2005 Petite Sirah
Russian River Valley
Reserve.
Estate Bottled.
Complex tastes of
blackberry and cassis fruits with hints of coffee and spice.

2005 Reserve Petite Sirah

Russian River Valley
Estate Bottled

Our Estate Grown Petite Sirah grapes received, as always, very special care during the 2005 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. The favorable growing season coupled with sun-exposed fruit helped develop rich tannins and let the complex flavors of cassis, blackberry, coffee and spice fully develop. As with past vintages, the wine should age well over the next 8-to-10 years. So that the tannins will soften and the fruit will shine, we recommend holding this wine until mid-2007 before drinking. Should you want to drink the wine earlier, we suggest decanting a half 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 warm the gravy to cook off the alcohol).

View Wine Profile

Harvested September 2005
Released spring 2007
2.5 tons per acre
Aged in French and American oak barrels
1096 cases produced

2005 Vintage

• Gold Medal—California State Fair, June 2007
• Silver Medal—Orange County Fair, June 2007
• Silver Medal—Tasters Guild International, May 2007

2004 Vintage

• Silver Medal—Orange County Fair Wine Competition, June 2006
• Silver Medal—Los Angeles County Fair Competition, June 2006
  

2003 Vintage

• Gold Medal—Grand Harvest Awards (Top 6% of all wines tasted), March 2005
• Gold Medal—San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, February 2005
• Gold Medal—Jerry Mead's New World Wine Competition, April 2005
• Silver Medal—North of the Gate Wine Competition, April 2005
• Silver Medal—Tasters Guild, May 2005

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
• Exceptional Rating—Dan Berger's Vintage Experience, August 5, 2004

2001 Vintage

• Gold Medal—Grand Harvest Awards, Sonoma, February 2003
• Gold Medal—Tasters Guild International Wine Competition, May 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)