Jeff’s Corner 4-29-22

Howdy, Howdy and one more Howdy!

One of my very favorite things to do in our tasting room on Main Street is to pour complimentary glasses of wine for our Wine Club members. I get to talk about new releases, what’s drinking really well, and share some of our storied history dating back 37 years.  

I always like to make note of what wines, on any given day, are most requested. Bellissimo is pretty much always the front-runner of our reds, but is often hotly pursued by Invention and Petite Sirah, with Mosaic close behind.

Today, I’m sitting at my desk about to taste the brand new 2020 GCV Petite Sirah, one of our more sought-after wines, in part due to its often limited production. The 2019 Petite went to our Black Label Wine Club members last October, and wasn’t released in the tasting room until early 2022 (see Jeff’s Corner 2-4-22), and here we are, releasing the ’20 just three months later. Get it while you can…

I’ve said this many times before: the notorious “Son of Syrah” is perhaps my favorite grape varietal. Petite Sirah is moody, mysterious, dark, brooding, melancholy, angst-ridden, morose, mercurial, and very romantic. Petite is the tragic hero of the wine world, and would surely have been the preferred beverage of Hamlet, Lear, and Macbeth.

The new 2020 Petite Sirah could have very easily written the above description of itself. Loaded with lots of black fruit and aggressive, angular tannins, it is, as I like to sometimes say, “a real Beauty.” With a textbook ABV of 14.5%, the varietal blend is 87% Petite Sirah, 6.5% Petit Verdot, 4.5% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon.

The color is classic Petite as well, an intensely extracted, deep ruby/purple that’s an attention grabber before it even hits the bottom of the glass. Aromas of sweet, toasted oak give way to rich layers of ripe blueberry, blackberry, fresh-cracked black pepper, black licorice, dark mocha, and espresso.

The wine is huge on our palate, with a monster mouthfeel and a finish that goes on forever. Fruit, acid, and tannin are disciplined and well-integrated for a young wine that should develop nicely for 5-7 years. This is everything a great Petite Sirah should be. I would decant it for about an hour and serve around 60*.  Wowser!

I might get kicked out of Jeff’s Corner for this, but we had it with chili dogs made, of course, with Wolf Brand Chili. It was really good! I was friends in high school with a girl whose uncle was the voice behind the unforgettable phrase “Neighbor, how long has it been since you’ve had a big, thick, steamin’ bowl of Wolf Brand Chili? Heh, heh, heh. Well, that’s too long.” We all had a lot of laughs saying that back and forth to one another.

What a hoot…