In this episode Jeff reviews a sample of Heavyweight Petite Sirah from Scotto Cellars with some Mac n’ Cheese…
Wine Tasted:
Heavyweight 2012 Petite Sirah
Jeff
Be sure to listen to Jeff every week on the We Like Drinking Podcast (available on iTunes), and leave a comment below about your favorite Petite Sirah.
More and more, I find myself gravitating toward Rhone wines (made of grapes typically grown in the Rhone Valley of France). California gets a lot of love for it’s Bordeaux (Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot) and Burgundy (Chardonnay and Pinot Noir) grapes, but it’s the Rhones (Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, and Petite Sirah) that I really think are bringing it these days.
Power.
Balance.
Structure.
Elegance.
Value.
I’m loving me some Rhones!
This past Saturday, Kara and I took a quick trip to the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco to attend the Rhone Rangers Grand Tasting as members of the media. Needless to say, we were hella stoked.
You may recall from my ZinFest post, that when you come to these events, you’ve got to have a plan. We thought about going alphabetical. We thought about just focusing on Petite Sirah. We thought about doing a Syrah vs. Grenache showdown.
But…
After entering the Festival Pavilion, and seeing all the wonderful wines to taste, we decided to bounce around to as many tables as possible…
Inside the Pavilion
I know that this may seem like a chaotic approach to wine, but the goal is to get a good overall picture of what these Rhone varietals (Take that 1 Wine Dude. You just got Frogged.) have to offer.
So…
Let’s grab our glasses and go.
Take your pick.
Zenaida Cellars 2010 Syrah from Paso Robles brings some bright red fruit, leather, and herbs.
I love me some Wrath! The 2010 San Saba Vineyard Syrah brings some of that big tobacco that I love. Let me say love a few more times. Love. Wrath.
VINTUS Wines brought a bunch of French Rhones from E. Guigal to compare against the American wines. I’ve gotta say that they were all killer. The 2009 Cote Rotie Brune et Blonde was clean and elegant. It had nice cherry and tobacco notes.
I was lovin’ all of the wines from Villa Creek Cellars. I really liked the 2010 La Boda, a 50/50 blend of Syrah and Mourvedre with delicious dark plum notes, spice, and rubber. Mad tasty.
Terre Rouge brought plenty of delicious single-vineyard Syrahs from Amador County. The 2008 DTR Ranch Syrah was big and lovely. By the way, their white Rhones are killer too.
When I think of American Rhones, I think of Tablas Creek Vineyard. The 2010 Espirit de Beaucastel, with its reserved, yet powerful, cherry fruit and tobacco flavors was fantastic, as always.
Skylark Wine Company is an urban winery in San Francisco that does some great single-vineyard Syrahs. You know I love Stagecoach Vineyard fruit, so I jumped at the 2009 Stagecoach Vineyard Syrah. 32 months on oak gave the wine a nice, vanilla flavor matched up nicely with the tobacco notes on this Syrah.
Rosenblum Cellars showed up to the party with the 2008 England-Shaw Syrah. The wine was super clean with bright plum fruit.
Yeah… I write about Ridge Vineyards a lot. That’s because they f-ing rule. Take the 2008 Lytton Estate Syrah… Actually… Give it back. Those blueberry and blackberry fruit notes are just great.
Eric Kent Wine Cellars offered up two vintages of Kalen’s Big Boy Blend Syrah. The 2010 vintage was loaded with red fruit, tobacco, and jerky. The 2011 barrel sample had a gamey flavor with touches of blueberries. Just thinking about this wine makes me want to give them a visit real soon.
Not only was the Folin Cellars bringing some tasty 2009 Estate Syrah from Oregon, but look at their glass closures! This wine has some super legit red fruit.
I was a big fan of the Hug Cellars 2008 El Grande Syrah. It’s a bit of a fruit bomb, but so tasty.
JC Cellars was my favorite winery at ZinFest, so I had to see what was up with their Rhones. The 2010 Rockpile Vineyard Syrah was loaded with big, bright, red fruit, tires, and chalk. You know I love chalk.
This is the 2009 Peasant (MGS Blend) from Cypher Winery. It’s a big, ripe, dark, fruit bomb. Not bad.
The 2010 Stepping Stone Syrah by Cornerstone Cellars has some good cranberry fruit.
Here’s a couple of big, inky Petite Sirahs from Clayhouse Wines of Paso Robles. Both were quite tannic and concentrated.
This is the 2008 Cigare Volant from Bonny Doon Vineyard. You know I love Bonny Doon. This Rhone Blend has the perfect balance of fruit, tobacco, herbs, and acid. I love this wine.
After tasting through 50+ wines from 17 wineries, our palates were getting a bit burned out, so I put the notebook away, and we strolled around the Pavilion and tried whatever wines looked appealing.
What follows are my pictures from what Martin Redmond of Enofylz Wine Blog would call the “freestyle portion of the program.”
Margerum Wine Company 2011 M5
Prospect 772 Wine Company 2010 “The Instigator” Syrah
Landmark Vineyards 2011 Steel Plow MGS
Chateau Ste. Michelle 2010 Wahluke Slope Grenache
Miraflores Winery 2009 Estate Syrah
Two Shepherds 2011 Saralee’s Vineyard Syrah and 2011 Saralee’s Vineyard Grenache
Martian Ranch 2011 “Red Shift” Syrah
Yup…
I dig Rhones.
How ’bout you?
Stay Rad,
Jeff
Jeff’s in a good mood, so he cracked open a bottle of Petite Sirah. Let’s see how it is…
Wine Tasted:
Foppiano 2009 Lot 96 Sonoma County Petite Sirah
Stay Rad,
Jeff
The other day, I asked you to help me pick which wine to taste next. After tallying the votes (all two of them), I decided to go with the Cocobon 2009 California Red Table Wine.
The winner is... Cocobon!
This wine cost me 7 bucks at Trader Joe’s. Bottled by Cocobon in Livermore, and distributed by Underdog Wine Merchants (also from Livermore), this wine is a blend of 61% Zin, 17% Cab Franc, 12% Merlot, 6% Petite Verdot, and 4% Petite Sirah.
I decanted the Cocobon in two Cuvaison glasses for about 2 hours. I didn't think it needed to be decanted that long... I just forgot about it.
Color: A nice and bright cherry wood.
Nose: I got a lot of plum, chocolate, and dust. I noticed little hints of wood and orange peel as well.
Taste: Up front, there is a very aggressive flavor of cherry, chocolate, and cranberry. Those initial flavors give way to a hollow finish of chocolate and smoke that lingers for a while. There is not a lot of depth to this wine, but it was tasty. I give it a solid 88.
The back label says the wine, “Pairs nicely with a dark chocolate walnut cake with a cherry coulis.” I didn’t have one of those, but I did have a chocolate chip cookie on hand. I don’t know what “Coulis” is, but if it’s anything like a chocolate chip, I can see why it works.
Good stuff!
Stay Rad,
Jeff
Stay Rad 
