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Petite syrah tasting...

73.189.124.124
Posted on January 20, 2017 at 09:19:43
mkuller
Audiophile

Posts: 38130
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: April 22, 2003
 ...six of us tasted six current petite syrahs. One point for your favorite and six points for the one you like least - lowest score wins.

6. 2013 Four Vines Skeptic Paso Robles $25 - 30pts - no firsts

5. 2012 Foppiano Russian River $18 - 24pts - no firsts

4. 2013 Earthquake Lodi $20 - 22pts - 1 first

3. 2010 Chacewater Astel Lake County $33 - 21pts - no firsts

2. 2014 Runquist Amador County $24 - 16pts - 2 firsts

1. 2014 Michael David Lodi $16 - 13pts - 3 firsts

Interesting that over the first half hour the wines changed a lot - a number of good ones got worse and some bad ones got better.

The Michael David which didn't change much is highly recommended to go with a steak or lamb.

 

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Foppiano, posted on January 22, 2017 at 08:39:00
jimbill
Audiophile

Posts: 3050
Location: Texas
Joined: May 31, 2004
 Used to be one of my favorite go-to wines for the money. But they seemed to have changed their style over the last ten or fifteen years and I don't care for it anymore.

I'll have to look for the Michael David. Is it a fruit bomb or more tannic?

I believe the proper spelling in "Petit Sirah". It is the Durif grape.

 

I was a big fan of the CA Petit Syrah research that eventually..., posted on January 22, 2017 at 13:57:58
DeKay
 defined the grape as being Durif.

This was before I had Internet info (sometime in the 90's when I worked in the specialty food/wine/spirits industry).

Sadly I have forgotten the names of the CA wineries that were using the grape ages ago when I first tasted it (living in CA since 1977).

Also forgot that the grape is Durif (until you posted;-).

Oh well, I'm also a Grenache fan, when it's tamed and simple.

 

RE: Foppiano, posted on January 22, 2017 at 11:17:44
mkuller
Audiophile

Posts: 38130
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: April 22, 2003
 ...I wouldn't call the Michael David a fruit bomb but it is pretty balanced and drinkable.

Drinkable usually wins these tastings.

If you look at the Michael David website, it is spelled both ways.

 

I only found this spelling, posted on January 22, 2017 at 14:00:16
jimbill
Audiophile

Posts: 3050
Location: Texas
Joined: May 31, 2004
 nt

 

RE: I only found this spelling, posted on January 23, 2017 at 10:42:58
mkuller
Audiophile

Posts: 38130
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: April 22, 2003
 "Syrah and Shiraz are the same grape. It tends to be labeled as Shiraz in Australia and Syrah in the rest of the world (remembering that in France it is more likely to have a geographic name such as St. Joseph or Cote Rotie). There are in fact different strains of Syrahs around the world and often in the same vineyard.

Petite Syrah (sometimes spelled Sirah) is a different grape. Also known as Duriff in Australia and France, the grape has a similar profile of a dark, inky purple wine, but really smells and tastes different. It is more mineral driven in my opinion and may take more bottle age to really develop. In fact, perhaps no red varietal has the ageing potential of Petite Sirah."

 

Per my "old" knowledge on Durif it lacks the acidity required for ..., posted on January 23, 2017 at 18:00:11
DeKay
 long term aging, which makes it similar to Zinfandel in this aspect.

Long term aging for stellar Zin's is in the 3-5 year range, per my experience, but I stopped cellaring Zins in the 90's, thus my knowledge is not current by any means.

I found aged Zin's (on a whole) to be a wasted effort, as I ultimately seemed to enjoy them more @ a younger age, with all their warts..

As far as Durif goes there was one exception/winery to this, but I may have the name wrong as I can't find Google hits on "Sovereign" (think I also drank an inexpensive French wine by the same name, so maybe that's where the confusion stems from - never been good with names/Alpha stuff).

I may also be confusing Syrah with the "petite" version, but I recall Ridge and Canon something as being ones I tried in the 70's.

 

Souverain maybe?, posted on January 24, 2017 at 14:20:49
jimbill
Audiophile

Posts: 3050
Location: Texas
Joined: May 31, 2004
 Good California winery, but has lost some of it's quality to quantity, IMO.

I'm with you, most of the Zins and Petite Sirahs should be had in the first couple of years. I recently opened a couple of Turleys that I'd put down for three years. Good drinking but I don't think they would have improved any more.

 

Yes, thanks..., posted on January 24, 2017 at 16:30:57
DeKay
 Just googled it and that's the one.

I picked up my first "older" bottles @ Shield's Date Garden (on the way to Palm Springs from LA) along with other/older CA red wines from the mid to late 60's/early 70's.

They had old/deep wooden bins for their wine that went two (or maybe three) bottles back from the front facing and I purchased quite a bit of the "back stock" @ the price of the old sticky tags.

Some other names I remember are Krug (Charles Krug?), Gallo, Mondavi, Agustus Sebastiani(SP?), and as far as PS goes something with Canon or Canyon in the name.

I purchased enough to fill the trunk (and the back seat compartment) of a Volvo and surprisingly enough more than 2/3 of it was still vibrant/good.

The quantity caused me to rent cellar space, and then the rest is history until I stopped collecting/storing wine in the late 90's.


 

Turleys..., posted on January 24, 2017 at 15:48:29
mkuller
Audiophile

Posts: 38130
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: April 22, 2003
 ...the 2015s were released yesterday.

I have a friend with some 2009s and 2010s and they're getting spectacular about now.

 

Ageing..., posted on January 24, 2017 at 10:21:08
mkuller
Audiophile

Posts: 38130
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: April 22, 2003
 ...in the tasting there were a couple with a tannic or astringent finish which lost points for that and were near the bottom.

I usually age my zins about 2 to 5 years although some, especially the less expensive fruit-forward ones, will not improve much.

But the better, more complex ones like the Turleys and Carlisles will definitely improve over that time.

Ordinarily I don't drink petite syrahs and in 7 years this is first time the group has tasted them.

 

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