This wine is in a good place right now. It has been two years since I last tried a bottle. Opened and let sit for two hours prior to dinner which probably was just enough time. Dark fruit on the nose. The palate was blackberry, plum, dark cherry and a hint of chocolate. Finish was moderate to long. While we could not be with my daughter who lives in DC we used the wine to toast her birthday.
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Definitely want to decant and filter this wonderful wine. Copious amounts of solids. With a little air, the dark brooding fruits make their appearance. A rich, luscious wine.
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decanted an hour. This wine is still a beast. Blackberry, blueberry, spice, floral and blackcurrant aromas. Similar flavors with blackberry, plum blueberry, blackcurrant and spice. Loaded with flavors. The tannins have softened but are very much present in the long finish. Very good now, but has years to go.
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This wine is in a good place right now. Opened and let sit for two hours prior to dinner which probably was not enough time. Dark fruit on the nose. The palate was blackberry, plum, dark cherry and a hint of chocolate. Finish was moderate to long. Next time I will either decant or open 4 hours prior.
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Not decanted, given 2 hrs of air before following over 2 hrs. This has come of age and is balanced and approachable. Towards the bottom 2 inches of the bottles there’s lots of fine grained sediment
No prune or port like notes, this has time ahead of it but is in a nice, drinkable, non-syrupy place.
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Briefly decanted. One again, WS way off the mark and RP spot on. Dark and elegant richness without being cloying or acidic. Great tannic backbone. Kudos to Kelly, the Peterson Family and Robert Foley.
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Wow! This is a monster PS. Nose reveals blue fruits and licorice, but wasn’t ass intense as I expected. Full body with blueberry and blackberry. The 16%+ ABV is hidden well, so be careful! Beautifully balanced with nice acidity and solid tannins. This is still so young and won’t hit its stride for several more years. Great finish. 93 but with potential!
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Had this about 3 days ago via coravin, came home and opened the bottle which drank way better then the initial sampling in which I thought there was some overripe fruit on the nose and palate. This was not noticeable when I opened the bottle and sampled the wine. Has alot of life ahead and I hope it will come together just little more.
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A big Petite with a very ripe fruit profile, indicative of seizing the most "grape" out of the 2012 vintage. I was concerned the fruit was going to come across overly-ripe, as the initial entry seemed a little disjointed. The vanilla, cassis, and oak-spice components seemed to be struggling with the abundance of fruit at this stage. Indeed a complete and quality wine, but it was missing some of the seamlessness and added PS components often associated with SBR's Petites. I missed the chocolate and coffee tastes on the '12 (compared to, for example, the awesome SBR '10 Petite with all of its melted chocolate ganache, scorched earth, hoisin, mocha, and sweet blackberry liqueur flavors).
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Well, I seem to be the only guy drinking these right now so I trust these notes will help those who start thinking about drinking their first bottle. This is my second since release, and I opened this bottle on Tuesday, today is Thursday. The bottle has sat under open cork since we opened it (no decant), when we drank only half of it two night ago. At that time, I found the wine not only with some heat but also pretty tight. Tonight, the wine has a slight chill, serving temp about 68. Listed at 16.5%. Darkly colored, Switchback opaque, really. The wine tastes significantly better today as opposed to 48 hours ago, with a much better depth of fruit. Bitter chocolate fruit and tightening some on the finish, which I enjoy. I put another pour into the glass....man, this stuff is so dark, classic SR petite. Inky, iron and full of dark fruit, with a roasted, coffee espresso note, the red fruited quality that I find in really good brewed espresso. Even some acidity here, which lies underneath the dark fruit. The heat tonight? I don't find it like I did 2 nights ago, even with this level of listed ABV. As this sits, as it unfolds, this starts to remind me a lot of the 2005, which has been in my view the best SR petite made since the first vintage in 1999. This may rally that vintage for depth, color and polish. As for drink window, I'd say decant this really well. This bottle has been open about 2 1/2 days and shows no sign of any fade, and in fact, it is better with this level of air, which to me speaks to its aging ability. I still think for what petite can be and what I want for it, that Switchback is the best CA petite out there.
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Looks like I will be first to break the surface of the TN pond here and happy do it! These bottles arrived earlier this week and with a good group of 10 dining here last night, I figured I'd let this rip to end the evening. As expected, this is dark, pitch black in the glass. Labeled at 16.5% and there is some light heat here on the aromatic. I simply left it on the counter overnight, so there's no cellar chill here to zap away any heat signature. Putting that aside, this is a meal in the glass. Plush and mouthfilling, any tannin that might have been there last night has softened out. I still wonder about the commonly accepted guidance that petite needs to sit for years, that the wines should not be consumed young. We've assumed that truth and for me it's not accurate. Open these things, give them the air they need and enjoy them and ignore the age window guidance that exists out there. Blackberry, herb, iron and some milk and bitter chocolate, all the things a damn petite should be for me, finishing with a spicy, licorice note. And, if you give this a real good blast of O2, let it breathe, on the second day this was all about smooth dark fruit and a chocolate finish--pure joy. I expect this to be an earlier drinker of SR and it's quite good now. Always and again a personal favorite.
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8/29/2023 - markcic Likes this wine: 92 Points
This wine is in a good place right now. It has been two years since I last tried a bottle. Opened and let sit for two hours prior to dinner which probably was just enough time. Dark fruit on the nose. The palate was blackberry, plum, dark cherry and a hint of chocolate. Finish was moderate to long. While we could not be with my daughter who lives in DC we used the wine to toast her birthday.
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12/19/2022 - RJWallis Likes this wine: 93 Points
Definitely want to decant and filter this wonderful wine. Copious amounts of solids. With a little air, the dark brooding fruits make their appearance. A rich, luscious wine.
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10/8/2022 - kabert Likes this wine: 93 Points
Huge and concentrated. One to drink in small sips. Blackberry reduction, with tannic grip on the finish. Memorable!
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5/5/2022 - gharter Likes this wine:
decanted an hour. This wine is still a beast. Blackberry, blueberry, spice, floral and blackcurrant aromas. Similar flavors with blackberry, plum blueberry, blackcurrant and spice. Loaded with flavors. The tannins have softened but are very much present in the long finish. Very good now, but has years to go.
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10/3/2021 - markcic Likes this wine: 91 Points
This wine is in a good place right now. Opened and let sit for two hours prior to dinner which probably was not enough time. Dark fruit on the nose. The palate was blackberry, plum, dark cherry and a hint of chocolate. Finish was moderate to long. Next time I will either decant or open 4 hours prior.
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9/19/2021 - davidandrose Likes this wine: 92 Points
Not decanted, given 2 hrs of air before following over 2 hrs. This has come of age and is balanced and approachable. Towards the bottom 2 inches of the bottles there’s lots of fine grained sediment
No prune or port like notes, this has time ahead of it but is in a nice, drinkable, non-syrupy place.
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10/25/2020 - gjv115 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Pnp. Dark dark berry. Very rich and dense. Also very drinkable. Lots of flavors and evolves rapidly in the glass. Good structure.
Drink now or hold for a really long time
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6/10/2020 - jc510 Likes this wine: 90 Points
Drinking well, ripe alcohol nose, well balanced ripe fruit, dark chocolate, caramelized cherries, long finish fades with mineral flavors.
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4/15/2019 - oenophilemoose wrote: 92 Points
Briefly decanted. One again, WS way off the mark and RP spot on. Dark and elegant richness without being cloying or acidic. Great tannic backbone. Kudos to Kelly, the Peterson Family and Robert Foley.
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2/5/2019 - davidandrose wrote: flawed
Sadly this bottle shows a compromised cork and well drinkable early on, it fell apart within 20 minutes.
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4/14/2018 - Geaux Tigers wrote: flawed
Nice out of the bottle but went south quickly. No score
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2/23/2018 - bplant13 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wow! This is a monster PS. Nose reveals blue fruits and licorice, but wasn’t ass intense as I expected. Full body with blueberry and blackberry. The 16%+ ABV is hidden well, so be careful! Beautifully balanced with nice acidity and solid tannins. This is still so young and won’t hit its stride for several more years. Great finish. 93 but with potential!
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11/28/2015 - PANYC Likes this wine: 91 Points
Had this about 3 days ago via coravin, came home and opened the bottle which drank way better then the initial sampling in which I thought there was some overripe fruit on the nose and palate. This was not noticeable when I opened the bottle and sampled the wine. Has alot of life ahead and I hope it will come together just little more.
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10/17/2015 - rsstewart Does not like this wine:
For Oct 2015 wine group. I didn't like it. Rated it #4 or 5 out of 8.
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7/20/2015 - csimm wrote: 91 Points
A big Petite with a very ripe fruit profile, indicative of seizing the most "grape" out of the 2012 vintage. I was concerned the fruit was going to come across overly-ripe, as the initial entry seemed a little disjointed. The vanilla, cassis, and oak-spice components seemed to be struggling with the abundance of fruit at this stage. Indeed a complete and quality wine, but it was missing some of the seamlessness and added PS components often associated with SBR's Petites. I missed the chocolate and coffee tastes on the '12 (compared to, for example, the awesome SBR '10 Petite with all of its melted chocolate ganache, scorched earth, hoisin, mocha, and sweet blackberry liqueur flavors).
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2/26/2015 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Well, I seem to be the only guy drinking these right now so I trust these notes will help those who start thinking about drinking their first bottle. This is my second since release, and I opened this bottle on Tuesday, today is Thursday. The bottle has sat under open cork since we opened it (no decant), when we drank only half of it two night ago. At that time, I found the wine not only with some heat but also pretty tight. Tonight, the wine has a slight chill, serving temp about 68. Listed at 16.5%. Darkly colored, Switchback opaque, really. The wine tastes significantly better today as opposed to 48 hours ago, with a much better depth of fruit. Bitter chocolate fruit and tightening some on the finish, which I enjoy. I put another pour into the glass....man, this stuff is so dark, classic SR petite. Inky, iron and full of dark fruit, with a roasted, coffee espresso note, the red fruited quality that I find in really good brewed espresso. Even some acidity here, which lies underneath the dark fruit. The heat tonight? I don't find it like I did 2 nights ago, even with this level of listed ABV. As this sits, as it unfolds, this starts to remind me a lot of the 2005, which has been in my view the best SR petite made since the first vintage in 1999. This may rally that vintage for depth, color and polish. As for drink window, I'd say decant this really well. This bottle has been open about 2 1/2 days and shows no sign of any fade, and in fact, it is better with this level of air, which to me speaks to its aging ability. I still think for what petite can be and what I want for it, that Switchback is the best CA petite out there.
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10/26/2014 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Looks like I will be first to break the surface of the TN pond here and happy do it! These bottles arrived earlier this week and with a good group of 10 dining here last night, I figured I'd let this rip to end the evening. As expected, this is dark, pitch black in the glass. Labeled at 16.5% and there is some light heat here on the aromatic. I simply left it on the counter overnight, so there's no cellar chill here to zap away any heat signature. Putting that aside, this is a meal in the glass. Plush and mouthfilling, any tannin that might have been there last night has softened out. I still wonder about the commonly accepted guidance that petite needs to sit for years, that the wines should not be consumed young. We've assumed that truth and for me it's not accurate. Open these things, give them the air they need and enjoy them and ignore the age window guidance that exists out there. Blackberry, herb, iron and some milk and bitter chocolate, all the things a damn petite should be for me, finishing with a spicy, licorice note. And, if you give this a real good blast of O2, let it breathe, on the second day this was all about smooth dark fruit and a chocolate finish--pure joy. I expect this to be an earlier drinker of SR and it's quite good now. Always and again a personal favorite.
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