New Releases

2004 Estate Reserve Petite Sirah

Our Estate Grown Russian River Reserve Petite Sirah has a new label to differentiate it from our Non Estate Grown Petite Sirah. We have also designated the Estate Grown as a Reserve since we feel the grapes are special and the wine produced over the past 15 years has received excellent reviews and numerous Gold Medals.

Our Estate Grown Petite Sirah grapes received very special care during the 2004 growing season. We are fortunate to have several blocks of Petite Sirah each with varying ages, elevation and sun exposure. We hand-thinned the crop and did extensive deleafing to expose the fruit, maximizing pigment in the berry’s skin. All this work paid off and allowed us to get concentrated and healthy fruit. The favorable growing season coupled with the sun-exposed fruit helped develop rich tannins and let the complex flavors of cassis, blueberry, blackberry, coffee and spice fully develop. As with past vintages, the wine should age well over the next 7-to-10 years. So that the tannins will soften and the fruit shine, we recommend holding this wine until mid-2007 before drinking. Should you want to drink the wine earlier, we suggest decanting 1/2 hour before serving.

Petite can be enjoyed with many foods and can make a meal more memorable. Our suggestions for pairing are Ahi tuna, game birds (especially duck, goose and quail), turkey, venison, lamb, pork and beef. If you are preparing gravy, try adding a tablespoon of wine to each cup of gravy to integrate the food with the wine (be sure to heat the gravy to cook off the alcohol).

• Harvested September 2004
• Released spring 2006
• 2.3 tons/acre
• Aged 13 months in French and American oak barrels
• 681 cases produced
• $30.00/bottle

Order now online or call 707-431-8243.

2004 Russian River Estate Syrah

At Christopher Creek we take special care in the management of our vineyard, and as always we hand-pick, hand-sort and hand–macerate our fruit to produce a distinct wine from “our” edge of the Russian River Valley vineyard. The 2004 Estate Bottled Syrah is no exception.

Produced in the classical French style from multiple clone grapes grown at the winery site, our 2004 Estate Bottled Syrah displays black plum and black cherry with tastes of cocoa, spice, minerals and subtle smoky notes. On the palate, the texture is smooth and ample with a very long complex finish created by the rich, yet soft tannins. We would recommend bottle aging this wine for at least a year before drinking to let the tannins soften and the fruit fully develop. Properly cellared, we would expect the wine to age well for 5-to-7 years. Try our Syrah with barbecued tri-tip roast, game birds, lamb, beef stew or spicy foods (Mexican, spicy Asian). Syrah is also a great food companion to chocolate.

• Harvested September 2004
• Released Spring 2006
• 3.2 tons/acre
• Aged 13 months in French oak barrels
• 364 cases produced
• $24.00/bottle

Order now online or call 707-431-8243.