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Wine Details
Price:
Description:
This wine has always been about potential. It has opened and closed twenty times since it finished fermenting. We've yet to have two identical tastes of this wine.
The nose has the usual complement of Howell Mountain spice, intense wet stones/slate, anise and blackberries. Tannins take center stage on the palate with some bright cherry, raspberry and coffee notes. The wine has not finished filling out but with time in bottle, it has been slowly adding nuance. The end is huge, framed by hillside tannin and some nice acidity. Patience will be rewarded. The 2001 Petite Sirah will drink best in 3-5 years, maturing much more slowly than the 2002's.
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Varietal Definition
Petite Sirah:
Petite Sirah is the same as the French variety known as Durif, a cross of Peloursin, with the true Syrah. A French nurseryman, Dr. François Durif, propagated the grape trying for resistance to powdery mildew and named it after himself, in the 1870s. Petite Sirah has long been an important blending grape, prized primarily for its deep color and fairly intense tannin. It is the variety most often chosen to blend into Zinfandel for added color, complexity, body, and to tone down the tendency of Zins toward "jammy" fruit.
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