2013 Mending Wall Petite Sirah Palisades Vineyard- USA, California, Napa Valley, Calistoga (11/2/2015)
Yowza! Having more than my share of petite over the years it’s frequent to comment on body and color as being like motor oil and glass staining. This wine has no peer in those two categories. Amazing depth of color and concentration. Spinning the wine in the glass completely coats the inside for 15 seconds. Tied for the top spot as the best PS I’ve tasted. Blueberry fruit is delicious. Superior wine.
Brig, I have about one glass left, which I will finish up later and post a note to go with yours. One thing for sure, this was the darkest wine I have ever had in a wine glass. Like neon pen ink. Just crushingly dark.
Thanks for the TN indeed. And for hipping me to a producer previously unknown to me. Don’t have much Petite Sirah in the collection (hard to match with what I am eating these days), but there are times when a bottle of this mysterious beast seems just…perfect.
OK, Brig, I’ll bite…what is your other top Petite Sirah ever tasted?
First time with this producer for me too. Thomas Rivers Brown is the winemaker. That guy is gonna be good some day.
Here’s the other. Hum… Same vintage and vineyard. Palisades seems to be a special place for PS.
2013 Carlisle Petite Sirah Palisades Vineyard- USA, California, Napa Valley (8/30/2015)
Super saturated inky color. Blueberry and blackberry fruit with plenty of concentration. No surprise this wine is prickly at this young stage but it’s still extremely enjoyable. One of the better petite I’ve tasted.
Coincidentally, among of my meager stash of PS, I think that TRB was the winemaker for one of them: the '07 Saunter. I wonder if a master list exists of every single wine that TRB has made. It may very well be 18 pages…front and back (tip of hat to Friends ep. “The One With The Jellyfish”)
I’d like to try this some time. Carlisle is great, Hayfork used to source their petite here as well, and was an annual favorite. Special site for Pets for sure.
Ok, so here is my 2 cents on what is helluva bottle of PS, and like Brig, as good as petite gets. The photo below won’t do the color justice but what the hell, I needed a photo at least to try.
This is the real deal stuff for the petite purist. I will go buy some of this tomorrow and ensure it gets into my cellar. If you are a petite fan, and my note rings true for you, then this is a wine to give a try.
2013 Mending Wall Petite Sirah Palisades Vineyard- USA, California, Napa Valley, Calistoga (11/2/2015)
I opened this last night. As an aside, which I do want to mention for context, about a month ago I pulled the 2013 Carlisle Palisades PS and was very impressed with that wine. It was pretty stunning. Roll forward then to this Mending Wall, I pulled this last night at the end of a meal, as I had a hunch that a few of the drinkers around the table would both enjoy it and give me some candid impressions about it. On first pour, I about fell out my chair as to how dark this wine poured. It is without a doubt the darkest red wine I have ever put into a wine stem. Inky, stains the side of the glass, completely black. So, I saved a full glass for tonight, so you can add to this impression a full day of slow ox air under open cork. Once again, dark as night. And, no booze in the aroma, which for petite is not always easy to do. Here, though, it is completely clear of any booze signature. The palate? Holy crap. Plush, saturating with dark fruit and some chalky tannin. Charcoal, iron, dark chocolate and the molten quality that I get on the very best petite. Bear in mind that this has been open for a full day so it has softened and there is some tannin but it’s drinkable now with air. All together, this is inky, powerful yet not going to smash your face off with booze or oak. This is the kind of wine that makes me really dig petite for what it can do and I tell you, this is a discovery, one of those wines for the year when I say “ah, ha”. Going on the WOTY mentionable list. Outstanding.
Biale also does a PS from the same vineyard. Same dark, inky and intense but smooth wine. If you liked Mending Wall…think you will enjoy this as well. Have had both a few times.
The Biale and the Carlisle are both exceptional. The vineyard is one of those (Bedrock, Pagani Ranch, Monte Rosso, etc.) that make it a pleasure to sample from a number of wineries.
I opened a bottle of this a few days ago and had mixed results. On the positive side, it was certainly dark colored and concentrated (darkest wine I ever recall drinking) and had nice blueberry character. On the negative side, wasn’t particularly aromatic, and on days 1 and 2 it was dominated by massive, chalky, slightly gritty tannins that turned substantially bitter on the finish. Also, the texture I thought was weird - it was so concentrated as to feel thick in the mouth, like a wine sauce.
Finally on day 3 it was more open and less tannic, but still exceeded what I’d consider overdone or over the top.
I bought three bottles and will keep the other two for as long as possible - maybe I’ll like it better in 10 or 20 years.
John, thanks for the additional note and insight here. This is where I really value this board and how it empowers us to taste together and seek what’s in the bottle.
When my order arrives, I plan to retry the wine. I have a committed belief that a great wine will excel and repeat itself over differing tasting contexts and moments. I want to see if it does it again for me.
My favorite BIG Petite Sirah is the Massena “Howling Dog” Barossa Durif 2006. I get a bottle every now and then from a local shop.
Huge, super color and mouthfeel. No abrasiveness from the tannins. I have tasted opened bottles two weeks after opening now too long ago, and it is immune to air. I still compare it to a grape popsicle dropped in the dirt, although the secondary flavors are beginning to amplify the earthiness. I highly recommend this Aussie interpretation of a quintessentially American grape.
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