PnP. Could be a 92. Still very tannic: I suggest to wait another three years or so. Medium body. Tastes of orange peel, citrus. Sharp edges. Interesting, but I am hoping it will develop into something bettter.
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Drinking superbly right now. Very well balanced, medium weight on the palate, smooth texture with well rounded tannins. Notes of red berries..just a terrific wine.
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Thought this would be a little on the young side but it was surprisingly balanced and well integrated. Bigger wine but very smooth with softer yet present tannins, lovely fruit. Very pleasant and went great with a ribeye with aji amarillo sauce and other Peruvian cuisine accompaniments.
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Very good - intense fruits and med+ acidity but not overwhelming and teeth staining as I have found some other petite sirahs (not a ton of experience with these). Anyways also worked well w pasta bolognese on day 2
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I am biased toward anything from Ridge and this PS did not disappoint. Love this varietal - big and bold but elegant and complex. Tannins and acidity in perfect balance.
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This is excellent - I prefer Old World wines, but Ridge Zins and Petite Sirah's are very high quality. Sure, you can age this for 10-15 years... but today is just as good.
Big in stature, elegant in delivery. Have no fear!
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Decanted for 3.5 hours for a party of Kiwanians. Drank with barbecued meats and potato salad. The wine is very tight and far, far too young. It only hinted at being interesting. Mostly I tasted leather. The two remaining bottles in the cellar need at least a decade of rest before even considering them for consumption. I'm not rating this now because it would be unfair. Hold.
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Deep, dark, purple garnet in color; nearly opaque. Full, forward & attractive nose of ripe fruit aromas of dark cherries, blackberries & plums with lovely overtones of spice notes of pepper, earthy/dusty, floral notes of violets, cocoa, anise, minerals, cedar & a hint of vanilla in the background. Full bodied with a very good concentration of well balanced & smooth textured, dense, ripe fruit flavors of dark cherries, blackberries & plums with spices, bittersweet cocoa, herbs, minerals & spices. Long lingering finish. Drinks quite well with decanting & extended airing but will develop further with additional aging.
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I thought I would give this a little taste well in advance of it being required for dinner, just in case!
Jesus Shit! This is more tannic than a leather factory! It is truly frightening in its hardness and so generally tough it makes me want to throw it at the bastard who has parked in our space, just to irreparably knacker their car.
I get the impression that there is some quite delicious fruit in the Lytton Estate Petite Sirah, but it is so bound up in the tannin and the hardness of youth that discerning it requires more than a little imagination.
This is being double-decanted for three-and-one-half hours before it is required for dinner, and I am still worried our gums will be black for the rest of eternity.
One-and-one-half hours later I double decanted it again.
Dinner is arriving and so I will have some wine. It is very dark, but that tells us bugger all about the wine’s flavour profile.
The Lytton Estate Petite Sirah has a wonderful nose, I am slightly surprised to report. Mulberry and slightly bitter cherry fruit. The fruit is quite Italianate in character.
Despite the Italian similarity is not in the slightest bit too alcoholic. The Lytton Estate Petite Sirah claims to be 13.5% and that seems spot on to me. Good.
I also get the feeling that there has been little messing around with new oak on the Lytton Estate Petite Sirah. There is a mild suggestion of sweet vanilla, but it is understated and lets the fruit and vineyard do the talking.
Adding to my Italian impression of the Lytton Estate Petite Sirah is a rich and polished earthy character. If I were given this blind I would not have a smart arse answer straight off the bat, but once I got around to making a guess, which would be a civilised and quite smart Brunello di Montalcino, I would feel pretty pleased with my guess.
The palate would only add to my irritating smugness. Yes, the Lytton Estate Petite Sirah is still very tannic, but not as uncompromisingly brutal as when I opened it nearly four hours ago. Those tough tannins could be Italian, could they not?
There is also a rich earthiness to this palate. You have to go looking for it a little as all the time you chew this Lytton Estate Petite Sirah around your mouth you cannot get the words, “Hell’s bells this is tannic!”, out of your mind.
The fruit is bitter cherry in character and the Lytton Estate Petite Sirah has generally shows a pleasingly bitter edge to its palate. It is clearly extremely young, with two or three decades ahead of it, but enthusiastic decanting has allowed a chink in its tannic armour to look through and see an entity of a distinctly attractive character.
There has been some criticism recently that Ridge are starting to make wines that are more accessible at a younger age than the wines were under Paul Draper, with the aim that they can chase points and appeal to younger palates. Not with this wine! Lytton Estate Petite Sirah will appeal to younger palates by the time they have grown into distinctly middle-aged palates!
Ridge fans should not find it as hard as this wine to recognise its tough, uncompromising character from the York Creek example of Petite Sirah. You will have to be softer than this wine is on European-trained palates if they make my mistake and guess this as something tough that is closer to home.
The Lytton Estate Petite Sirah is undoubtedly very good, even if it leans toward fascist-aesthetics with its suggestions of leather boots, black trench coats and stamping on people’s necks. It does, perhaps, lack slightly on the deliciousness scale. One thing is certain, you have just got to be enormously patient for it to reach maturity.
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Full disclosure, we are Ridge members. Despite being known for Zins, we love their Petite Sirah. On the nose I get blackberry, clove and mint. It's rich, full bodied with smooth, lingering and leathery tanins. I love the way the nose and taste opens up after being in the glass.
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Off the wine list at Pera in NYC. This is one of those safe wines I look for on wine lists now esp when I'm looking to be more on a budget. It's got the fruit that works for the new world folks and the more woodsy and spicy that helps with the old world. Too young for sure, but otherwise just drinking really well.
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Highly aromatic with dark fruits. Little nuance on the nose, not surprising in its youth. The palate follows suit and agree that it is a bit thin and tight. Followed over 24 hours with no change.
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Old vines, one of the best producers of Petite Sirah and Zinfandel, so this wine with 3% Zin gives dark fruit, velvety tannins, and surprisingly drinkable with a variety of foods. A food wine for sure. We even enjoyed it with a hearty piece of fish cooked with southwestern spices and squash. Decant for about an hour.
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Very tight on PnP, fruit nose, dry, acidic palate and short, tannic almost thin finish. After 2 hours, it opens up a bit, but not sure how well this will develop over time.
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Extremely structured - very grippy tannins with balancing acidity. Just starting to show after several hours in the decanter. Dark fruit, spice, cedar....it's clear this one needs some time and is built to age.
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A real treat. Powerful aromas of violets, ripe blueberries, black tea, and black pepper. Personally, I like the balance on the palate now -- strong tea-like tannins, plump fruit, and decent acidity -- but I am accustomed to drinking European wines, which are typically more tannic than California wines. Regardless, there's no doubt that this wine will improve as it unfolds over the next 5 years or so.
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If for any reason you open this bottle today, judicious exposure to air is needed to tame it. 2.5 hours would be my starting point.
It was fun to see this wine evolve in the decanter. Completely closed up at first and was like sticking a bag of tea in your mouth. Around 60 minutes the aromatics started to take shape and tannins started to smooth out. Between 120-180 minutes, the wine came together and held there for the evening.
Intense and balanced today. Nose was blueberry, blackberry, plum, tea, lilac, a bit of vanilla. Palate was matched the nose with the addition of black pepper. Tannins were very chewy, firm, and round. Tastefully acidic. Long black tea and mineral finish.
This wine is setup for some serious time in the cellar.
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Black and blue fruits, flowers, spice. Thick and velvety, but quite fresh for Petite Sirah. Compared to the Lytton Zin blend this is always rather straightforward. It does have a gorgeous blue floral thing on the finish. This should last a very long time, as it is balanced and intense. This note is from day two.
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A deep, flavorful wine, with notes of blackberries, licorice and grilled peppered steak. Everything is in place for aging, but the structure is a bit much for current consumption.
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3/20/2024 - HU wrote: 91 Points
PnP. Could be a 92. Still very tannic: I suggest to wait another three years or so. Medium body. Tastes of orange peel, citrus. Sharp edges. Interesting, but I am hoping it will develop into something bettter.
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2/8/2024 - ppandian Likes this wine: 92 Points
Drinking superbly right now. Very well balanced, medium weight on the palate, smooth texture with well rounded tannins. Notes of red berries..just a terrific wine.
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10/14/2023 - Andrew Vaughan Likes this wine: 92 Points
Thought this would be a little on the young side but it was surprisingly balanced and well integrated. Bigger wine but very smooth with softer yet present tannins, lovely fruit. Very pleasant and went great with a ribeye with aji amarillo sauce and other Peruvian cuisine accompaniments.
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5/6/2023 - dmccann3 wrote: 90 Points
Still pretty young. High alcohol content. A bit of a mouthful
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3/27/2023 - WineJ2019 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Very good - intense fruits and med+ acidity but not overwhelming and teeth staining as I have found some other petite sirahs (not a ton of experience with these). Anyways also worked well w pasta bolognese on day 2
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3/13/2023 - Side Hustle Wino Likes this wine: 92 Points
I am biased toward anything from Ridge and this PS did not disappoint. Love this varietal - big and bold but elegant and complex. Tannins and acidity in perfect balance.
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3/8/2023 - maxima wrote: 89 Points
Frais, franc et bien équilibré.
Des cerises et des bleuets avec un
peu de réglisse et des herbes.
Super long et bien souple.
Très bon.
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1/2/2023 - vino vidi vici Likes this wine:
This is excellent - I prefer Old World wines, but Ridge Zins and Petite Sirah's are very high quality. Sure, you can age this for 10-15 years... but today is just as good.
Big in stature, elegant in delivery. Have no fear!
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11/28/2022 - LJMcDue wrote: 95 Points
Paired with reverse sear ribeye, potato hasselback gratin, and ceaser salad.
This wine continues to impress. Lots of blackberry, oat and vanilla on the nose. Pepper, plum and blackberry on the pallet. Dry and tannic.
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11/17/2022 - LJMcDue wrote: 90 Points
Consumed with Oklahoma smash burgers and arugula salad.
Nose: plum and oak. Taste: raspberry, peoper and tobacco. Finish: bold and tannic with a decent amount of acid.
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6/9/2022 - John III wrote:
Decanted for 3.5 hours for a party of Kiwanians. Drank with barbecued meats and potato salad. The wine is very tight and far, far too young. It only hinted at being interesting. Mostly I tasted leather. The two remaining bottles in the cellar need at least a decade of rest before even considering them for consumption. I'm not rating this now because it would be unfair. Hold.
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6/4/2022 - JustOneMoreGlass Likes this wine: 94 Points
Some good juice. Big but complex. Good to drink now.
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6/3/2022 - andy_kaul Likes this wine: 92 Points
Tough to beat Ridge. Memorial Day Weekend - drank this with grilled ribs. Really exceptional, enjoyable wine; especially for the price.
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5/14/2022 - Vinnut Likes this wine: 91 Points
Deep, dark, purple garnet in color; nearly opaque. Full, forward & attractive nose of ripe fruit aromas of dark cherries, blackberries & plums with lovely overtones of spice notes of pepper, earthy/dusty, floral notes of violets, cocoa, anise, minerals, cedar & a hint of vanilla in the background. Full bodied with a very good concentration of well balanced & smooth textured, dense, ripe fruit flavors of dark cherries, blackberries & plums with spices, bittersweet cocoa, herbs, minerals & spices. Long lingering finish. Drinks quite well with decanting & extended airing but will develop further with additional aging.
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5/2/2022 - David Strange Likes this wine:
I thought I would give this a little taste well in advance of it being required for dinner, just in case!
Jesus Shit! This is more tannic than a leather factory! It is truly frightening in its hardness and so generally tough it makes me want to throw it at the bastard who has parked in our space, just to irreparably knacker their car.
I get the impression that there is some quite delicious fruit in the Lytton Estate Petite Sirah, but it is so bound up in the tannin and the hardness of youth that discerning it requires more than a little imagination.
This is being double-decanted for three-and-one-half hours before it is required for dinner, and I am still worried our gums will be black for the rest of eternity.
One-and-one-half hours later I double decanted it again.
Dinner is arriving and so I will have some wine. It is very dark, but that tells us bugger all about the wine’s flavour profile.
The Lytton Estate Petite Sirah has a wonderful nose, I am slightly surprised to report. Mulberry and slightly bitter cherry fruit. The fruit is quite Italianate in character.
Despite the Italian similarity is not in the slightest bit too alcoholic. The Lytton Estate Petite Sirah claims to be 13.5% and that seems spot on to me. Good.
I also get the feeling that there has been little messing around with new oak on the Lytton Estate Petite Sirah. There is a mild suggestion of sweet vanilla, but it is understated and lets the fruit and vineyard do the talking.
Adding to my Italian impression of the Lytton Estate Petite Sirah is a rich and polished earthy character. If I were given this blind I would not have a smart arse answer straight off the bat, but once I got around to making a guess, which would be a civilised and quite smart Brunello di Montalcino, I would feel pretty pleased with my guess.
The palate would only add to my irritating smugness. Yes, the Lytton Estate Petite Sirah is still very tannic, but not as uncompromisingly brutal as when I opened it nearly four hours ago. Those tough tannins could be Italian, could they not?
There is also a rich earthiness to this palate. You have to go looking for it a little as all the time you chew this Lytton Estate Petite Sirah around your mouth you cannot get the words, “Hell’s bells this is tannic!”, out of your mind.
The fruit is bitter cherry in character and the Lytton Estate Petite Sirah has generally shows a pleasingly bitter edge to its palate. It is clearly extremely young, with two or three decades ahead of it, but enthusiastic decanting has allowed a chink in its tannic armour to look through and see an entity of a distinctly attractive character.
There has been some criticism recently that Ridge are starting to make wines that are more accessible at a younger age than the wines were under Paul Draper, with the aim that they can chase points and appeal to younger palates. Not with this wine! Lytton Estate Petite Sirah will appeal to younger palates by the time they have grown into distinctly middle-aged palates!
Ridge fans should not find it as hard as this wine to recognise its tough, uncompromising character from the York Creek example of Petite Sirah. You will have to be softer than this wine is on European-trained palates if they make my mistake and guess this as something tough that is closer to home.
The Lytton Estate Petite Sirah is undoubtedly very good, even if it leans toward fascist-aesthetics with its suggestions of leather boots, black trench coats and stamping on people’s necks. It does, perhaps, lack slightly on the deliciousness scale. One thing is certain, you have just got to be enormously patient for it to reach maturity.
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2/21/2022 - cclearningwine wrote: 91 Points
Full disclosure, we are Ridge members. Despite being known for Zins, we love their Petite Sirah. On the nose I get blackberry, clove and mint. It's rich, full bodied with smooth, lingering and leathery tanins. I love the way the nose and taste opens up after being in the glass.
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2/11/2022 - cbforever1 wrote: 92 Points
Very drinkable, pleasant even if I will not open another bottle for the next five years
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2/7/2022 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Off the wine list at Pera in NYC. This is one of those safe wines I look for on wine lists now esp when I'm looking to be more on a budget. It's got the fruit that works for the new world folks and the more woodsy and spicy that helps with the old world. Too young for sure, but otherwise just drinking really well.
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11/26/2021 - Shugs_Claret wrote: 87 Points
Highly aromatic with dark fruits. Little nuance on the nose, not surprising in its youth. The palate follows suit and agree that it is a bit thin and tight. Followed over 24 hours with no change.
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9/27/2021 - DoctoraK wrote: 90 Points
Old vines, one of the best producers of Petite Sirah and Zinfandel, so this wine with 3% Zin gives dark fruit, velvety tannins, and surprisingly drinkable with a variety of foods. A food wine for sure. We even enjoyed it with a hearty piece of fish cooked with southwestern spices and squash. Decant for about an hour.
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7/5/2021 - rojoloco Likes this wine: 91 Points
Nice after several hours open. Opened up nicely. Very nice deep flavors after 2 1/2 hours of breathing. Good but open early.
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6/4/2021 - Oberhau wrote: 88 Points
Very tight on PnP, fruit nose, dry, acidic palate and short, tannic almost thin finish. After 2 hours, it opens up a bit, but not sure how well this will develop over time.
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4/14/2021 - Dough Boy wrote: 90 Points
Not sold on this one. Definitely has good fruit but lacks in complexity, finesse and length. Cellaring several years may remedy.
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4/13/2021 - mats13 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Young. Dark sweet fruit and spice. Needs air, or better, a couple years of sleep.
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3/6/2021 - dadsdrinkwinetoo Likes this wine: 92 Points
Extremely structured - very grippy tannins with balancing acidity. Just starting to show after several hours in the decanter. Dark fruit, spice, cedar....it's clear this one needs some time and is built to age.
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2/15/2021 - rmalloy Likes this wine: 93 Points
A real treat. Powerful aromas of violets, ripe blueberries, black tea, and black pepper. Personally, I like the balance on the palate now -- strong tea-like tannins, plump fruit, and decent acidity -- but I am accustomed to drinking European wines, which are typically more tannic than California wines. Regardless, there's no doubt that this wine will improve as it unfolds over the next 5 years or so.
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1/28/2021 - ChateauShiny Likes this wine: 92 Points
If for any reason you open this bottle today, judicious exposure to air is needed to tame it. 2.5 hours would be my starting point.
It was fun to see this wine evolve in the decanter. Completely closed up at first and was like sticking a bag of tea in your mouth. Around 60 minutes the aromatics started to take shape and tannins started to smooth out. Between 120-180 minutes, the wine came together and held there for the evening.
Intense and balanced today. Nose was blueberry, blackberry, plum, tea, lilac, a bit of vanilla. Palate was matched the nose with the addition of black pepper. Tannins were very chewy, firm, and round. Tastefully acidic. Long black tea and mineral finish.
This wine is setup for some serious time in the cellar.
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11/19/2020 - viniferatu Likes this wine:
Black and blue fruits, flowers, spice. Thick and velvety, but quite fresh for Petite Sirah. Compared to the Lytton Zin blend this is always rather straightforward. It does have a gorgeous blue floral thing on the finish. This should last a very long time, as it is balanced and intense. This note is from day two.
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9/20/2020 - mdefreitas wrote: 92 Points
A deep, flavorful wine, with notes of blackberries, licorice and grilled peppered steak. Everything is in place for aging, but the structure is a bit much for current consumption.
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