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Vintages 2004
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| Saddleback Cellars Producer website Located in the heart of Napa Valley, Saddleback Cellars was founded by acclaimed winemaker Nils Venge. Nils got his start in Napa Valley in 1970 and has been creating award winning wines at Saddleback since 1981. He is known as the "King of Cabs" due to being the first American to receive a 100 point score from wine-critic extraordinaire Robert Parker Jr. for making a 1985 Cabernet Sauvignon.
Saddleback sits on Money Road, a dead-end lane in Oakville, a renowned Cabernet growing A.V.A. (American Vinicultural Area). Our first love is Cabernet Sauvignon; although we make a variety of wonderful wines both from our estate vineyard in Oakville and from around the valley. Some of these include; Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Merlot and Zinfandel – and even smaller lots, made especially for our Posse Wine Club, which include: Marsanne, Grenache Blanc, Charbono, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc to name of few.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.USAAmerican 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.California2021 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 Central Valley The Central California Winegrowers (Official site) | Central Valley (California Wine Institute)Clarksburg Clarksburg Wine Growers & Vintners Association |
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