2002 Petite Sirah

Russian River Valley Estate Bottled

Our Estate Grown Petite Sirah grapes received, as usual, very special care during the 2002 growing season. We are fortunate to have several blocks of Petite Sirah each with varying age, elevation and sun exposure. We hand-thinned the crop and did extensive deleafing to expose the fruit which maximizes pigment in the berry’s skin. All this work paid off and allowed us to get concentrated and healthy fruit. Looking back, the long growing season turned into an advantage and let the complex flavors of cassis, blackberry, coffee and spice fully develop. As with past vintages, the wine is big, dense and chewy with long-lasting berry flavors. Our Petites generally age well over 8-to-10 years. We recommend holding this wine until mid-2005 before drinking; by then, the tannins should soften and the fruit shine.

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 warm the gravy to cook off the alcohol).

Harvested October 2002
Bottled November 2003
Released March 2004
About 3 tons per acre
Aged 13 months in American oak barrels
550 cases produced

2002 Vintage

• Gold Medal–Best of Class—Jerry Mead's New World International Wine Competition, March 2004
• Silver Medal—Grand Harvest Awards, February 2004
• Silver Medal— Pacific Rim International Wine Competition, April 2004

2001 Vintage

• Gold Medal—Grand Harvest Awards, Sonoma, February 2003
• Silver Medal—The San Francisco Chronicle Northern California Wine Competition, February 2003
• Silver Medal—Jerry Mead’s New World Wine Competition, March 2003

2000 Vintage

• Silver Medal—Taster’s Guild International Wine Competition, May 2002
• Silver Medal—New World International Wine Competition, June 2002
• Silver Medal—Long Beach Grand Cru, July 2002

1999 Vintage

• Gold and Best of Class—The San Francisco Chronicle Northern California Wine Competition, February 2001
• Gold and Chairman’s Award—Riverside International Wine Competition, May 2001
• About our 1999 Petite Sirah Vintage, Dan Berger in the Dan Berger’s Vintage Experiences, (707-571-1200), Exceptional Wine Column, wrote the following: "Huge fruit with a meaty, faint underbrush note. Despite the massive nature of this wine, it still retains a bit of grace and should age at least a decade. I also liked the winery’s excellent 1999 Syrah."

1998 Vintage

• Gold and Best of Class—Pacific Rim International Wine Competition, 2000 (second year)