Open Mike: Petite Sirah........PS I love you!

Seem to remember a fun PS study a few years back, and with recent P Sirah chatter here on this fine place, thought it might be time to see whats out there on the shelf or stacked away under the stairs!

I will link up a terrific website that has tons of info, winery suggestions and some great press reports on some recent tastings. But lets start off with some brief Concannon impressions from a brief visit to a Wines of California event downtown this morning.

WTN: `05 Concannon Petiter Sirah, Central Coast.

Wine has a dark purple color, very big and impressive. On the nose, lots going on with plum, cherry, pencil, brambleberry. The spice rounded out the aroma nicely I thought. Soft tannins and a lengthy finish along with firm structure were welcome in the crowded room. Cassis, blueberry, red berry fruits and a touch of chocolate added to the pleasure. Smooth and easy drinking as always, some food would naturally have been a bonus!

Only one glass but have a few bottles tucked away in the cellar. Hopefully this OM will draw some interest so lets see the styles of Sirah that are grabbing attention these days. Durif from Australia counts too and there should be some well-structured wines on the Oz shelf!

http://www.psiloveyou.org/reviews.php

[David M. Bueker]

I used to buy the Concannon fairly regularly, but I do not see it anymore.

I like Petite Sirah, so perhaps I will grab a bottle & put it in the queue. We'll see if any of my bottles have aged at all. It will be a few days though, since I have some other things getting opened first.

Great David, any chance you could give some of us the heads-up on which wineries to look for?
I have my list but think you are more on top of things than I am!! I have written off Parducci and Foppiano but think Ridge, Rosenblum, Eos, Bruce are still up there. Tom Hill must have some notes here on the forum somewhere?

Thanks Bob, I think I have an aged out PS in the queue. Incidentally, I've been going through an old book from my father's collection called Wine Book by Fred Beck. It was written 45 years ago, and Concannon was around then! At that time there were 524 wineries in the U.S. and 253 of them were in California.

I used to buy the Concannon fairly regularly, but I do not see it anymore.

I like Petite Sirah, so perhaps I will grab a bottle & put it in the queue. We'll see if any of my bottles have aged at all. It will be a few days though, since I have some other things getting opened first.

I used to buy it, too. I actually drove out there one day and Jim Concannon took me around and gave me a petite sirah t-shirt. Man, that was a long time ago.

Had some tapas at a local winebar last night and had a glass of Ironstone Syrah. Could not believe the sediment in the glass so asked for a better pour!
Nose was all raspberry and cherry pie, on the palate soft tannins and rather jammy. More cherry and plum, found it rather confected. But could see why average punter would find some appeal here.

(I guess if one likes PS one will grab anything of interest so tonite an `04 Greg Norman from Paso Robles. Cellared 2 yrs, am I in for a blueberry pie treat?!!!)

WTN: `03 Greg Norman Petite Sirah, Paso Robles Calif.

14.2% alc, cheap looking natural cork, opened and decanted for one hour. No price was a gift.

Color. Still showing great depth of color with fading purple rim. No sign of any age.

Nose. Black fruits, spice, warm feel. Cassis after an hour in glass but no evolvement, even on day 2.

Palate. Plum, blueberries to forefront with hint of pepper and blackberry. Not at all tannic, medium to full bodied. Not that high on alcohol, tad one-dimensional I think. The sweetness was not over the top but could have used some of that Parducci chewy-ness! Just an OK-wine.

When it comes to Petite Sirah, I guess I've become a Foppiano fan.
Here are some, listed in vintage order. They're all Russian River Valley, estate bottled. Unless noted, I bought them all at the winery and stored them in my Vinotemp.
Vintage, Price, Bought, Drank, Notes
1986 $37.50 9/06 9/06 Boy, that was good! More like a PN than a PS. Some tannin, some pepper, smooth and fully integrated. Still opaque purple, only slight shading toward garnet. Smooth entry, totally unified all the way through the mouth. Long finish. A little dust around the edge, mainly after a couple of hours, but if you didn't know, you wouldn't guess the age. Magnificent! One of the best bottles I have ever had.
1986 $37.50 9/06 12/06 Another marvelous bottle. Leather, something like (but not quite) mint, and lots of ripe fruit. It kept getting longer and longer, the longer it was open.
1988 $28.45 9/08 11/08 Totally dark and opaque purple. Somewhat reticent nose. Lots of primary fruit and brambles, just a taste of tannin and just a taste of acidity. Very very well balanced. Medium long. Some secondary notes, dusty, slow to show its real strengths. A delightful dowager, ready to drink. 13% alcohol
1990 $7.49 1/93 10/95 Not much data here - I didn't keep many notes back then. Probably bought at Liquor Barn - where I shopped back then.
1994 $56.95 9/08 1/09 An excellent wine. Took it to Crimson and drank it with a starter of serrano ham, manchego cheese and Spanish olives, followed by a very tender filet mignon with a rather pedestrian Bordelaise sauce. Good with cheese, better with meat. 13.5% alcohol
(Crimson restaurant in Los Gatos, CA. They had free corkage that night.)
2001 $23.00 8/04 2/06 Good wine, some tannin, dark color, floral, good length.
2001 $48.00 9/06 11/07 "Reserve" bottling. Dark, opaque, youthful appearance. Strong tannins, rich berry and pepper flavor. Very long, very even. Has years ahead of it. With beans and ham hocks for lunch. 14.5% alcohol
2001 $23.00 8/04 6/06 Real PS, perhaps showing its age a bit. Dark, good pepper, but not much aroma. GBNG length. Very smooth.
2001 $20.00 7/03 12/03 Very nice, dark and spicy. Dark both in the eye and on the tongue. Smoother the second night, with beef stew.
2003 $23.00 10/05 10/07 Still a dark, tooth-staining, tannic baby. Really good. Lots of moderately ripe fruit and a lot of smoothness behind all the tannin. Keep for several years. 14.5% alcohol in incredibly tiny type.
2004 $25.00 7/07 1/08 The wine for lamb! Dark, moderately tannic, lots of deep blackberry fruit, considerable length. 14.5% alcohol
2004 $25.00 10/07 4/08 Dark, spicy, tart and ripe at the same time. 14.5% alcohol
2004 $25.00 10/07 2/09 Very dark, somewhat tannic, lots of pepper, somewhat heavyweight, perfect with lamb shanks. 14.5% alcohol

Every once in a while they have library wines for sale at the tasting room - that's where I got some of the older vintages. I think their bottlings need at least 4 or 5 years from vintage to get really good. I'm just finishing the last of the last bottle on the list. Much smoother after a night in the fridge. To me that means I won't hurry to open another one.

John

What to eat? My experience with Petite Syrah is an anonymous $5 bottle from Trader Joe's six or seven years ago. But reviews like the one on this thread made me buy a few bottles of Green and Red's 2005 PS. PS is a mystery to me--is this stuff too recent to drink? I hope not--but then, what kind of food makes it glow? I'm hoping to love this wine, so please help me out.

I always think lamb shanks but steak with robust sauce might work! I found this just now....>

http://kathleenlisson.blogspot.com/2007 ... sirah.html

But reviews like the one on this thread made me buy a few bottles of Green and Red's 2005 PS. PS is a mystery to me--is this stuff too recent to drink?

Yes it is too recent to drink. My rule of thumb regarding most PSs is to give them at least seven years. There are a few like Bogle that are ready to drink on release, but these are exceptions.

What to eat?
Lamb shanks, lamb chops, roast lamb, hamburgers, grilled Italian sausage, spaghetti Bolognese, pot roast....
PS is a food wine more than a cocktail wine.
John

I was passing by the PS bins in a local shop tonight and one bottle in particular caught my eye: Sean Thackrey Sirius Petite Syrah, for $90! Uh, has anyone tasted this? Is it remotely worth that sort of money? Grape source was Eaglepoint Ranch in Mendocino, which is funny because Eaglepoint's own bottling is in the $20 range....

John, that was a great Foppiano thread. Lucky chap to be able to pick up library releases. Foppiano used to be everywhere here, now only one store stocks. Heading there Saturday!

Foppiano is a nice friendly place to visit. As it's just off the freeway, it's often my first stop on a trip to the area. First hit the men's room , then get down to business. I've found that before noon is a good time to visit tasting rooms.

John

But reviews like the one on this thread made me buy a few bottles of Green and Red's 2005 PS. PS is a mystery to me--is this stuff too recent to drink?

Yes it is too recent to drink. My rule of thumb regarding most PSs is to give them at least seven years. There are a few like Bogle that are ready to drink on release, but these are exceptions.

Wow. This is interesting-maybe my problem has been drinking them too soon?

I do have a 2005 Fulton Petit Sirah-from a tiny winery originally built by one of the founding families of Saint Helena, CA.

My favorite Pet I've tried recently is Freemark Abbey, which is pretty open from release but may get better?

I do have a 2005 Fulton Petit Sirah-from a tiny winery originally built by one of the founding families of Saint Helena, CA.

Brian, we have an '03 Fulton that we a saving for late next year. Recommend you hang onto the '05 until 2012. Just a suggestion.

Cheers, Carl

Fulton, new name for me. Thanks for info.

Foppiano is a nice friendly place to visit. As it's just off the freeway, it's often my first stop on a trip to the area. First hit the men's room , then get down to business. I've found that before noon is a good time to visit tasting rooms.

John

John, probably the best petit sirah I ever had was the 1984 Foppiano. Pure blackberry compote with a very nice structure. soft but plentiful tannin, and a backbone that was complimentary to the fruit and tannin. Really well balanced wine. I can almost taste it tonight.

Bob, you are going to get me looking at my past TNs. I just checked cellar-tracker and there are quite a few notes from the `80s.

Bob, you are going to get me looking at my past TNs. I just checked cellar-tracker and there are quite a few notes from the `80s.

I wish you had tasted this wine back then Bob. I think it must have been somewhere around 92-93 when I found a bottle of this, and loved it at first taste. I went back and there was no more to be had. I asked the store manager to check with the distributor, which he did on the spot, and found there was six bottles of it still in the warehouse. I don't remember what the quoted price was but probably around $8 or there abouts. I said Hey that is too much. I want it, but I want to pay you $5 for it, and that includes your markup. He told the distributor that and then turned to me and said "it done"!

Bob,
You'll notice that the oldest Foppiano I had in my spreadsheet (the list was pretty close to just cut and paste) was '86, that I bought their last two bottles of in 2006. And those were wonderful bottles of wine.

Petite Sirah is interesting - perhaps you could think of it as PN on steroids. On release, usually a couple or three years after vintage, it's a big, brash, muscular, tannic fruit bomb. Party wine on the patio with burgers and sausages and getting tossed in the pool.
Then it gets all bony. The fresh fruit recedes and the oak sticks out a mile and all you seem to benefit from drinking a glass is you get purple teeth.
But after 7 or 8 years from vintage, (depending, of course, on all those things you don't mention when you say "depending") it gets its fruit back but in a smooth melding that still wants red meat, but can easily pair with something like filet mignon, though when it's older, I still think it has the stuffing (tannic backbone?) to handle leg of lamb. Even with mint sauce!
Much like PN, it changes, and the in the intermediate times may not show to its best advantage.

BTW, I'm envious about the $5 - though I do see that I paid $7.49 in '96.
I'm hoping that tomorrow night (OTBN) will show me something - I have a couple of bottles of wine, not Petite Sirah, that I'm curious about.

John

I had a chance to sample a couple dozen PS at a BYOB wine dinner a couple nights ago. From memory...

The top 2 wines were 2004 Waltzing Bear French Camp Vyd and 2001 Sean Thackrey Sirius Eaglepoint Ranch Mendocino. The former is very perky, briary, lively. The latter is suave, but serious (pun intended).

You'll notice that the oldest Foppiano I had in my spreadsheet (the list was pretty close to just cut and paste) was '86, that I bought their last two bottles of in 2006. And those were wonderful bottles of wine.

Well John, you have sure made this Open Mike of interest. Also thanks to all the others who are posting "I love you" notes. Do not think this OM will have the 10 pages that the Malbec thread came up with, but feel sure there are quite a few more notes coming up.