A Powerhouse Petite Sirah Tasting

Greg Piatigorski pulled us together to taste some of the best Petite Sirah coming from California. Pulling most of them from his cellar along with great contributions by Paul Hidalgo with the Outpost offerings and Darren with the Turley and Rosenblum offerings. Thanks to you all for sharing these great wines. The rest of us included Erik Pounds, Scott Elisha, Eric Lunblad, and myself.

Four of the five wines made by Bob Foley of Pride fame. Amazing the difference between 2000 and 2001s, the 2000s were not showing nearly as well. The 2001 Switchback Ridge and the 2001 Foley tied for WOTF.

• 2000 Pride Mountain Vineyards Petite Sirah

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Huge nose with menthol and wood notes. Bosyenberry on the palette. Finish smooth yet chalky. My number 3 and the group 3 in the flight.

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• 2000 Switchback Ridge Petite Sirah Peterson Family Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Nose was quite odd to me with menthol, pepper, and diesel of all things. Pepper on the palette, though it seemes quite thin. Chalky finish again for me. My number 5 and the group 4 of the flight

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• 2001 Switchback Ridge Petite Sirah Peterson Family Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Blackberry and pepper on the nose. Boysenberry with some vanilla on the palette. Smooth, nice mouthfeel. My number 2 and group tied for 1st of the flight.

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• 2001 Turley Petite Syrah Turley Estate

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Nose of pepper with some noticeable wood. Blackberry and pepper on the palette. Way too much wood on the palette with not much of a finish. My number 4 and group number 5 of the flight.

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• 2001 Pride Mountain Vineyards Petite Sirah

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Nose of boysenberry with lots of wood. Powerful fruit with boysenberry and spice on the palette. Great mouthfeel. Though lots of wood, well integrated and has the stuffing to be better in time. My number 1 and group tied for 1st in the flight.

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There was little disagreement on this flight, we came to the same conclusions. The 2002 Switchback Ridge was the WOTF and the WOTN.

• 2002 Pride Mountain Vineyards Petite Sirah

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Huge wood and menthol on the nose. Good fruit with wonderful mouthfeel. My number 2 and group 2 of the flight.

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• 2002 Outpost Petite Sirah The Other

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain

  Ripe, huge nose. Rich palette with menthol, fruit and pepper. My number 3 and the group 3 of the flight

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• 2002 Turley Petite Syrah Turley Estate

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Super ripe nose of candied cherry. Flabby fruit and no finish. My number 4 and the consensus group 4 of the flight.

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• 2002 Switchback Ridge Petite Sirah Peterson Family Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Huge, extracted nose with menthol and dark fruit. Amazing fruit, well integrated. Nice mouthfeel and finish. "Killer". My number 1 and consensus group number 1 of the flight. Likely the wine of the night.

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This was the toughest flight for most people to judge. Lots of great wines with no obvious losers and everybody seemed to have a different favorite wine. The 2003 Foley was the WOTF.

• 2003 Turley Petite Syrah Turley Estate

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Huge fruit with massive boysenberry and pepper on the nose. Lots of pepper on the palette with great grapefruit as well. Nice balance of tannins and acidity. My number 1 and group number 3 of the flight.

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• 2003 Outpost Petite Sirah The Other

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Howell Mountain

  Menthol and a bit of leather on the nose. Good fruit and pepper on the palette. Nice acidity as well. My number 3 and the group number 5 of the flight.

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• 2003 Switchback Ridge Petite Sirah Peterson Family Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  A lighter, no so dense nose with some menthol and caramel. Serious coffee flavor on the palette with noticeable tannins. My number 4 and the group number 5 of the flight.

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• 2003 Pride Mountain Vineyards Petite Sirah

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Candied, but lighter fruit on the nose. Good fruit. Light tannins on the finish. My number 5 and group number 2 of the flight.

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• 2003 Robert Foley Petite Sirah

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Caramel, almost port like powerful nose. Strong fruit with rounded tannins. Smooth finish. My number 2 and the group number 1 of the flight.

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• 2003 Corté Riva Petite Sirah

  USA, California, North Coast

  Cotton candy, caramel, candied fruit on the nose. Sweet rounded tannins with caramel, coffee, toffee on the palette. Needs more time to integrate. My number 6 and the group number 4.

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We didn't rate this flight, as the wines were mostly too young and way to primary. Lots of stuffing and structure that I look forward to revisiting in five years. The 2004 Rosenblum Cellars Petite Sirah Heritage Clones was the exception as it was drinking well tonight and found to be a great value to drink today at around $20.

• 2004 Rosenblum Cellars Petite Sirah Heritage Clones

  USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Contra Costa County

  Big fruit on the nose. Gobs of fruit on the palette, though young and primary. Good value for sub $20. Best drinking tonight of this flight.

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• 2004 Switchback Ridge Petite Sirah Peterson Family Vineyard

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Powerful nose, though lots of acid and wood that needs to integrate still. Good tannins and structure. Needs another year to even consider early drinking.

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• 2004 Corté Riva Petite Sirah

  USA, California, North Coast

  Young, very primary. Lots of stuffing and structure. Needs at least a year to consider before drinking again, though this is built to last.

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• 2005 Corté Riva Petite Sirah

  USA, California, North Coast

  Barrel sample. Blend of Lake County and Calistoga fruit. Thanks Greg and Romel! Lots of fruit and power, but young and primary. Looking forward to trying again in bottle in a few years.

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A wonderful evening with lots of powerful, fruit forward and yet structured wines built to last. It is a shame we don't have time to revisit these same wines as a group over the next few days to see how they evolve. Thanks again to Greg, Darrin, and Paul for their generosity and to Cafe Esin for another wonderful meal.