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2015

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 Vintage2015
TypeRed - Sweet/Dessert
ProducerGraton Ridge Cellars (web)
VarietyPetite Sirah
DesignationDessert Wine
Vineyardn/a
CountryUSA
RegionCalifornia
SubRegionSonoma County
AppellationRussian River Valley

Drinking Windows and Values
Drinking window: not specified

Community Tasting History

Community Tasting Notes (average 89 pts. and median of 89 pts. in 2 notes) - hiding notes with no text

 Tasted by ChipGreen on 1/18/2020: Natural cork closure. Dark and inky in the glass - not unexpected for a PS. An almost opaque magenta-purple color. When swirled the wine coats the glass, showing some viscosity, before slowly melting away to reveal it’s medium-sized, medium-spaced, slow-running legs. On the nose, blueberry pie and candied cherries with a little heat and just a hint of spice. Very pleasant aroma which invites multiple sniffs. On the palate, blueberry upfront but with a surprisingly strong red fruit component as well. Sweet, jammy strawberry with tart cranberry, pomegranate and/or rhubarb notes remind me of the strawberry-rhubarb pies my grandmother used to make. From start to finish; mostly sweet heat on the entry, followed by expressive fruit flavors on the mid-palate and lingering fruit with a spicy kick and a little oak on the medium+ lip-smacking finish. Tried it with some nonpareils and was surprised that they accentuated the spicy notes of the wine. It was an interesting and enjoyable pairing. Note that there is some light sediment in the bottle. (682 views)

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Graton Ridge Cellars

Producer website

Petite Sirah

Varietal character (Appellation America) | P.S. I Love You: A Petite Sirah Advocacy Organization

Petite Sirah is a variety of red wine grape grown in France, California, Israel and Australia. Recently, wineries located in Washington State's Yakima Valley, Maryland, Arizona, West Virginia, Mexico, Chile's Colchagua Valley and Maipo Valley, and Ontario's Niagara Peninsula have also produced wines from Petite Sirah grapes. Though developed in France, it is nearly extinct there as of 2002, hanging on in limited plantings in the Isère and Ardêche regions of the Rhône Valley and in Palette, a tiny appellation in Provence. It is the main grape known in the US and Israel as Petite Sirah with over 90% of the California plantings labeled "Petite Sirah" being Durif grapes; the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms recognizes "Durif" and "Petite Sirah" as interchangeable synonyms referring to the same grape. The grape originated as a cross of Syrah pollen germinating a Peloursin plant. On some occasions, Peloursin and Syrah vines may be called Petite Sirah, usually because the varieties are extremely difficult to distinguish in old age.

The 'petite' in the name of this grape refers to the size of its berries and not the vine, which is particularly vigorous. The leaves are large with a bright green upper surface and paler green lower surface. The grape forms tightly packed clusters that can be susceptible to rotting in rainy environments. The small berries creates a high skin to juice ratio which can produce very tannic wines if the juice goes through an extended maceration period. In the presence of new oak barrels the wine can develop an aroma of melted chocolate.

Petite Sirah produces dark, inky colored wines that are relatively acidic with firm texture and mouth feel. The bouquet has herbal and black pepper overtones, with plum and blackberry flavors on the palate. Compared to Syrah, the wine is noticeably more dark and purplish in color. The wines are very tannic with aging ability that can eclipse 20 years in the bottle.

USA

American wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.

California

2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson

Sonoma County

Mendocino County

Russian River Valley

Russian River Valley Winegrowers Association | Wikipedia

 
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