The nose shows sweet elderly over fresh-ground espresso. Big dark fruits are on the palate, mulberry, with fresh-ground coffee and unsweetened chocolate. Tannins are big. Drink, with a well-marbled steak. Highly Recommended. DH WHO: William Gordon Winery WHAT: Petite Sirah WHERE: Alexander Valley, California WHEN: 2009 HOW MUCH: $29
This opens with very nice dark fruit aromas on the nose. Blackberry, with hints of cedar and eucalyptus, lead on the palate, turning to jammy fruit with black pepper on the mid-palate. Complexity is interesting, acid zippy. There is an underlying mocha throughout, showing most on the finish. It is
Combining the pleasantly mineral and grippy character of Carignane with rounder notes from five other grape varieties, this inexpensive offering from Bonny Doon is rather easy-going, despite the contrarian attitude implied in the name (which also refers to Contra Costa County, where most of the grapes come from). That contradictory
I first tried Pleiades, the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink blend made by legendary and idiosyncratic Marin County winemaker Sean Thackrey, back in 2003. On a visit to Chicago, a sharp salesman at House of Glunz, Chicago’s oldest wine store, easily filled my request-read more-
The trade and public tasting events of the California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition in Sacramento are usually something to really look forward to in the State Capital. It is routine for folks here to taste at some of the-read more-
The wine poured out with promise, the characteristic deep purple of Petite Sirah. It had the scent of very young wine, reminding me of being in a winery and tasting barrel samples early in the winemaking process. Unfortunately, this was-read more-
The bottle says 14.5% alcohol. My nose and eyeballs suspect if might be well north of 15%. This is a big wine, with brawny red fruits, a bowl of mixed cherries ranging from barely ripe to nearly black and strawberries-read more-
A mouthful of wine, this Zin is a moderate (by today's standards) 14.8% alcohol, but has loads of black fruit, cocoa, and coffee. The nose is slightly vegetal, suggesting perhaps some whole cluster fermentation. Blackberries on attack are followed by-read more-