkable yet large scaled wine, perfect for barbecues and grilling.

And the knock? Well the wine are not the most complex and while there is some development with age the appeal here is really that wonderful fruit. I’ve had some exceptions, old Ridge, Stag’s Leap and  Stevenot, that were more complex than I would have imagined, but when a Petite is right, and balanced, I can forgive it’s lack of hyper complexity. After-all sometimes one just wants a damn good bottle of wine that one doesn’t have to think about to enjoy. And if that’s what you’re looking for I urge you to take a look at Petite Sirah!

Petite on a budget

1) Bogle 2006 California Petite Sirah $12 13.5%

Very sweet, tarry nose with plenty of ash, wood spice and cream notes. Fat and formless on entry then shows some bright acid that supports purple fruit with a nice brambly edge. Lots of fruit and flavor if very simple. Tannins are relatively soft and show through a bit more on the short finish that shows a fair amount of unintegrated acid. 83pts

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2) Lost Angel Central Coast Petite Sirah 2006 $15 13.5%

A nice nose that combines a bit of wood with chocolate twizzler, candied black cherry fruit and a significant vegetal/fermented tea tone a touch of black pepper and a hint of barnyard.  Sweet entry but the wine has nice focus with very ripe tannins and acid that pulls this into the sour cherry/sour plum and blueberry end of the fruit spectrum.  Refreshing feel and there’s lots of fruit to back it up. Perhaps a touch  sweet but in a crowd pleasing style. 86pts

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3) Parducci Mendocino Petite Sirah 2006 $12 13.5%

A nice note of cured meats with a strong tea note then some spicy wood tones and plenty of white pepper tinged black plum and crystallized black berry fruits and even an edge of dried rose. Inky on the palate with an extracted feel up front. Nicely tannic with good supporting acids and a definite milk chocolate and toast top note to the black fruits. This thins out noticeably on the mid-palate turning a bit dilute yet redeems itself with a moderately long finish with a bit of spice complimenting lurking blackberry fruits with a lovely brisk mineral finale that cleanses the mouth. Not fruity and eminently drinkable 87pts Barbecue Quaffing Value!

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Paso Robles Petite Sirah

4) Vina Robles Jardine Petite Sirah 2006 $24 14.9%

Very black spiced nose with plenty of anise tinged medicinal, tarry, wood spice, a hint of toasted coconut and jammy boysenberry fruit with a starchy green top note.  Rich and chewy in the mouth with plenty of polished tannin yet plenty of fruit to buffer it, in fact this is very well balanced for it’s size. Black raspberry and dried plum notes are nicely complimented by the spicy wood nuances and a strong black tea note. Finishes with a more typical cherry vanilla tone and a strong tar finale.  A lot of depth here but at a very early stage in this wine’s evolution. Feels inky yet polished and refined so I expect this will improve with a few years in the cellar. 89pts

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5) Victor Hugo Petite Sirah 2006 $24 13.8%

Nice nose, spicy oak clove and ginger notes with a hint of black pepper, black cherry, lime leaf, anise seed, touch brambly.  Sweetly fruited entry then puts on a fair amount of structure with lots of ripe tannins and balancing acidity. This is a touch spicy and has an accentuating note of vanilla  over big grapey fruit with a touch of leather and earth on top. Nice finish is just a touch rustic and tannic but with good length and appealingly earthy tones and a touch of blueberry fruit and perhaps a whisper of chocolate on the powerful, raw finish 90pts

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6) Eos Estate Petite Sirah 2006 $20 13.5%

Very chocolaty nose with white pepper, cured meats, ground coffee and dried cherry tones.  A little bit of sweet tea and flowers in the background,  lots of complexity but in a fresh, clean style.  Real polish on entry with the acid on top of fairly rich  fruit with nicely enmeshed tannins. Nice fruit here, definitely not a sweet style but with nice fresh black cherry and black currant tones.  Really well balanced and fresh feeling this doesn’t seem tiring to drink. A touch inky and blocky on the fairly long finish that offers up nice hints of tea, candied orange peel and licorice. 91pts

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Lodi Petite Sirah

7) Harney Lane Petite Sirah 2006 $24 15.8%

A bit jammy with powdered sugar tones and a bit of evident heat on the nose. It smells earthy, dense and not particularly open with a strong grilled meat and black pepper salami nose.  Drying and like a black hole in the mouth but with surprising elegance.  Pretty tight at this point and one can only extrapolate where this might go but it has tannin to burn yet possesses a wonderful mouthfeel. Even the finish is more about intensity than actual flavor but there seems to be plenty of dark berry fruit hiding behind these lovely  crisp tannins but man they need time to mellow. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this really blossom in time. Today a tough 88pts but promising.

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8) Judds Hill Petite Sirah 2005 $30 14.5%

Classic petite nose of dark fruit, earth, autumnal vegetal tones, beet root, cola notes touch of wood, gamy, raw veal, sweet black raspberry candy, the wood gets the upper hand though.  A bit soft on entry and fluid through the midpalate but there are plenty of tannins that clamp down on the finish. This has a real chocolaty tone in the mouth and there’s big ball of dark cocoa tinged  fruit lurking but the wood treatment is a bit heavy at the moment leading to a chocolate and mint marshmallow finish. 88pts

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9) Mettler Petite Sirah 2005 $20 14.2%

Deep nose has nice notes of crushed currants, spice, tree bark, red currants, earth, clay, and subtle medicinal/menthol tones with a hint of curing tobacco. Big and bright in the mouth with the depth and richness that PS can deliver yet very little fat or flash. This is  deep and plush with  muscular fruit and ripe tannins. There’s a floral almost rose like note in the mouth with lots of earthy spice framing the black currant and mulberry fruit.  Really well balanced particularly since the simplicity and rusticity of PS has not been entirely finessed away. Lovely freshness with a nice licorice/menthol medicinal tone and plenty of milk chocolate notes on the moderately long finish. Embryonic but super stuff even now. 94pts  Wine of the night!

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Napa Valley Petite Sirah

10) Stanton St Helena Petite Sirah 2006 $45 14.5%

Wow this has fine fruit tones on the nose with wonderful depth. This is very ripe yet not over-ripe with well integrated toasty oak and nuanced floral tones as well as notes of ink, blackberry liquor/syrup, macerated flowers, cedar, vanilla minor note, musk, bitter roots and earth. Polished yet big and round. Slippery in the mouth but in a good way with excellent balance and old-vine intensity. The flavors are layered with sweet boysenberry/blueberry fruits dominating the palate and minor notes of spice, herbs a subtle vegetal/green bean tone, shaved bitter chocolate and espresso crema tones. A great crisp finish tops everything off. 92pts

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11) Girard Petite Sirah 2006 $30 14.5%

Very dried floral nose at first then turned medicinal and earthy with a macerated black plum fruitiness and plenty of spicy berry notes. Soft and juicy with a mouthfilling quality. This is a little loose yet it’s structurally quite sound with lovely blueberry toned fruit and nice underlying wood spice tones that meld perfectly with the fruit. There’s a nice vanilla/bay note that extends to the finish and an accent of chocolate twizzler that turn a bit redder on the finish. The tannins really pop on the finish as well. This needs some time to come together but is an attractive package if not terribly varietal. 90pts

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12) Miner  Petite Sirah 2005 $40 14.4%

Inky yet crisp smelling with a touch of sulfur to lose. Smells lightly cherried and very tarry with plenty of prosciutto and grilled meats. Quite elegant in the mouth with a decidedly black cherry fruit profile. Lot’s of tannins but well balanced with a rather refined feel and a distinct lack of extraction which keeps it light on it’s feet. Juicy and focused on the finish. Which has solid length and a nice touch of minerality/chalkiness. A claret styled PS with wonderful fruit and balance destined for a long life. 91pts

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Gregory Dal Piaz

Community Manager

Snooth

 

Wine of the week - 1994 Ridge Monte Bello

posted by Gregory in Snooth, Wine

Ok so I’m cheating a bit here, this is not the label of the wine I drank. The label of my bottle was in tatters as it so happens. I bought several cases of this wine on release and thoughtlessly left them in their cardboard cases until, years later, those self same cases collapsed into a pile of damp paper pulp and scarily scarred bottles.

Fortunately the wine in the bottle  was unharmed by all this.

As you might know, and can quickly tell by looking at a typical Monte Bello label this Californian Icon is a classic Bordeaux blend with varying proportions of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petite Verdot as dictated by each vintages unique conditions. This blend not only affords Ridge some flexibility each year but also, counterintuitively,  accounts for the amazingly consistent and complex performances these wines deliver.

In the case of this 1994 the blend is 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 9% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc that came in at a modest but effective 12.7% alcohol, low by today’s standards. While the Monte Bello is frequently included with and compared to Cabernet Sauvignon wines from California it can neither be labeled as Cabernet, nor would it want to be. It has firmly established itself as one of the finest wines produced in this country and it’s uniqueness stems as much from it’s terrior and blend as from it’s production. Forgoing the temptation to bottle Monte Bello as a Cabernet, which would require the wine to be a minimum of 85% Cabernet, and continuing to rely on American Oak barrels almost exclusively have been two risky yet rewarding decisions made at Ridge over the years.

Judging by what happens to the wine in the bottle one can’t really argue with the logic.

1994 was a brilliant vintage for many in California blessed with a long growing season and plenty of hang time for the grapes. The harvest was blessed by a cool spell then a return of warmth during the month of October. This allowed the grapes to ripen slowly and completely while  keeping sugar acid levels in balance and under control. Apon release this was both impressive and deceptive. the balance was so precise that it may have fooled some folks into think the wine was a bit of a light weight. The low alcohol level, only 1995, which was tasted side by side with this, and the 1998 were lower during the decade of the 90’s, may also have contributed to this.

It’s this very balance and natural acidity that today allows this wine to caress the palate and explode in the mouth with such remarkably vibrant flavors. The 1994 Monte Bello has hit it’s peak and it is now offering all it can.The nose needs some time to fully unfurls itself after its stint in the bottle but once it gets going it offers up classic notes of earth and herbs strongly backed by balanced notes of American oak and wild blackberries. There are lovely hints of cocoa powder, spearmint, and beef with enticing top note of forest floor that keeps one coming back for just one more sniff.

In the mouth this is simply spectacular! The mouth watering acids and crisp tannins are in absolute harmony and frame the cassis and blackberry fruit perfectly offering exceptional clarity and a lively, transparent feel.  If one could fault this for anything perhaps someone might consider it to be a touch simple but it’s just to damn fun to drink to worry about that. Someone recently asked for a single word that describes what I want in a bottle of wine. My response? Happiness. This wine is packed with happiness!

So what about that 1995 Monte Bello you ask?

Well this vintage is an entirely different beast. Certainly more vegetal on the nose with a much heavier overlay of toasty, smoky oak, earth and tea notes. There’s a touch of leather here as well and a more obvious eucalyptus tone. In the mouth the structural elements are both more formidable and less well integrated than with the 1994 and that keeps the wine a bit blocky and short.  The fruit is more towards the red end of the spectrum but continues to be dominated by the tannins which turn a bit drying towards the back end. This needs time but it lacks some of the purity and elegance that propels the 94 to such heights.

It was a treat to try them both and a not so subtle reminder that I don’t own enough Monte Bello. I’ve been on an older California wine kick as of late. Many of the wines from the 70’s, 80’s and even early 90’s represent the greatest values in the marketplace today for sheer fun! I intend to keep buying up what I can and sharing when I can.

If wines like these interest you please take a look at our plans for an mature Californian wine dinner coming up Sunday May 31st here in New York City. I hope you can join us but if not stay tuned for a complete report.

Gregory Dal Piaz

Community Manager

Snooth

A Second Chance - Casa de Sonoma Cabernet Bottled in 1947

posted by Gregory in Snooth, Wine Industry, Wine

It’s not often that one gets a second chance with wines like this.  Way back when, in my early years of wine discovery I had the distinct fortune of being able to patronize a small wine shop in Watermill New York. I forget the name of the shop, Watermill Wines I would guess, but do recall the proprietor, George.

Watermill, being part of the Hamptons, had a split personality in the 1980’s. It was frenetic resort community for 90 days of the year, who can forget Danceteria in Watermill, and a lazy, farming and fishing community for the remainder of the year. A desolate and insular community with modest needs for a fine wine store at that.

Well George took full advantage of his winter doldrums and would rent a trailer and drive his truck out to California each year to stock up on exotic and rare wines. Wines that otherwise would never see the light of a summer day in the Hamptons. Wines that appeared, to the eyes of a budding aficionado, like treasures only seen in the few, out of print, books that together constituted the entire resource for exploring California wines. Wines that short of going to California, or George’s unassuming Watermill wine shop, would have to remain hidden mysteries

And so it was that I first stumbled into George’s, hidden as it was off Montauk highway, in search of something new to excite my palate. Like many shops of the times there were cases of wines artfully arrayed in the front window, albeit with an aged film of yellow plastic, no doubt applied as some magical defense mechanism to protect the inexpensive Chianti and Chablis display wines from the ruinous rays of the sun.

I was then, as I remain today, primarily interested in Italian wines, and let me tell you George’s shop was woefully deficient in that department. But I was nothing if not thorough so I began to scan the rack just beyond the register. Hmmm, this was different. 1974 Heitz Martha’s, 1971 BV Georges de la Tour, 1968 Montebello, some funky bottle of Casa de Sonoma Cabernet bottled in 1947 but just recently recorked. Wow, what was going on here?

Of course the crazy selection got me interested and George took ample time to answer my questions. To make a long story short George took very kindly to a young, enthusiastic wine geek and allowed me to exchange some organizational activities for tremendous discounts on wine. I still have bottles from George like the 1975 Gemello Mountain Cabernet, 1974 Inglenook Charbono and 1977 Montevina Special Selection Zinfandel that were glorious stepping stones on my path to full fledged wine geekdom but I never was able to get him to cut me a deal on those bottles kept close at hand by the register.

The Casa De Sonoma held a particular fascination for me. Bottled in 1947, it said so right on the label, yet recorked and released only in 1982, this would easily be the oldest California wine I would have tried but the price was a breathtaking $40. That’s in 1985 folks, like I said breathtaking. I was 20 and that $40 would have bought cases of beer, heck you could even get a case of wine for that money, and decent wine at that.

I discussed the bottle with George several times, holding it and taking a peak at the shriveled cork attacked to each bottle in a little sack. George told me the story of the wine, or at least a story of the wine. According to George the wine was made by The El Gavilan Winery in 1941 but before it could be bottled WWII broke out and operation at the winery pretty much ceased as all able bodied men were drafted. Once the war came to an end, or at least when the winemakers’ hitch was up, the proprietor of El Gavilan took advantage of the GI bill to better himself.

Well by 1947 the betterment was in full swing and the now defunct El Gavilan Winery was sold to Sebastiani with a few barrels of this 1941 still intact.  It was tasted and deemed to be special enough to warrant bottling but without a reputation, or existing winery, sales of this “premium” wine were dreadfully slow. So slow in fact that in 1982, when the cork had begun to fail there was still enough wine on hand to make recorking worthwhile and during the recorking it was discovered that they had a verifiable California Classic on their hands, worthy of the exorbitant price.

Well it was a great story with a kernel or two of truth to it but as it turns out not the real deal. I was not to discover this for almost 25 years, for while I never bought a bottle of the Casa de Sonoma from George I never forgot that wine.

Imagine my surprise when I noticed a non-vintage Casa de Sonoma listing while scanning Winebid earlier this year.  Clicking on the link confirmed that this was the same wine and the starting bid was $15! There were several lots available and hoping to insure that I got at least one winning bid I placed increasingly high max bids on each lot. With several days to go until the auction closed I could monitor my success and, if need be, raise my bid.

Well I guess I was the only one talking to George about this wine since Sunday came and I won all the bottles I had bid on for $15 each! Even with the buyer’s premium and shipping I was looking at less than $25 per bottle, a steal. Within a couple of weeks the bottles arrived, looking as intriguing as they had almost 25 years ago. I know one is supposed to allow wine to rest after transport, travel shock and all that, but I couldn’t wait so the weekend after they arrived I was toting along a bottle to a gathering of like-minded winegeeks.

Not knowing what lay in store I chose to not decant this wine. The cork, being only 28 years old, was fairly easy to extract intact. Apon first pour the wine had a little too much of a bronze tone than I would have liked to see but with air it actually turned a bit redder and fresher.  On the nose and palate this exhibits a very typical array of very aged notes, faded backing spices, beef bouillon, cola, and dusty earth yet it does retain a core of black fruit and has a surprising fresh and bright feel to it. It is no powerhouse but it’s not dead yet.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable bottle in fact, with enough complexity to remain engaging and as it evolved in the glass one could only wonder what made it’s way into this Duraglass 4/5 quart bottle. And wonder I did.

The next day I was on the phone with Sebastiani. Vineyards. There was that informative sticker on the bottle announcing that my wine was in fact “From the personal cellars of August Sebastiani – Recorked at Sebastiani Vineyards May 1982”. If anyone knew anything it would be Sebastiani.

I spoke with people in the media department as well as the winemaker at Sebastiani and they could offer no information. I thought it strange that this most intriguing and unique wine, perhaps the most intriguing and unique ever from Sebastiani, was now bottiglia non grata. Could I be the keeper of the flame, the holder of the truth, the last man living who had the story? Of course not, I just needed to dig a little deeper.

And deep I dug, discovering an interview conducted in  2000 by Carole Hicke of one Doug L Davis entitled “HISTORY OF SEBASTIANI VINEYARDS, 1955-PRESENT”. It seems that Doug L Davis was the Vice President and Executive Winemaster of Sebastiani. Well, I thought, that’s the man I need to talk with.

Doug spent over 45 years with Sebastiani, choosing to leave in 2003 during the sale of the winery to constellation brands. Tracking him down was fairly easy and I was fortunate to spend about a half hour on the phone with him last month finally finding out the truth regarding this unique bottling of wine.

According to Doug the El Gavilan bottling got it’s name from a Sebastiani property that was in Santa Rosa “down by the railroad tracks.” It was selected lots of 1941 Cabernet that was bottled in 1947 along with other lots of Burgundy, Chablis and Sauternes!

Being 1947, wines labeled as Cabernet needed only to contain 51% Cabernet with the remainder being primarily Zinfandel, Carignane, Petite Sirah and Mondeuse. While these might seem an odd assortment one has to factor in the way Sebastiani weathered the storm of Prohibition: by shipping thick-skinned grapes, (Carignane, Petite Sirah, Mondeuse), throughout the country to home winemakers.

Back then Sebastiani was almost exclusively a bulk operation and the vast majority of the wines they produced were dessert wines, but there were small lots of table wine produced, though even these limited quantities failed to find a market. These earliest table wines were produced during the transitionary period as Sebastiani founder Samuele passed control of the property over to his son August Sebastiani.

Perhaps to make a name for himself, or simply for the heck of it August chose to bottle about 1000 cases of the 1941 Cabernet and chose the Casa de Sonoma label, Casa de Sonoma being the home August had built for himself in 1947.  The wine was bottled in the El Gavilan winery, which was also owned by Sebastiani at that time.

These 1000 cases were then brought to Sonoma and laid down in old stable on the Sebastiani property. Doug’s first exposure to this wine occurred in his first year with Sebastiani as the flood of 1955 required all hands on deck to help move the cases to higher ground! Fortunately, or unfortunately, the wine pretty much just sat there in those stables after that. It was never actively marketed, though it was sold through the winery and given away as gifts.

August Sebastiani passed away in 1980 and when the contents of the winery were inventoried it became apparent that the corks in these bottles had begun to fail so a recorking program was undertaken. Each bottle was inspected, a few were deemed healthy enough to be left alone and were retained by the winery, but the remainder were individually opened and inspected.

The entire lot, which by this point was about half of what had originally been bottled, was sorted out, with spoiled bottles being discarded and sound bottles being topped off and recorked. Each bottle had its original cork and paper capsule placed in a bag and attached to the bottle to help maintain each bottle’s authenticity and historical significance. What was finally released in 1982 was the best of what remained of a wine that was “never great” but did represent a significant effort that was justified only by the high quality that the 1941 vintage represented.

And that’s the real story behind this bottling. It’s a lot of history for one small bottle and a testament to what California was capable of, and achieved half a century ago. I thank Samuele Sebastini for making the wine possible, August Sebastiani for making the wine, and Doug Davis for making sure the story of the wine was not lost to time.

Sometimes you do get a second chance. In this case I also have a third, and a fourth, and a fifth…

P.S. Gotta love that back label. Well chilled indeed!

Gregory Dal Piaz

Community Manager

Snooth