January 19, 2024 - This 20 year old Petite Sarah was an unexpected treat. I expected a tired out of steam wine and this was anything but that, vibrant dark fruit lead a beautiful wine that seems to be just coming into it’s own. I’m glad I lost track of this one and will hesitate before opening another Carlisle Petite Sarah before it’s 20 birth year. 93
January 15, 2022 - A really special wine...tasted like it was 5 years old. Tannic, blackberry pie and red fruit flavors, short to medium length. No oxidation, no age showing, still improving after two hours.
February 25, 2018 - My oldest Carlisle in the cellar. Pulled to serve with pot roast on a stormy Feb eve. Still a ton of verve and grip. More dark red than black fruit profile, which I like from Mike's DCV fruit sources. Gives the wine some brightness vs. some other deep purple petites. Rustic tannins but not in the way. Wife found it to have too much structure vs. the silky Carlisle zins I usually opened, she would have scored lower. This one has plenty life left but was my last bottle.
December 2, 2017 - Clear, very deep garnet with no rim Browning. Medium acuds mediuk tannins. Blackcurrant, black plum, slate. Menthol. Medium balanced finish. Tasting at winery.
August 15, 2014 - Now this was fun. 10 years in, and in a beautiful spot. Depth of flavor but light on its feet. Reminds me why a) I like Petite and b) I cellar them. This had the brooding fruit on the front end, but balanced and engaging. A pleasure.
November 13, 2012 - Dark chewy fruit with an insanely long finish. Just stunning with no decanting....I will try to let the bottle sit 20 minutes before drinking with rack of lamb but it's going to be difficult!
March 30, 2012 - Absolutely delicious. Still somewhat firm, but thats to be expected with the varietal. There's a ton of fruit and rich, structured secondary flavors are starting to peek in as well. Fantastic.
July 19, 2011 - This bottle caught me off guard as one of my favorite Carlisles ever. Drank it with friends so no formal notes. I expect it will last awhile, but drinking very well now.
November 20, 2010 - The Blind Drunks monthly tasting (Our house): Blind. Aromas of blackberry, cassis, licorice and violets. Dark fruit, wth fine-grained tannins.
August 28, 2010 - After a blistering and challenging week at work, on a Friday night I needed something that I thought would be plush, comforting, without subtlety. Groused around for a few mins and decided I'd drink this one. I paired it with fresh tomatoes from the garden, along with some organic Costco spinach and cheese ravioli with some pesto and grated parm on top. The note here was written the next day, as I enjoy the same leftovers for lunch. A big wine but not as big as I had anticipated. Aromatically, some stalkiness, along with some heat (but it's not out of place, given the vintage), scorched earth and ripe berry. The palate is where the wine shows gentler than I expected, with a medium+ weight, crushed rocks, dark chocolate, ink, an iron/ferrous quality, finishing with an earthy blackberry. The CT drink window indicates 2008-2018 but I think that's out of place. The wine is still quite fresh, in light of the ferrous quality and cushed rocks so I think it can age just fine another 2 years but IMO, where the wine is now, measuring the fruit against some of the structure, I'd say drink now and enjoy those complementary aspects.