Absolutely wonderful petite sirah that expresses both fruit and finesse. No real tannins to speak of. The community suggested that the drink window ended in 2019, and that appears to be significantly off. Am suggesting 2025 for this one. Received as a gift from good friends of ours, will have to seek out the winery in Yountville and check it out.
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Enjoyed as an after dinner sipper with dark chocolate and a movie. Rich but mellow full fruit flavor. Much better than it remembered from some time ago. This has aged nicely - drinking well now, does not seem like it will improve more or decline precipitously.
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Au printemps 2019, le personnel chez Girard à Napa m'a dit que je devais ouvrir ça rapidement.. Pour eux, ce vin devait être bu dans les cinq premières années. J'ai des nouvelles pour eux: ce vin était excellent et à point (légèrement rafraîchi). On retient le nez fruité, complexe et une bouche d'un beau poivré. Pas surpris de la bonne note du WS. Malheureusement bouteille unique.
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After six years, purplish red core with magenta edges. Black olive and green pepper. Finishes quickly with, surprisingly, a lingering burst of tartness on the tip of the tongue, which leaves the final impression of eating a slightly too tart plum or apple. Interesting -- not expected, not horrible, but not exactly what I'd look for in this varietal.
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I have limited experience with this varietal. Nose is pleasant with floral and green pepper, but not much fruit. Initial flavors are a bit thin with sour cherry and perhaps a touch of green apple bitterness. Not in a bad way, just different. In the middle some toasted oak comes through. Fairly soft mouth feel with no real biting tannins. Leads to a rather quick finish. Not bad for the price, but not quite as rated by WS. I don't know that more aging will have much effect.
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At last, this wine is ready to drink. Just shows you decent Napa reds take at least 5 years. We have one bottle left after this. This was varietally correct with lots of dark fruit , licorice notes and tannins that nicely coated the tongue. Robust, but elegantly smooth. We decanted and a touch of acidity went away quickly, but still great to pair with food. Drink Now.
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Reviewed on 5/4/2014- nearly 2 years ago! and thought it was WAY too young, "dumb" phase. Opened another bottle last week and with breathing and decanting, I can say it is getting there, but still young. Much more complex than a year ago and is coming together and is enjoyable, but I would still wait until at least the end of 2016. This wine had the dark, inky look and black fruit nose and taste- also earthy with a long finish and lots of depth. Still a little tight, so HOLD but if you insist on drinking now, needs LOTS of air. Very enjoyable and very different from your run of the mill wine.
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Inky velvet color. Nose displays violet, sour cherry and black currant. Despite big legs, a little thin on the palate. Flavours of green plum and roselle.
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A nose of some dark fruit and spice, dark purple in color. A medium to full bodied red, with black cherry, blueberry, licorice and spice on finish, a bit disjointed. www.winelx.com
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Nice fruit and character that you would expect from Petite Sirah. Slight 'tang.' Great w roasted chicken... even had with Beef Shabu and was pleasant, not sure how to pair Shabu!
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After the oak blows off it's still pretty good. It's not going to live up to it's WS billing, but it is a good wine. The review sets the bar way too high.
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Nicely balanced dark fruit with lots of acidity. Maybe just a little too much acid, but that leads to a long finish. For the record, I did not read my note from 8 months ago before I wore this comment.
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Nice and smooth. Raspberry and plums with some white pepper and toasty oak. Doesn't blow you away as you'd expect from the WS review. I think it needs to age a bit. 90/91.
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Fair. I found this disappointing after reading the Wine Spectator review. This is missing the big, bold dark cherries, earth, leather and mocha of a better Petite Sirah. Fairly nondescript with a slightly bitter finish.
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New World Blind Tasting Group $25+ (Bin 75): Darker core with bright rose violet rim; sweet French oak, vanilla, raspberry, plum, hints of black pepper; soft palate, sweet tart red and dark fruit, vanilla, plusher, ripe but good acid; a little soft for PS for me.
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Way too young! Clearly has potential, it is intense, dark, black cherry fruit with tannins that have in no way been integrated. Put it away for a year, at the very least. This is a strong, vibrant wine that needs the chemistry of time to make it into the stellar wine it will be. Its like a barrel tasting now - you get to taste what it could become and if you don't know much about wine you will rate it as poor. This did open up just a tad hours later, it just is very tight right now.
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I am surprised at the glowing reviews of this wine. The bottle we tried was simple and generic--no faults, but not much to write about either. We drank a glass apiece and saved the remainder for cooking.
You folks need to get out more.
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Lean and structured for a PS. Low-key nose; plum, cedar, cocoa, earth. Delicious and fairly complex -- cranberry, raspberry, macerated strawberry, mocha, tea. Modest finish with some lingering flavors. Better with 30+ mins of air. Very good value and a nice change of pace.
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Complex nose of cedar, juniper, and plum interwoven with underbrush. Medium bodied, high acid affair that drops off quickly into a cocoa laced astringent finish. Almost thin on the palate, small berries, cedar and weak tea notes. Hopefully the palate will evolve to deliver more of what the nose promises.
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Vinturi then decant for 2 hours and started to mellow some. still see previous note, in my opinion just a little unbalanced but showing nice tart raspberry,cherry, cooked strawberry and some nice vanilla and barrel room on the finished glass. beautiful purple color and throwing a decent amount of sentiment. nice tart fruit here.
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Thus far not that impressed by what I've seen from a lot of these wines i'm used to drinking in this 11 vintage. Opened and decanted for 6 hours, only started to come together. Lacking power in fruit and alcohol and acid seem a little disjointed. Fruit is plum, baked strawberry, roasted cherry. Tannins modest. High acid. Decent wine, nothing special. Would not purchase again though.
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Red fruit on the nose. Closed and muted. 2 times through a menu decanter. Red fruit and some earth on the nose. Very linear on the palate. Tons of acidity. Not much in the way of tannins and for a 2011 petit syrah I would expect massive tannins. Somewhat disjointed and lacking in the finish. Okay for an everyday drinker but not much more than that.
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I enjoyed this today. I think it will need plenty of time to evolve into something even better. We had this after the artistry and it followed up nicely. Deep purple in color. Tannins were not as harsh and I remembered. Well balanced and a solid effort.
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Black purple in color. Dill pickle and tart. Makes you want to pucker your mouth together. The complexity was lacking as was the finish. The acidity was a bit overboard and while this was a decent wine it was absolutely nothing special and I don't see this developing into much more than an 85-87 point wine at best.
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What a difference a year makes, I really liked the 2010 version of this wine. The 2011 version is tart, and the tartness obscures the fruit, one the second day the fruit tries to poke its head out a little, but is overwhelmed by the acidity.
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Maybe this is too young to get a good handle on but the 2010 version of this wine is much better than the 2011. Tartly acidic with its fruit hiding in the background. Revisit in 12 months to see if there is more that meets the eye. 87+
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6/27/2021 - Terramare Likes this wine: 93 Points
Absolutely wonderful petite sirah that expresses both fruit and finesse. No real tannins to speak of. The community suggested that the drink window ended in 2019, and that appears to be significantly off. Am suggesting 2025 for this one. Received as a gift from good friends of ours, will have to seek out the winery in Yountville and check it out.
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12/21/2020 - Ceo wrote: 93 Points
Still Rocking
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9/11/2020 - esuelflow Likes this wine:
Went down easy. No encouragement required.
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4/5/2020 - Announcer Likes this wine: 90 Points
Enjoyed as an after dinner sipper with dark chocolate and a movie. Rich but mellow full fruit flavor. Much better than it remembered from some time ago. This has aged nicely - drinking well now, does not seem like it will improve more or decline precipitously.
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1/19/2020 - olioli wrote: 91 Points
Au printemps 2019, le personnel chez Girard à Napa m'a dit que je devais ouvrir ça rapidement..
Pour eux, ce vin devait être bu dans les cinq premières années.
J'ai des nouvelles pour eux: ce vin était excellent et à point (légèrement rafraîchi).
On retient le nez fruité, complexe et une bouche d'un beau poivré.
Pas surpris de la bonne note du WS.
Malheureusement bouteille unique.
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1/4/2018 - tbrader wrote: 85 Points
After six years, purplish red core with magenta edges. Black olive and green pepper. Finishes quickly with, surprisingly, a lingering burst of tartness on the tip of the tongue, which leaves the final impression of eating a slightly too tart plum or apple. Interesting -- not expected, not horrible, but not exactly what I'd look for in this varietal.
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12/10/2017 - ddisler wrote: 88 Points
I have limited experience with this varietal. Nose is pleasant with floral and green pepper, but not much fruit. Initial flavors are a bit thin with sour cherry and perhaps a touch of green apple bitterness. Not in a bad way, just different. In the middle some toasted oak comes through. Fairly soft mouth feel with no real biting tannins. Leads to a rather quick finish. Not bad for the price, but not quite as rated by WS. I don't know that more aging will have much effect.
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11/4/2017 - maxmanx wrote:
Decanted but stayed one-note. Didn't live up to the 93 WS score.
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7/2/2017 - maxmanx wrote:
Not sure if it was a flawed bottle, but very acidic and zero fruit. Have one more so will see...
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5/17/2017 - Z1nnfull Likes this wine: 91 Points
At last, this wine is ready to drink. Just shows you decent Napa reds take at least 5 years. We have one bottle left after this.
This was varietally correct with lots of dark fruit , licorice notes and tannins that nicely coated the tongue. Robust, but elegantly smooth. We decanted and a touch of acidity went away quickly, but still great to pair with food.
Drink Now.
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3/14/2016 - Z1nnfull Likes this wine: 91 Points
Reviewed on 5/4/2014- nearly 2 years ago! and thought it was WAY too young, "dumb" phase. Opened another bottle last week and with breathing and decanting, I can say it is getting there, but still young. Much more complex than a year ago and is coming together and is enjoyable, but I would still wait until at least the end of 2016.
This wine had the dark, inky look and black fruit nose and taste- also earthy with a long finish and lots of depth. Still a little tight, so HOLD but if you insist on drinking now, needs LOTS of air. Very enjoyable and very different from your run of the mill wine.
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2/3/2016 - pickhardt wrote: 87 Points
Not enough tannin or fruit to make up for the high acidity. Out of balance, but not too bad.
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2/3/2016 - westcoastwannabe wrote: 88 Points
Sour cherry notes with white pepper. Not too complex, but it still matched well with our spicy pork tenderloin.
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10/10/2015 - glennramsdell Likes this wine: 87 Points
Inky velvet color. Nose displays violet, sour cherry and black currant. Despite big legs, a little thin on the palate. Flavours of green plum and roselle.
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6/12/2015 - corkscrews wrote: 87 Points
A nose of some dark fruit and spice, dark purple in color. A medium to full bodied red, with black cherry, blueberry, licorice and spice on finish, a bit disjointed. www.winelx.com
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4/5/2015 - matthewitz Likes this wine: 90 Points
Nice fruit and character that you would expect from Petite Sirah. Slight 'tang.'
Great w roasted chicken... even had with Beef Shabu and was pleasant, not sure how to pair Shabu!
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2/16/2015 - Jobu wrote: 91 Points
After the oak blows off it's still pretty good. It's not going to live up to it's WS billing, but it is a good wine. The review sets the bar way too high.
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1/18/2015 - TheRhoneranger wrote: 85 Points
Nothing distinctive about this wine. Very blah.
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11/23/2014 - pickhardt wrote: 88 Points
Nicely balanced dark fruit with lots of acidity. Maybe just a little too much acid, but that leads to a long finish. For the record, I did not read my note from 8 months ago before I wore this comment.
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10/5/2014 - Jobu wrote:
Nice and smooth. Raspberry and plums with some white pepper and toasty oak. Doesn't blow you away as you'd expect from the WS review. I think it needs to age a bit. 90/91.
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8/25/2014 - clio_wine wrote:
Fair. I found this disappointing after reading the Wine Spectator review. This is missing the big, bold dark cherries, earth, leather and mocha of a better Petite Sirah. Fairly nondescript with a slightly bitter finish.
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5/10/2014 - Rezy13 wrote:
New World Blind Tasting Group $25+ (Bin 75): Darker core with bright rose violet rim; sweet French oak, vanilla, raspberry, plum, hints of black pepper; soft palate, sweet tart red and dark fruit, vanilla, plusher, ripe but good acid; a little soft for PS for me.
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5/4/2014 - Z1nnfull Likes this wine: 89 Points
Way too young! Clearly has potential, it is intense, dark, black cherry fruit with tannins that have in no way been integrated. Put it away for a year, at the very least. This is a strong, vibrant wine that needs the chemistry of time to make it into the stellar wine it will be. Its like a barrel tasting now - you get to taste what it could become and if you don't know much about wine you will rate it as poor. This did open up just a tad hours later, it just is very tight right now.
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4/29/2014 - Swaggering Beaunie wrote: 85 Points
I am surprised at the glowing reviews of this wine. The bottle we tried was simple and generic--no faults, but not much to write about either. We drank a glass apiece and saved the remainder for cooking.
You folks need to get out more.
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4/13/2014 - PDD wrote: 90 Points
ripe red fruits with a nice earthy backbone. Really QPR.
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3/30/2014 - pickhardt wrote: 89 Points
Blueberry/blackberry - very fruit forward. A little acidic. Nice finish.
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2/22/2014 - tomherer Likes this wine: 91 Points
Lean and structured for a PS. Low-key nose; plum, cedar, cocoa, earth. Delicious and fairly complex -- cranberry, raspberry, macerated strawberry, mocha, tea. Modest finish with some lingering flavors. Better with 30+ mins of air. Very good value and a nice change of pace.
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2/21/2014 - Kskels wrote: 89 Points
Very full and packed with flavor. A little age would probably help soften the tannins. Great value at 19.99!
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2/13/2014 - PDX-S wrote:
Complex nose of cedar, juniper, and plum interwoven with underbrush. Medium bodied, high acid affair that drops off quickly into a cocoa laced astringent finish. Almost thin on the palate, small berries, cedar and weak tea notes. Hopefully the palate will evolve to deliver more of what the nose promises.
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1/3/2014 - BCharlieG Likes this wine: 89 Points
Vinturi then decant for 2 hours and started to mellow some. still see previous note, in my opinion just a little unbalanced but showing nice tart raspberry,cherry, cooked strawberry and some nice vanilla and barrel room on the finished glass. beautiful purple color and throwing a decent amount of sentiment. nice tart fruit here.
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12/30/2013 - BCharlieG wrote: 88 Points
Thus far not that impressed by what I've seen from a lot of these wines i'm used to drinking in this 11 vintage. Opened and decanted for 6 hours, only started to come together. Lacking power in fruit and alcohol and acid seem a little disjointed. Fruit is plum, baked strawberry, roasted cherry. Tannins modest. High acid. Decent wine, nothing special. Would not purchase again though.
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10/16/2013 - JDV.DDSPHD wrote: 86 Points
Red fruit on the nose. Closed and muted. 2 times through a menu decanter. Red fruit and some earth on the nose. Very linear on the palate. Tons of acidity. Not much in the way of tannins and for a 2011 petit syrah I would expect massive tannins. Somewhat disjointed and lacking in the finish. Okay for an everyday drinker but not much more than that.
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10/12/2013 - bronww Likes this wine: 92 Points
Always a crowd pleaser. Lots of fruit. Dialed back tannins.
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8/10/2013 - StageOneRacing wrote: 85 Points
While it was good, it tasted more like a heavy pinot noir than a petite syrah.
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6/1/2013 - JDV.DDSPHD wrote: 89 Points
I enjoyed this today. I think it will need plenty of time to evolve into something even better. We had this after the artistry and it followed up nicely. Deep purple in color. Tannins were not as harsh and I remembered. Well balanced and a solid effort.
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4/26/2013 - JDV.DDSPHD wrote: 84 Points
Black purple in color. Dill pickle and tart. Makes you want to pucker your mouth together. The complexity was lacking as was the finish. The acidity was a bit overboard and while this was a decent wine it was absolutely nothing special and I don't see this developing into much more than an 85-87 point wine at best.
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4/23/2013 - DavidDay Does not like this wine: 86 Points
What a difference a year makes, I really liked the 2010 version of this wine. The 2011 version is tart, and the tartness obscures the fruit, one the second day the fruit tries to poke its head out a little, but is overwhelmed by the acidity.
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4/4/2013 - bound4er wrote: 87 Points
Maybe this is too young to get a good handle on but the 2010 version of this wine is much better than the 2011. Tartly acidic with its fruit hiding in the background. Revisit in 12 months to see if there is more that meets the eye. 87+
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