2006 Petite Sirah Estate Grown SV

Notes from the winemaker:

Petite Sirah is named after Francois Durif, a botanist from the French University of Montepellier. The original source seed was obtained from the berry of another French variety named Peloursin, and after more then 100 years, the father was identified through DNA analysis as Syrah. This variety, Durif in France, Petite Sirah in the US, is most often blended to increase the color and structure of Zinfandel wines.

Petit Sirah contains generous amounts of tannin, color, and backbone. Most often used as a blender for just these reasons, it can be a challenge to make into a balanced varietal wine. Understanding these challenges, we constructed a winemaking plan to maximize the varietal characteristics and minimize bitterness and harshness. The first step was to ensure the fruit had enough varietal character to complement their tannin and color. The grapes were harvested at the peak of ripeness to yield the maximum amount of fruit character possible. These fully mature grapes had the additional advantage of lower amounts of "green" or "harsh" tannins. In order to minimize the remaining "harsh" tannins, our Estate Petit Sirah was fermented in our stainless steel Submerged Cap Fermentation Tanks to ensure the resulting wine tannins would be "soft". We then aged the wine in French and American oak barrels. During final blending 10% Estate Grown Syrah was added to enhance and flesh out the wine's undertones.

Inky dark purple in color the wine has an elegant nose that begins with blueberries and blackberries. Fruit gives way to cocoa, smoke, tar, and vanilla. On the palate notes of pencil shavings and black pepper integrate with the chewy, dusty tannins. The acidity in the long pleasant finish balances the tannins and ends with lingering bing cherry notes.

2006 Petite Sirah Estate Grown
Shenandoah Valley, California (750 ml)
$25.00

Production & Technical Data:
Alcohol 14.5%
Residual Sugar: less than 0.1%
pH: 3.5

Bottling Date:
December 07, 2007

Varietal Content:
89.9% Petite Sirah
10.1% Syrah

Limited Production!!
Only 719 cases produced.

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