| The Many Faces Of Petite Sirah |
| Written by Joseph Mora |
| Tuesday, 31 March 2009 19:12 |
 The Many Faces of Petite Sirah
I'm out on the back patio of the Quixote winery with estate manager Lew Price looking out at the towering palisades as a light drizzle falls in the electric between-storm weather of late morning. In the distance one can hear the steady flow of a stream gurgling and up on the face of the palisade towering above a waterfall is barely visible. Suddenly, I'm reminded of the Wappo legend that describes the deer hunting that used to take place here and is the source of this AVA's name, 'Stag's Leap'. Legend has it that the deer would be stampeded from the backside towards the ledge, where they fell a few hundred feet to their deaths. However, one day there was a certain stag that gracefully leapt, from rock to rock, flying through the air softly down the palisade, and off into the distance... But at the moment I'm imagining the slow-motion macabre journey of deer falling, as they writhe and tumble to their deaths in the throes of bacchanalia. Lew breaks the silence by saying, "Let me show you the new vineyard."
 The palisades in the distance behind Quixote
A Grape By Any Other Name:
Records show that in 1884 playboy-millionaire Charles Mc Iver, owner of Linda Vista Vineyard in San Jose, one of California's premiere pre-prohibition wineries imported a grape called durif. The grape was the progeny of a French nursereyman of the same name who developed a seedling believed to be a variation of a grape named peloursin. Mc Iver referred to the grape as "petite sirah." Shortly thereafter, H.W. Crabb, owner of the To Kalon Vineyard and Winery in the Napa Valley, which today is owned by Mondavi and Andy Beckstoffer, among others, visited Mc Iver and liked what he saw. To Kalon was soon producing the grape until phylloxera destroyed virtually all of the state's plantings in 1890. Sometime around 1897 a large-scale, statewide re-planting took place. It is commonly held that it was true syrah that was planted, with some durif, perhaps, although no one can say for sure. What is known is that most of what was produced went into red-burgundy blends.
Voodoo Child: Petite Sirah in the age of Aquarius
In the California of the 1960's, there were roughly 4,500 acres of Petite Sirah planted in California. The major distinction of this crop though, was that for the first time it was bottled as a premium varietal. Between 1971 and 1973 plantings doubled to 8,200 acres, with new plantings in Monterey and the Central Valley. Meanwhile, the coastal counties like Sonoma and Mendocino continued to tend their old plantings. However, like so many of the positive elements birthed in the 60's of California, Petite Sirah saw a serious decline in the 80's. At the University of California at Davis, ampelography, or DNA grafting tests for the grape were performed in 1992.
The result was that what is mostly called "petite sirah" is durif, with a slim chance that it might be either peloursin or beclan.
In 1997 there were close to 2,500 acres of California vines that were known as petite sirah which produced roughly 1.2 million gallons. In Napa there were 328 acres of petite sirah, and 10,335 of cabernet sauvignon.
The irony of petite sirah is that most vineyardists have been unsure as to what it actually is, and despite that, have continued to farm it on the grape's merit alone. Whatever the case may be, it is a true California original and premium varietal that will continue to evolve and develop into a 21st century standard for the state's wine industry, providing that consumers continue to appreciate its brooding blueberry depth and cocoa-powder tannic character - which is the easy part. The hard part is convincing producers to gamble on a grape that isn't one of the standard bordeaux varietals. To do the - dare I say, quixotic ?
 Subterrranean Home Spun Blueberries: The Cave at Quixote
F.M. radio is playing to an empty, damp cave as Lew and I enter the subterrranean underbelly of Quixote.
There definitely are more elaborate caves in the Napa Valley. Built to host dinners and private events, these caves are oftentimes the showpiece of the winery. Quixote's is different. The cave at Quixote is what I would refer to as a "working" cave, consisting mostly of stacks of wine-stained barrels and sundry equipment. Lew and I are looking for Timothy Keith, Assistant Winemaker at Quixote, to do some barrel tasting. But at the moment there is only Lew and myself, and a pleasant yeasty, damp mustiness.
We were about to give up when Timothy appeared, Lew took off and we started to taste. My notes are as follows:
2007 Petite Sirah
2,000 Cases Produced
Blackberry and new leather aromas. A body of Rubenesque proportions doing a multi-veiled dance revealing consecutively: gravelly tannins, generous raspberry fruit and finally, silky tannins.
2008 Petite Sirah
Block 6
Alc. 14%
Deep purple saturated color, focused raspberry acid base that gives way to Mexican Cocoa tannic finish, less flesh, more elegant...
Block 5
Petite Sirah
Campfire smoke and blackberry jam with teeth staining tannins mingle with a velvety mid-palate laced with aged balsamic macerated blueberries...and finally, sandy tannins as long as a Tahitian beach.
Block 12
Petite Sirah
60 day extended maceration 6-8 day cold soak.
a full-bodied endeavor with thoroughly ripe blueberry flavor displaying a ripeness that shows raspberry and blackberry as well.
Block 14
Petite Sirah
Hawaiian Punch with an extra shot of blackberry juice, perfumed with violet and fresh herbs.
Acid, fruit and tannins dance hand in hand.
A cocoa powder tanninic tug at the end.
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