The Petite's

[CtznCane]

Maybe it's my Berkeley (in the 60's) upbringing but some of the lesser known wines hold me enthrall. Two of these wines are Petite Verdot and Petite Sirah.

Petite Verdot has long been used as a blending wine (Bordeaux) yet gradually there are more wineries using this as the feature grape. I love its inky color, distinctitve nose, and rich mouth feel. Rich and unmistakeable in my mind.

Very few wineries produce a Petite Verdot though. While few there are several who do feature it. Murphy-Goode and Yorkville Cellars produce nice ones and so does Thomas Coyne though I've yet been able to get there while they still have it available. I've heard that Hannah vineyards also has one in the barrell right now. I've also found it in 2 blended wines. One is Yorkville Cellars "Richard the Lion Heart" which is a robust blend of all 5 of their red varietals. Another blend that I fell in love with, both for being top notch as well as affordable, is Scheid Vineyards "Red Table Wine." Believe me, this wine is a sleeper. 40$ petite Verdot, $14 per bottle and absolutely top shelf.

On the Petite Sirah side, this is another wine we don't see too often. Concannon Vineyards is the oldest US producer of Petite Sirah and all of theirs are good. Their newly released "Heritage Petite Sirah" 2000, while higher priced ($35 roughly) is definitely head of the class. Paradise Ridge produces one Petite Sirah, and whiile it is their top wine, I think the $60 price tag is prohibitive. A lower priced (under $20) Petite Sirah blend which I thoroughly enjoy is Bogle Vineyards "The Phantom" which is 40% Petite Sirah, 40% old vine Zin, and 20% Mouverdre. A less expensive $12 Peite Sirah which you can probably only get from the winery is is Viano Vineyards which I find quite pleasant.

I'm especially interested in the Petit Verdot and to a lesser extent other Petit Sirah's. What do all of you think?

Charles aka Ctzn Cane

"My goal is not to rid myself of my addictions, merely to improve my technique for enjoying them." - Victor Mollo

[Florida Jim]

I'm especially interested in the Petit Verdot and to a lesser extent other Petit Sirah's. What do all of you think?

Charles,

I think Benziger does a petite verdot.

The examples of the varietal I've tried (all domestic) have been too tannic for me.

Lots of wineries do petite sirah; a couple even get some good press over them. Ridge has done one for many years and some of the older examples are remarkable. Turley does vineyard designated p.s. and La Jota does a pretty good example.

But Vincent Arroyo is worth seeking out, if you enjoy that variety. A small producer just north of Calistoga, he has a reputation for doing the grape well.

Personally, I don't buy petite sirah anymore. It ages long term but seldom seems to develop over that cellaring.

Best, Jim

[Carolyn Tillie]

You will want to come up and visit me at Ladera sometime. Not that we have a 100% PV 'cuz we don't. But on the way up the hill is Viader -- they produce a Petite Verdot entitled "V" that you would probably enjoy.

You'll want to take a look at my wine blog here that is a weekly chronicle of a Petit Verdot vine.

I've tasted our's directly from the barrel and don't really care for it. I agree with Florida Jim that it is too tannic. Actually, the stuff we have in the barrel this year is probably going to be bulked out -- we are happy enough with our Cabernet offerings that they are going to be bottled 100% with no need for additional blending.

Also, we have Syrah in the barrel which I have enjoyed tasting as well. My favorite, however, is made privately by Karen Culler and is only available on a waiting-list fashion.

[CtznCane]

You will want to come up and visit me at Ladera sometime. Not that we have a 100% PV 'cuz we don't. But on the way up the hill is Viader -- they produce a Petite Verdot entitled "V" that you would probably enjoy.

You'll want to take a look at my wine blog here that is a weekly chronicle of a Petit Verdot vine.

I've tasted our's directly from the barrel and don't really care for it. I agree with Florida Jim that it is too tannic. Actually, the stuff we have in the barrel this year is probably going to be bulked out -- we are happy enough with our Cabernet offerings that they are going to be bottled 100% with no need for additional blending.

Also, we have Syrah in the barrel which I have enjoyed tasting as well. My favorite, however, is made privately by Karen Culler and is only available on a waiting-list fashion.

waiting list? that isn't fair! I want to be on the list!

While I am a professed red wine lover, I'd say that Zin, Petitt Verdot and Petite Sirah are at the top of my list. On the other hand, I'm a sweet white wine lover.

Give me a late harvest wine, Sauterne, or german B.A or T.B.A and I'm a happy man.

Then there is the other red wine, Pinot Noir. Perhaps time for a new post. Call it what you will but Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot just don't do it for me. Nice but no thanks. A cabernet franc however......

[Adam Balic]

The have been a few Petit Verdot growers for some time, mostly it is used as part of a Bordeaux style blend, but there are the occasional 100% release. The better examples have been quite interesting, very fine tannins and quite a perfumed wine.

Petit Sirah is grown as Durif in Australia. A big butch fighting wine, sometimes after 20 years or so it settles down to be almost drinkable. Commonly found in the Rutherglen region of Victoria, Austalia.

On the otherhand if you drink Petit Sirah in the States there is a chance that you may not be getting what you thought you were getting.

Petit Sirah ID

[mike volker]

Salena Estates (Australia) makes a petit verdot under their Ellens landing label that I like alot. $18 8000 cases made so you should be able to find some.

Tedeschi Vineyards Dry Creek Valley makes a huge petit syrah. I bought some of the '97 last year and its just unbelieveably good. $37

Benziger also makes a really nice petit syrah for about $ 25.

Best,

Mike

[Coop]

Primamima Petit Verdot. Excellent Bordeaux style wine. I don't normally seek out Aussie wines, but I had a taste of this at one of our government stores in Vancouver (on the sly) and seperated myself from the $32.00 cdn it took to bring one home. I have heard less then glowing reports on their other wines though.

[Brad Ballinger]

I don't understand why some wineries are doing a 100% petit verdot. This is such a tannic grape. But I suppose if you can extract enough out of it with winemakiing methods that were not available when people were using ut just for blending, then it may be worth a try. But the other issue is that to try these wines, you have to shell out some serious coin. So it all depends on how much you want to pay just to experiement.

Petit Sirah as a more affordable proposition. I think Concannon does a very good job, and has kept the price down. When drunk young, it carries many of the same properties for me as does zinfandel. There are stong spice and bramble fruit components. I like it with carnage off the grill. Foppiano also makes a consistently good and affordable one.

[CtznCane]

I don't understand why some wineries are doing a 100% petit verdot. This is such a tannic grape. But I suppose if you can extract enough out of it with winemakiing methods that were not available when people were using ut just for blending, then it may be worth a try. But the other issue is that to try these wines, you have to shell out some serious coin. So it all depends on how much you want to pay just to experiement.

The Petit Verdot in blend works well. As to affordability Scheid Vineyards Red Table Wine can't be beat. Petit Verdot leads the way there and comes through loud and clear yet not too overpowering. The blend of the wine is 40% Petit Verdot, 35% Cab Franc, 20% Cab Sauv, & 5% Merlot. Certainly their "Red Table Wine" name is not high up there in marketing terms, but boy do I enjoy this wine.

I agree with you about Concannon on the Petite Sirah's. We enjoy Concannon's wine across the board.

[Rebel Rose]

An interesting article on petite sirah in California Wine & Food:

The Blue Tooth Tour

[Alex]

I'm a fan of Lolonis Orpheus, their Petite Sirah, which currently sells in the high $20s to low $30s around here. Bonuses: the grapes are organically grown, it's a family-owned and -run winery, and Philip Lolonis is a nice guy. (I just met him at a wine tasting.)

[David94928]

Very few wineries produce a Petite Verdot though.  While few there are several who do feature it.  Murphy-Goode and Yorkville Cellars produce nice ones and so does Thomas Coyne though I've yet been able to get there while they still have it available.  I've heard that Hannah vineyards also has one in the barrell right now.

Charles aka Ctzn Cane

"My goal is not to rid myself of my addictions, merely to improve my technique for enjoying them." - Victor Mollo

←

You're correct that Hanna produced a small amount (150 cases) of a 2001 Petite Verdot from their Bismark Ranch Vineyard on top of Mt. Veeder. The wine has a small amount (approx. 8%) Merlot blended into it to flesh out the overall mouthfeel. I work for Hanna in the Alexander Valley tasting room and we do have a small amount still available for sale there.

In most years, because the PV block is so small, the wine goes into both the Bismark Ranch Cab Sauv. and the Bismark Ranch Noir, the proprietary Bordeaux blend. In 2001 the winery produced both a varietal PV and about 150 cases of a varietal Malbec.

Both Murphy-Goode's PV and Styker Sonoma's PV (Alexander Valley neighbors of Hanna) source their fruit from the old Louis Martini Monte Rosso Vyd down the mountain from Bismark Ranch.

David

[Carolyn Tillie]

I'm becoming a huge Petite Sirah fan as well -- how coincidental that this very afternoon, I am driving up to Outpost to pick up their latest two offerings; a 2002 Petite Sirah ("Very dark, saturated purple color. A classic style of PS possessing aromas of creosote, lavender, grilled meats, and menthol. The tannins are very pleasant but ripe yielding to notes of graphite, wet stones, black cherry and champhor. Needs cellar time.") and the 2002 "The Other" Petite Sirah ("Massive expression of PS possesses an impenetrable dark red hue bordering on black all the way to the rim. The nose has ripe varietal elements of liquid minerals and blackberry liqueur with the addition of acacia flowers, white pepper and graphite. Black raspberry, pomegranate, and blackberry dominate the palate saturating the finish with a candied fruit character. Sweet chocolate and cocoa come through the wine as the wine evolves in the glass.")

BTW, those quoted notes are from their release letter -- I tasted the wines at Rhone Rangers but didn't take adequate notes. I'm just thrilled to be on their mailing list and getting some of the meagre allocation; Two Bottles Each! Both made in disgustingly small quantities of less than a hundred cases each...

Edited April 28, 2005 by Carolyn Tillie (log)

[ademello]

Don't forget Rabbit Ridge - some of the most approachable and fruity young Petite Sirah out there. I also beg to disagree with Florida Jim, some Petite Sirah does cellar and age well, particularly Ridge and Turley, both of which develop fabulous complexity and an immutable dark character over the years.

[eje]

I really enjoy a good Petit Syrah. It is sometimes a rough and tumble varietal; but, there are certainly folks who manage to produce exceptional wines from it.

Along with the wineries already mentioned, I really enjoy how Navarro handles Petit Syrah. Like many of their other wines from "heavy duty" grapes, they go for a much lighter style than is typical, making them very approachable and enjoyable when young. Not sure how well they cellar, as they always seem to disappear within a year or two.

Vinum's PETS is a fine quaffable Petit Syrah for its price range. Great wine to bring to a BBQ or spaghetti dinner. Plus, a portion of the profits from the sale of the wine benefit the San Francisco SPCA.

[John W.]

Elyse makes a fine Petite Sirah, even better in the Jacob Franklin bottling (if still around). Even though it goes against everything I believe in about wine, I'll still drink the shit out of it.

[ludja]

No tasting notes, but I'll add some good experiences with Foppiano's Petite Syrah. David Bruce in the Santa Cruz Mtns. is another good producer.