This is my last review of this fine wine, as my case c’est fini. Still holding up very well. All bottles have been consistent with my previous posted notes.
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Another excellent bottle. Confirming my previous tasting notes. No rush to drink remaining bottles, which will hold up for a couple of years. There is no age deterioration.
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This wine has past its due date. Figured it had probably turned before we opened it, and we were right. It had a nose that suggested it was would have been solid if we'd opened it in time, but it got lost in the cellar. Too bad.
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still pitch. nose of plums skin. some tar. palate tannins are still there. seems like the acid has waned. i didn't find this too syrupy. i guess because the tannins have that fine grain to keep the dark fruit in balance. fruit has settled down a bit. still tons of blueberry pie and huckleberry. yummy stuff.
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Much more balanced than previous bottles...or else I'm just getting immune to the artificial blackberry flavors. It's certainly dry, but the flavors are still too sweet.
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Tasty but off-balance. Weird Frissante upon opening. Awkward transition to the finish. But the fruit is just so good... pure, borderline jammy blackberry and boysenberry, going to blueberry pie filling on the finish. If you like Aussie style wines (only with more structure), try younger vintages of this. I think this may be past it's prime, but who knows? Might just be the pop'n'pour crankiness.
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If you like blackberry liqueur, great. If not, stay away from this wine. MUST DECANT. It was terrible...seriously terrible...upon opening. Better after an hour. Even better after two hours. A bit too sweet for my tastes, so I won't be buying again. It's very one dimensional...and that dimension is blackberry liqueur.
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Cork looked like it had seeped through the sides, outside of bottle was covered in whitish stuff, capsule oxidized on inside, but the wine is decently tasty. Smell of slight solvent, some shoe polish, pain grille, bacon fat. Palate is quite smooth with blueberry, blackberry, herbs. If this is an off bottle, I'll be impressed with the others. Going to give this one some time to breathe and re-visit.
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pitch colored with high viscosity. 14.8% alcohol, but it's not really evident. blueberry jam, mocha and dark chocolate on the nose. the nose really opened up with time and air. on the palate, this is rich and dense with solid tannins and superd structure. lots of blackberries, blueberry jam, tar and some black pepper. long, rich finish. lots of sediment, so decant this one. also, it really opens up with air. gonna hold onto my other bottle for another year, as this seems to be getting better with age.
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Wine was a little too tight right out of the bottle. Needs some time to breathe before drinking. If you can open it up an hour or so before drinking that would be ideal
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Sunday Dinner (Jeff McHugh's condo): A hit at the dinner party. Everyone loved the earthiness and fruit-forward profile. Big fruit, with lots of blackberry and cherry flavors, with earth and tar. PS is one of my favorite varietals, and this delivers in spades.
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Not as wonderful as I had remembered. Still a very good bottle for the price but not quite the find I thought. It was helped quite a bit from the aerator. A wonderful nose of dark fruit and lead pencil. Far from being described as a "big red" but more of a complement to whatever food you are having. A very good everyday wine.
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Difficult to score because we don't drink a lot of PS. Extremely dark color, black purple. Nose of cherry cola, blackberry, and some smoke - very interesting. On the palate, less interesting but entirely mouth filling and huge. Some hollowness in the mid, very strong tannins. An interesting wine that may not be my first choice with dinner again but will drink stand-alone next time.
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The other two bottles of this have been OK, but tonight, it was excellent! We had come back from eating at Kincaids after eating some great fish and I has looking for a bigger wine that might be good with some dark chocolate and pulled this one out and this time is was spot on! Poured dark and had dark fruit on the nose ... plums, blue and blackberries ... and that came through on the palate also. Very good tannins, nice balance and it drank well be itself and with the mini-desert.
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Let it settle either in the glass, or a decanter. A slight chill serves the wine well as well.
Aroma of deep, dark, fruit. Cherries, a hint of cola. The smell fills your nose, makes you bury your face in your glass to get every last whiff. The taste does not live up to the aroma at all. It has the puckering tannins and intensity of a petite sirah, but it lacks a depth of flavor, or really any flavor. If you drink it as it warms from a cellar, the taste is appealing enough, but the thick, chalky, mouthcoating sensation of a PS is not backed up by much from the flavor department.
Good rating based purely on the aroma, though the taste is not bad.
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You have to be a real enthusiast to enjoy this. Inky, chalky, some big time fruit hiding amongst the mouth-puckering main note, it's an interesting wine to try. Musty to the point of tasting like dirt (not a bad thing), it isn't something you try lightly. You need to sit back and think about it. It's well done, and pleasant enough, but plan on a bottle between (at least) four people. It fatigues your taste buds quite quickly. If you're looking for a cheap way to demonstrate a varietal, go for it!
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Part of my regional niche suite of wine. The Lodi Suite consisted of 4 niche wines that I procured on a trip to Northern California. First up with the 2005 Peltier Station Petite Sirah; A very good wine, but didn't stand out as more than that. I had this wine with a couple of friends after I got back from my road trip and it was a very good representation of the what a Petite Sirah should be like. Big and bold, dark and spicy, with some viscosity about it. Good bottle price; However, not to be all great, it did lack a bit of body to it and had a short finish. Great table wine --
See my other notes from the four wines I tasted from Lodi:
2005 Peltier Station - http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=322978 2006 M2 Vintners - http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=539208 2005 Klinker Brick "Old Ghost" - http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=391166 2006 Draconis Zinfandel American Oak - http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=492453
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Very approchable for a big deep red after decanting 3 hours. Much better than the first bottle now after letting it sit. Nothing too overpowering, didn't notice the alcohol, nice purple fruit. Glad I bought this.
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Let this breathe for at least an hour. It has massive structure and all kinds of subtle black berry flavors. The finish is long with and smooth with just a hint of bitterness.
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outstanding wine for the price. Hints of chocolate covered cherries in the smell. Not tannic, very smooth finish. Lingering in the back of you pallett, very good wine
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I am new to wine tasting. Upon opening the bottle there was some sediment and crystals present. This did not seem to affect the tast. At first the wine was very tart and a little bitter, this mellowed out after an hour or so. Over all I did enjoy the wine. I think it would go well with a strong tasting food like Steak with garlic or BBQ.
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Big, bold Petite Sirah with lots of fruit and spice, but a wonderfully smooth finish with hints of vanilla and chocolate. If you like big, bold, smooth wines, you will enjoy this.
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drank with ribs. this wine really surprised me, much bigger body than expected. dark fruit and chewy tannins with a good finish. oakiness is def apparent and a bit much for me. but that is a small complaint, compared to how tasty is. decant for both oxygenation and to remove the sediment
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My first and only PS, I enjoyed this a lot. Nice berries and found the tannins to be pleasant. Decanted for about 30 min before dinner (steak). There was a fair amount of sediment so decant carefully.
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Opened as replacement bottle, so I did not give it enough time to breathe. It also had just arrived, so it may had some travel shock. It was a nice match to the steaks we grilled, but fell a little short of my expectations.
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Not to my liking at all. Disjointed with an aspirin/mineral taste that dominated. This wine fell apart and the finish left nothing to my liking. Mellowed out on day 2, but still nothing to brag about. Will try again much later.
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I didn't really like. It's my first PS so I'm not sure if it's the varietal I've got a problem with or this particular wine so until I've had other Petite Syrahs, I'm not a good judge.
This is probably the softest, most mellow wine I've ever had.
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Definitely got blueberries plus a little smoke as soon as I popped the cork. The cork had crystals on it and I found a chunk of them in my glass. They did not affect the wine, but I recommend filtering this one. Nice chewy, fruit forward PS. Kind of so-so on the mid-palate with a smooth yet tanniic finish.
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Nose of bluberry and cherry with a hint of something flowery with some mineral. On the palate, sweetness and mouth-drying tannins, with big blueberry flavors and a hint of vanilla and mineral. Very smooth, but a very dry finish that needs food or a glass of water. This is a pretty big wine, typical of Petite Sirah (in my experience). Excellent - 88 points.
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Color is a deep purple - very inky. Long legs. Quite a bit of residue in initial pours but does not effect taste or experience in a bad way. Nose is blueberry and dark fruit. Initial taste of blueberry syrup, some floral sweetness and some smoky bacon. Finish is long with a nice pucker from the integrated tannins. Very tasty on initial pour without decanting.
After breathing for 1hr, tastes become more integrated and a little heavier with additional hints of soy sauce, stout beer and chocolate - tannins begin to fade. Not a light wine - most likely great with bbq or a meaty dinner.
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Yummy. Agree with Mbecker's notes for the most part: "Color is a deep purple - very inky. Long legs. ... Nose is blueberry and dark fruit. Initial taste of blueberry ..., some floral sweetness .... Finish is long with a nice pucker from the integrated tannins. Very tasty on initial pour without decanting." However, you will need to filter some during decant, as there are crystals.
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Very nice black pepper nose with underlying black raspberry and blackberries. Tannins are very soft yet abundant and elegant. 15 second finish mirroring the nose; good structure on the mid-palate.
Can drink alone or with food; would go extremely well with bbq or other sauces with a hint of sugar/sweetness. Not a bone dry finish. Lots of blackberries. Consumed with steak -- regular and peppercorn -- as well as teriyaki and savory kebobs, all from wegmans. All paired brilliantly with the wine. I suspect that this would pair wonderfully with BBQ as well -- particularly red meat or buffalo, in particular. Even chicken would go well. The tannins aren't so big that they would overpower BBQ poultry. Even those poor misguided vegetarians could douse some tofu in BBQ sauce and toss it on a grill for serious enjoyment.
As it opens up, the nose and palate shift from black raspberry to blackberry, but there's an undercurrent ("rose", as bunnymasseuse put it) of strawberry or supersweet citrus that does not go away, and enhances the interesting nose. It is not particularly terroir-driven, as the winemaker made clear, but I don't think it needs to be. It works very well for what it is. It's not a huge PS, but it's superbly balanced, unlike the awkward, off-balance, and unsatisfying Guenoc and Vinum PETS for around the same price.
This is excellent on its own, and compares well to the 2004 Earthquake from the same winemaker, which was a blueberry bomb designed to explode on my palate. However, much like that Earthquake, it stands superbly on its own. The tannins are soft and chewy enough to not need food.
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Purple ink with mild aromas of brisk darkfruit and perfume. Full nectar with velvety tannins. Mellow soft and highly concentrated with big juicy blackcherry, vanilla, currant, and a bit of chocolate on the long, lingering finish.
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Gibby's Uncorked, Flight III (Gibby's Wine Den, Geneva, IL): Deep garnet color. Aromas of earth, plum and blackberry. There's a huge rush of dark fruit on the palate, with velvety tannins. A bit thin through the midpalate, which prevents a higher score.
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not as good as i remember the first bottle. still a good qpr nonetheless. dark and brooding as expected from a warm weather petite sirah. a bit of carbonation/bubbles seemed out of place. not overwhelming but it was there. tannin not overpowering like some other 05 petite sirahs i'm waiting on. fire up the bbq and crack this open.
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old world fans beware. this fistfull of extracted blueberries hits you hard, it's almost mouthpuckering. there are some nice spice notes in the background.
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3/27/2018 - jeginmt Likes this wine: 92 Points
This is my last review of this fine wine, as my case c’est fini. Still holding up very well. All bottles have been consistent with my previous posted notes.
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12/18/2016 - jeginmt wrote: 90 Points
As per my previous tasting notes, each bottle has been excellent.
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10/1/2016 - jeginmt Likes this wine: 92 Points
Please see my previous notes on this wine. A couple of hours of decant really works.
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7/14/2016 - jeginmt Likes this wine: 92 Points
Another excellent bottle. Confirming my previous tasting notes. No rush to drink remaining bottles, which will hold up for a couple of years. There is no age deterioration.
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7/4/2016 - jeginmt Likes this wine: 92 Points
It improved with a longer decant--4 hours. Same characteristics as my previous notes, but richer.
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5/1/2016 - jeginmt Likes this wine: 91 Points
Same characteristics as stated in my previous note. Still a very nice rich red wine. Aging quite well. Decant one hour before drinking.
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1/1/2016 - KevinCantrell Likes this wine: 91 Points
Still great in my book.
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10/3/2015 - jeginmt Likes this wine: 91 Points
Dark red, dense full body,lots of dark berry fruit and some spice, smooth finish.
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7/5/2015 - andyholmer wrote:
This wine has past its due date. Figured it had probably turned before we opened it, and we were right. It had a nose that suggested it was would have been solid if we'd opened it in time, but it got lost in the cellar. Too bad.
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12/12/2013 - Schlutt wrote: 85 Points
Inky black, lots of black licorice with hints of dark chocolate. Didn't have enough time to spend with this bottle.
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9/22/2013 - albrigsr wrote:
Smoky
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1/27/2013 - foobarski Likes this wine: 88 Points
Pretty much unchanged. Still smoky, meaty, yummy.
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2/5/2011 - ecola wrote: 90 Points
Really big wine. Aromas of black pepper and dark berries. Full bodied flavors of dark berries, spices, and a little oak. Long finish. ($17)
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1/1/2011 - isaacjamesbaker wrote: 88 Points
still pitch. nose of plums skin. some tar. palate tannins are still there. seems like the acid has waned. i didn't find this too syrupy. i guess because the tannins have that fine grain to keep the dark fruit in balance. fruit has settled down a bit. still tons of blueberry pie and huckleberry. yummy stuff.
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8/20/2010 - foobarski wrote: 88 Points
Spicy, smoky, fruity ... yummy!
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6/11/2010 - jtoskey wrote: 89 Points
maybe past its peak - gotten a little syrupy. Still delicious.
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4/30/2010 - Msquared wrote: 90 Points
I loved this wine! Made me really want more Petit Syrah in our collection. Earthy and fruity and smokey, very nice.
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4/20/2010 - Philly NQ King wrote: 86 Points
Much more balanced than previous bottles...or else I'm just getting immune to the artificial blackberry flavors. It's certainly dry, but the flavors are still too sweet.
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3/10/2010 - Loweeel wrote: 87 Points
Tasty but off-balance. Weird Frissante upon opening. Awkward transition to the finish. But the fruit is just so good... pure, borderline jammy blackberry and boysenberry, going to blueberry pie filling on the finish. If you like Aussie style wines (only with more structure), try younger vintages of this. I think this may be past it's prime, but who knows? Might just be the pop'n'pour crankiness.
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9/30/2009 - Philly NQ King wrote: 82 Points
If you like blackberry liqueur, great. If not, stay away from this wine. MUST DECANT. It was terrible...seriously terrible...upon opening. Better after an hour. Even better after two hours. A bit too sweet for my tastes, so I won't be buying again. It's very one dimensional...and that dimension is blackberry liqueur.
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9/8/2009 - tourproto wrote: 88 Points
nice petite syrah, full bodied, smooth finish
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8/7/2009 - rocketman234 wrote:
Used in a wine reduction sauce.
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8/7/2009 - rocketman234 wrote:
Used in
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7/2/2009 - bmckenna wrote: 84 Points
Cork looked like it had seeped through the sides, outside of bottle was covered in whitish stuff, capsule oxidized on inside, but the wine is decently tasty. Smell of slight solvent, some shoe polish, pain grille, bacon fat. Palate is quite smooth with blueberry, blackberry, herbs. If this is an off bottle, I'll be impressed with the others. Going to give this one some time to breathe and re-visit.
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5/9/2009 - Steve Jones wrote: 87 Points
Better than the first bottle. Hitting a stride. Not overly complex but a very good drinker. Dark fruits and tannins yet approachable.
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4/26/2009 - dextermoe wrote: 88 Points
Gave at X-mas present
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3/25/2009 - jaxpaj wrote: 89 Points
A good everyday wine. Worth the $ and left me satisfied. An initial bite that left after a few hours.
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3/23/2009 - isaacjamesbaker wrote:
pitch colored with high viscosity. 14.8% alcohol, but it's not really evident. blueberry jam, mocha and dark chocolate on the nose. the nose really opened up with time and air. on the palate, this is rich and dense with solid tannins and superd structure. lots of blackberries, blueberry jam, tar and some black pepper. long, rich finish. lots of sediment, so decant this one. also, it really opens up with air. gonna hold onto my other bottle for another year, as this seems to be getting better with age.
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3/18/2009 - tourproto wrote: 88 Points
Wine was a little too tight right out of the bottle. Needs some time to breathe before drinking. If you can open it up an hour or so before drinking that would be ideal
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3/8/2009 - RPerro wrote: 88 Points
Sunday Dinner (Jeff McHugh's condo): A hit at the dinner party. Everyone loved the earthiness and fruit-forward profile. Big fruit, with lots of blackberry and cherry flavors, with earth and tar. PS is one of my favorite varietals, and this delivers in spades.
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2/23/2009 - jaxpaj wrote: 88 Points
Not as wonderful as I had remembered. Still a very good bottle for the price but not quite the find I thought. It was helped quite a bit from the aerator. A wonderful nose of dark fruit and lead pencil. Far from being described as a "big red" but more of a complement to whatever food you are having. A very good everyday wine.
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1/29/2009 - jaxpaj wrote: 91 Points
Great for the price. I had no expectations and was pleasantly surprised! A very smooth wine and medium body. Reminded me of a full bodied Pinot.
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1/24/2009 - TimBoDo wrote: 88 Points
Difficult to score because we don't drink a lot of PS. Extremely dark color, black purple. Nose of cherry cola, blackberry, and some smoke - very interesting. On the palate, less interesting but entirely mouth filling and huge. Some hollowness in the mid, very strong tannins. An interesting wine that may not be my first choice with dinner again but will drink stand-alone next time.
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12/21/2008 - Loweeel wrote: 90 Points
Delicious. Trending more towards blackberries than blue like in the past and starting to develop a nice bit of bottle bouquet.
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12/20/2008 - Steve Jones wrote: 88 Points
8 months later I like this a bit better. Nice jammy fruit. Deep inky flavors starting to evolve.
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12/7/2008 - AllRed wrote: 88 Points
Inky garnet color, with aromas of chocolate, dark fruit, spice and meat. Firm tannins, with blackberry and dark fruit flavors.
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11/4/2008 - DanH wrote: 90 Points
Great wine
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10/4/2008 - Parnelli wrote: 88 Points
The other two bottles of this have been OK, but tonight, it was excellent! We had come back from eating at Kincaids after eating some great fish and I has looking for a bigger wine that might be good with some dark chocolate and pulled this one out and this time is was spot on! Poured dark and had dark fruit on the nose ... plums, blue and blackberries ... and that came through on the palate also. Very good tannins, nice balance and it drank well be itself and with the mini-desert.
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8/31/2008 - RPerro wrote: 87 Points
Sunday Dinner (Jeff McHugh's condo): Nice.
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8/26/2008 - houtx wrote: 82 Points
Let it settle either in the glass, or a decanter. A slight chill serves the wine well as well.
Aroma of deep, dark, fruit. Cherries, a hint of cola. The smell fills your nose, makes you bury your face in your glass to get every last whiff. The taste does not live up to the aroma at all. It has the puckering tannins and intensity of a petite sirah, but it lacks a depth of flavor, or really any flavor. If you drink it as it warms from a cellar, the taste is appealing enough, but the thick, chalky, mouthcoating sensation of a PS is not backed up by much from the flavor department.
Good rating based purely on the aroma, though the taste is not bad.
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8/11/2008 - houtx wrote: 84 Points
You have to be a real enthusiast to enjoy this. Inky, chalky, some big time fruit hiding amongst the mouth-puckering main note, it's an interesting wine to try. Musty to the point of tasting like dirt (not a bad thing), it isn't something you try lightly. You need to sit back and think about it. It's well done, and pleasant enough, but plan on a bottle between (at least) four people. It fatigues your taste buds quite quickly.
If you're looking for a cheap way to demonstrate a varietal, go for it!
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7/7/2008 - matthewJohns wrote: 89 Points
Part of my regional niche suite of wine. The Lodi Suite consisted of 4 niche wines that I procured on a trip to Northern California. First up with the 2005 Peltier Station Petite Sirah; A very good wine, but didn't stand out as more than that. I had this wine with a couple of friends after I got back from my road trip and it was a very good representation of the what a Petite Sirah should be like. Big and bold, dark and spicy, with some viscosity about it. Good bottle price; However, not to be all great, it did lack a bit of body to it and had a short finish. Great table wine --
See my other notes from the four wines I tasted from Lodi:
2005 Peltier Station - http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=322978
2006 M2 Vintners - http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=539208
2005 Klinker Brick "Old Ghost" - http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=391166
2006 Draconis Zinfandel American Oak - http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=492453
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6/30/2008 - midai wrote: 89 Points
Very approchable for a big deep red after decanting 3 hours. Much better than the first bottle now after letting it sit. Nothing too overpowering, didn't notice the alcohol, nice purple fruit. Glad I bought this.
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6/16/2008 - GuruofAV wrote: 89 Points
Not bad at all. Some chocolate, cherries, Long finish, a touch hot, but not enough to throw it out of balance.
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6/5/2008 - MitchL wrote: 89 Points
Tart and closed on initial opening with enough sediment that we strained it. Now warm, dark and chewy after an hour. Quite good, would buy more.
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5/27/2008 - tf wrote: 88 Points
Let this breathe for at least an hour. It has massive structure and all kinds of subtle black berry flavors. The finish is long with and smooth with just a hint of bitterness.
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5/17/2008 - Loweeel wrote: 89 Points
89+. Consistent with previous notes; just not feeling the style as much today.
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5/16/2008 - yathink2 wrote: 90 Points
I got lily and dark fruits on the nose and tart cherries and chocolate on the taste. I Love this wine
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5/16/2008 - tonythib wrote: 90 Points
outstanding wine for the price. Hints of chocolate covered cherries in the smell. Not tannic, very smooth finish. Lingering in the back of you pallett, very good wine
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5/14/2008 - elundell wrote:
I am new to wine tasting. Upon opening the bottle there was some sediment and crystals present. This did not seem to affect the tast. At first the wine was very tart and a little bitter, this mellowed out after an hour or so. Over all I did enjoy the wine. I think it would go well with a strong tasting food like Steak with garlic or BBQ.
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5/5/2008 - scottr1968 wrote: 90 Points
Big, bold Petite Sirah with lots of fruit and spice, but a wonderfully smooth finish with hints of vanilla and chocolate. If you like big, bold, smooth wines, you will enjoy this.
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5/4/2008 - isaacjamesbaker wrote:
this had a lot of sediment. i'd recommend decanting this.
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5/2/2008 - keste13 wrote: 88 Points
drank with ribs. this wine really surprised me, much bigger body than expected. dark fruit and chewy tannins with a good finish. oakiness is def apparent and a bit much for me. but that is a small complaint, compared to how tasty is. decant for both oxygenation and to remove the sediment
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5/1/2008 - maddprofessor wrote:
My first and only PS, I enjoyed this a lot. Nice berries and found the tannins to be pleasant. Decanted for about 30 min before dinner (steak). There was a fair amount of sediment so decant carefully.
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4/27/2008 - PolarBear22 wrote: 87 Points
Opened as replacement bottle, so I did not give it enough time to breathe. It also had just arrived, so it may had some travel shock. It was a nice match to the steaks we grilled, but fell a little short of my expectations.
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4/26/2008 - Loweeel wrote: 90 Points
90+. Very nice blackberries, acidity, and soft, chewy tannins over minerals. Consistent with previous notes (bottle #3)
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4/26/2008 - Schlutt wrote: 79 Points
Not to my liking at all. Disjointed with an aspirin/mineral taste that dominated. This wine fell apart and the finish left nothing to my liking. Mellowed out on day 2, but still nothing to brag about. Will try again much later.
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4/25/2008 - Steve Jones wrote: 86 Points
Far too young, finishes short, keep purple color. Nicce fruity nose. Typical PS flavors but comes up just a little short. May get better with age.
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4/24/2008 - jtoskey wrote: 90 Points
Really nice soft mineral flavors on a super-smooth, highly drinkable wine. Incredible ruby color
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4/23/2008 - rykk0007 wrote: 85 Points
I didn't really like. It's my first PS so I'm not sure if it's the varietal I've got a problem with or this particular wine so until I've had other Petite Syrahs, I'm not a good judge.
This is probably the softest, most mellow wine I've ever had.
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4/17/2008 - Loweeel wrote: 90 Points
Consistent with previous notes, but better, if anything -- perhaps some travel shock in the other bottle. 90+
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4/16/2008 - conroo wrote: 88 Points
Definitely got blueberries plus a little smoke as soon as I popped the cork. The cork had crystals on it and I found a chunk of them in my glass. They did not affect the wine, but I recommend filtering this one. Nice chewy, fruit forward PS. Kind of so-so on the mid-palate with a smooth yet tanniic finish.
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4/15/2008 - wblake737 wrote: 84 Points
Deep purple in color. Floral scents with honeysuckle and blueberry notes. Very jammy with blueberry and a hint of licorice on the finish.
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4/13/2008 - RPerro wrote: 88 Points
Nose of bluberry and cherry with a hint of something flowery with some mineral. On the palate, sweetness and mouth-drying tannins, with big blueberry flavors and a hint of vanilla and mineral. Very smooth, but a very dry finish that needs food or a glass of water. This is a pretty big wine, typical of Petite Sirah (in my experience). Excellent - 88 points.
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4/10/2008 - mbecker wrote: 86 Points
Color is a deep purple - very inky. Long legs. Quite a bit of residue in initial pours but does not effect taste or experience in a bad way. Nose is blueberry and dark fruit. Initial taste of blueberry syrup, some floral sweetness and some smoky bacon. Finish is long with a nice pucker from the integrated tannins. Very tasty on initial pour without decanting.
After breathing for 1hr, tastes become more integrated and a little heavier with additional hints of soy sauce, stout beer and chocolate - tannins begin to fade. Not a light wine - most likely great with bbq or a meaty dinner.
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4/9/2008 - MarkDaSpark wrote: 92 Points
Yummy. Agree with Mbecker's notes for the most part: "Color is a deep purple - very inky. Long legs. ... Nose is blueberry and dark fruit. Initial taste of blueberry ..., some floral sweetness .... Finish is long with a nice pucker from the integrated tannins. Very tasty on initial pour without decanting." However, you will need to filter some during decant, as there are crystals.
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4/8/2008 - Loweeel wrote: 90 Points
Very nice black pepper nose with underlying black raspberry and blackberries. Tannins are very soft yet abundant and elegant. 15 second finish mirroring the nose; good structure on the mid-palate.
Can drink alone or with food; would go extremely well with bbq or other sauces with a hint of sugar/sweetness. Not a bone dry finish. Lots of blackberries. Consumed with steak -- regular and peppercorn -- as well as teriyaki and savory kebobs, all from wegmans. All paired brilliantly with the wine. I suspect that this would pair wonderfully with BBQ as well -- particularly red meat or buffalo, in particular. Even chicken would go well. The tannins aren't so big that they would overpower BBQ poultry. Even those poor misguided vegetarians could douse some tofu in BBQ sauce and toss it on a grill for serious enjoyment.
As it opens up, the nose and palate shift from black raspberry to blackberry, but there's an undercurrent ("rose", as bunnymasseuse put it) of strawberry or supersweet citrus that does not go away, and enhances the interesting nose. It is not particularly terroir-driven, as the winemaker made clear, but I don't think it needs to be. It works very well for what it is. It's not a huge PS, but it's superbly balanced, unlike the awkward, off-balance, and unsatisfying Guenoc and Vinum PETS for around the same price.
This is excellent on its own, and compares well to the 2004 Earthquake from the same winemaker, which was a blueberry bomb designed to explode on my palate. However, much like that Earthquake, it stands superbly on its own. The tannins are soft and chewy enough to not need food.
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2/12/2008 - matrixed wrote: 92 Points
Blueberry nose, big fruit, hint of honeyed sweetness, pair with salty foods, stews
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1/18/2008 - GreatLibations wrote: 88 Points
Purple ink with mild aromas of brisk darkfruit and perfume. Full nectar with velvety tannins. Mellow soft and highly concentrated with big juicy blackcherry, vanilla, currant, and a bit of chocolate on the long, lingering finish.
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11/16/2007 - AllRed wrote: 87 Points
Gibby's Uncorked, Flight III (Gibby's Wine Den, Geneva, IL): Deep garnet color. Aromas of earth, plum and blackberry. There's a huge rush of dark fruit on the palate, with velvety tannins. A bit thin through the midpalate, which prevents a higher score.
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5/18/2007 - MBrown wrote: 86 Points
not as good as i remember the first bottle. still a good qpr nonetheless. dark and brooding as expected from a warm weather petite sirah. a bit of carbonation/bubbles seemed out of place. not overwhelming but it was there. tannin not overpowering like some other 05 petite sirahs i'm waiting on. fire up the bbq and crack this open.
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4/5/2007 - MBrown wrote: 90 Points
great qpr...rockin' wine.
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3/24/2007 - isaacjamesbaker wrote: 89 Points
old world fans beware. this fistfull of extracted blueberries hits you hard, it's almost mouthpuckering. there are some nice spice notes in the background.
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3/10/2007 - thegrapes wrote: 92 Points
Excellent wine for the value. I went to the Wash D.C. Food and Wine Festival and this was one of the best wines that I tasted that day.
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1/29/2007 - JCaress wrote: 92 Points
Great value at $13. Smooth, tight fruit that opens up nicely. Long finish.
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