Old Petite Sirahs Blindtasted

Introductory comments are by Ross Bott, tasting organizer:
Petite Sirahs (or "Pets", as they are affectionately called by aficionados of this grape), are the untamed beast of varietals. It is capable of producing the most powerful of wines -- often fiercely tannic when young, and seemingly capable of aging forever. In terms of aging speed, I like to think of Zinfandel aging in "dog years" -- one year of age is roughly equivalent to seven human years, meaning a Zin of six years is a middle-aged 42 in human terms. On the other hand the biggest Petites age in almost human time scales -- among the biggest Petite Sirahs, a 25 year old Petite many not have yet reach middle age.

Given these very long aging timeframes for Petites, the question facing winemakers is whether to leave it wild and let it evolve unpredictably, or to tame it and try to control its evolution in a predetermined way. Different winemakers have taken a remarkably broad range of approaches. In this tasting, we'll explore three approaches, examining the results after two or three decades of aging.

Tom Burgess of Burgess Cellars, Charlie Wagner of Caymus and Stag's Leap Vineyards all used extended oak aging, in both new and 1 or 2 year old barrels to try to tame the varietal tannins somewhat. Because of the sheer power of the Petite Sirah varietal, the resultant wines were still rich in fruit when young, but the wines were fragrant with vanilla and creamy notes when released. Over the years, these wines have kept a black cherry theme with rich, oaky overtones, which has gradually submerged and become part of the overall complexity.

Mount Veeder, Ridge and Freemark Abbey took the "wild" route, producing concentrated, almost too powerful, brooding, tannic young wines. The tannins were enough to scratch the throat on the way down, and it was only the rich fruit hidden underneath which give one hope for the future. The wines from the late 70s produced by these wineries are still young just starting to show their stuff after 25 years, and are begin to show promise of evolving into spectacular wines.

Warren Winiarski of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, the master of elegant Cabernet Sauvignons, attacked the problem by attempting to mold the Petite Sirah into the framework of a Cab. And, when we tried them young, the impression was that they'd succeeded -- the wines had the Petite Sirah richness, but in a more polished package. And, perhaps surprisingly, they have evolved like Cabs with age.

In this tasting, we'll try four from the first camp (Caymus, two Burgesses and a Stag's Leap Vineyards), two from the second (Mount Veeder, and Ridge), and two from the third (Stag's Leap Wine Cellars), exploring how these Petites have evolved with three decades or more of age:

1975 Burgess, Napa Valley (13%) (91-95/100, Connoisseurs' Guide). We've tried this a couple times over the past 5 years or so, and the wine has developed a wonderfully fragrant nose of black cherries, vanilla and cream. Rich, lush, and layered in the mouth, it has shown no signs of reaching the end of its peak, even after 25 years

1975 Caymus, Napa Valley (13.0%): The only Petite Caymus every made. Ink grade and seemingly ageless.

1977 Ridge "York Creek", Napa Valley (5% Zinfandel, 13.6%): One of the all-time classic vintages from Ridge. In the same spirit as Ridge using a bit of Petite Sirah in many of their Zins to add complexity, so have they added a bit of Zin to this Petite to good effect. Ridge captures the minerally, spicy side of the York Creek Vineyard while Freemark Abbey features more the powerful fruit.

1977 Burgess, Napa Valley (13.5%) (87-90/100, Connoisseurs' Guide) As this wine passes its 30th birthday, it has become a lovely, elegant wine, more reminiscent of an old Cote Rotie than a brawy Petite Sirah.

1977 Mount Veeder "Niebaum-Coppola Vineyards", Napa Valley (13.5%): Mount Veeder's only Petite Sirah. Almost black purple. Black cherries and eucalyptus.

1978 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Napa Valley (13.2%): Warren Winiarski is best known for his great Cabernets from the Stag's Leap region, including the 1973 which won the famed Stephen Spurrier Bordeaux-California Cabernet tasting in 1976. However, from 1978 through 1980, he experimented with Petite Sirah and produced a style different from most Petites from his contemporaries.

1978 Stag's Leap Vineyards (13%): While Stag's Leap Wine Cellars is known for its Cabernets, Stag's Leap Vineyards has always led with Petite Syrah. Their Petites from the 1970s are the benchmarks by which other Petites were measured, and this 1978 was one of his very best.

1980 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, North Coast (13.2%): This was Warren Winiarski's last Petite.

• 1977 Ridge Petite Sirah York Creek 92 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District

  Group's #1 (my #2) – 37 pts; 4 firsts, 2 seconds, 3 thirds, 0 last places – Dark garnet red color with pale meniscus; best nose: big, earthy, tobacco, pepper and horseradish sauce nose; tasty, tart plum, tobacco, herbs and smoke meat palate; medium-plus finish 92+ pts.

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• 1978 Stags' Leap Winery Petite Sirah 91 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Group's #2 (my #3) – 52 pts.; 2, 1, 3, 1 – bricking cherry red color with pale meniscus; lamb, light gravy and smoke nose; mature, sweet, smoky, dried berry and spicy plum palate; medium finish 91+ pts.

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• 1978 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Petite Sirah 88 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Group's #3 (my #5) – 53 pts.; 2, 1, 1, 0 – medium cherry red color with pale meniscus; truffle, portabello mushroom and beef jus nose; mature, tangy, meat jus, smoky, sage palate; medium finish 88+ pts.

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• 1980 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Petite Sirah 85 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Group's #4 (my #6) – 56 pts.; 1, 3, 1, 1 – bricking medium cherry red color with clarity and clear meniscus; narrow, high pitched, VA, sour cherry and nutmeg nose; tart cherry palate with little complexity, that declines after 20 minutes in the glass; medium finish

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• 1977 Mount Veeder Winery Petite Sirah Niebaum-Coppola Vineyards 93 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Rutherford

  Group's #5 (my #1) – 58 pts.; 2, 2, 1, 2 – dark cherry red color; menthol, dried black fruit, green peppercorn, pine and smoke nose; dense, tart smoky black fruit, liquid pepper, green peppercorn and brisket jus palate; medium-plus finish

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• 1975 Caymus Petite Sirah 84 Points

  USA, California

  Group's #6 (my #7) – 63 pts.; 1, 2, 1, 2 – dark garnet red color with pale meniscus; very mature tobacco and dried mushroom nose; mature, mushroom, earthy, light balsamic palate; short-medium finish (fades rapidly in the glass)

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• 1977 Burgess Petite Sirah Napa Valley 90 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Group's #7 (my #4) – 69 pts.; 1, 1, 0, 1 – medium bricking garnet red with pale meniscus; lavender, dried cherry, dried berry, clove and beef jus nose; tasty, mature, black fruit, clove, dried berry and stewed sweet lamb palate; medium finish

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• 1975 Burgess Petite Sirah Napa Valley 78 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Group's #8 (my #8) – 72 pts.; 0, 1, 1, 6 – bricking cherry red color with clear meniscus; dishwater and menthol nose; tart, earthy, smoky, thin, sweet jus palate; short-medium finish

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Stags' Leap vs. Stag's Leap