Wannabe Wino

Bella has to be one of my favorite vineyards for big red wines. I regret the day I ever had to cut their club and am VERY happy to now be a member again. On the other hand, joining up again means that if I want another club I have to give up one that I already have. Ack!

I still have massive numbers of tomatoes in my garden (seriously, I think I grew mutant tomato plants, we must have picked hundreds of tomatoes and are still picking them) so I whipped up some fresh sauce, tossed in a bunch of basil and parmasean cheese, cooked up some pasta and called it a meal. With the dinner, I picked a bottle of the 2005 Bella Hillside Cuvee to drink. We picked up 2 bottles of this on our latest trip to Bella and received a 3rd in a club shipment. The wine cost $28 minus a club discount, clocked in a 14.9% alcohol by volume, and had a real cork closure. The Hillside Cuvee is a blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Zinfandel, 11% Petite Sirah, 10% Petite Verdot.


On the nose of the wine I found espresso, dark cherries, blackberries, plum, chocolate, brown sugar, currants. The fruit struck me as big and dark, with lots of hints of other enticing aromas. In the mouth I got flavors of blackberry, plum, currants, boysenberry, blueberry, spice, and a bit of chocolate. The fruit came through as fresh and tart.

Overall, the wine seemed a bit tannic, and it had a little bit of heat. I think this one needs some time, so I'll hang onto my other two bottles and will report back over the next couple of years as we drink them. Not such a great match with my pasta dinner, but made for an excellent after dinner drink!

Matt and I were kindly invited to a tasting of Petite Sirah this Friday hosted by Loweeel of The PSychos' Path, a blog focused entirely on Petite Sirah. Loweeel was hosting some out of towners for this event before the local Woot meet-up this Saturday. We were thrilled to be able to attend and contribute some of our favorite PS, one of my favorite grapes. Without further ado, the wines from the great line-up:

1998 Stag's Leap Petite Sirah: Classic PS nose. Licorice, smoke, vanilla, blueberry, milk chocolate dark fruit.

1990 Sean Thackery PS: Stinky nose to start, unpleasant manure odors that blew off fairly quickly. Pepper, eucalyptus, mint, didn't give up any fruit on the nose. Clove, little fruit in the mouth. Several hours later this had opened beautifully, showing more eucalyptus, pepper, and red fruit.

2003 Sean Thackery Sirius PS: Blueberry, vanilla cream, little heat, thinner in the mouth than I expected, tannic, blueberry, eucalyptus, slight red fruit. Definitely too young.

2005 Sean Thackery Sirius PS: Vick's Vapo Rub, dirty, slight slight blueberry on nose. Blueberry, tannic, again slight red fruit. Bigger fruit than the 2003, seemed more ready to drink, though still young.

1998 Turley PS: Blueberry cream pie, anise, walnuts, smooth, well integrated, roses, black cherries, baking spice. My favorite so far, very good wine.

2001 Foppiano Reserve PS: Matt and I brought this. Little funk that blew off quickly. Black cherry, blueberry, little pepper, cassis, chocolate, spice, tannins, fairly well integrated, but still very young.

2004 Camellia Cellars PS: We also brought this. Cigarette smoke, blueberry, cream, tannic, short finish, cassis, a bit hot, licorice, fresh caramel.

2005 Chase PS: Baking spice, heat, pepper, white pepper, lots and lots of tannins, some fruit I couldn't distinguish, not ready to drink yet.

2005 St. Helena Winery Violation PS: Vanilla, oak toast, cassis, blackberry, blueberry undertones, black cherry, chocolate, carmalized top of the creme brulee, a bit sharp.

All in all, a great line up, one I was happy to be able to participate in. Also, Loweeel made the BEST lamb we've ever had. Thanks for the invite Loweeel!

The wine for the evening was the 2004 Zina Hyde Cunningham Petite Sirah. It hails from Lake County, clocks in at 14.9% alcohol by volume, and cost us $24 at the winery last March. I have another bottle of this wine hanging out in the cellar and it is going to be tough to now pop the cork on it soon, it's such a tasty wine!

I first noted the color on the wine, a deep dark inky purple, classic Petite Sirah. The nose smelled of blackfruit, gobs of blueberry, blackberry, spice, baking spice, chocolate, and anise. Roll it altogether and you'd have a pretty darn tasty pie. In the mouth, the tannins dominated. This needed air, so I quickly pulled out our decanter to give this one some help. After some time in the decanter, the flavor showed all blueberries, all the way. I even wrote down blueberries three times in my notes, and underlined it, and put exclamation points next to it. I think I wanted to remember that this one was full of blueberries. Behind the blueberries I found undertones of red berries, spice, clove, anise, chocolate, vanilla, and chocolate covered cherries.

The wine smoothed beautifully fairly quickly, however, my first tasting note for this one was "Hello tannins." So you are definitely going to want to give this one some time to air or try to save it for a few a years...I'll try, I promise. As we were drinking it, I kept thinking back to the blind tasting of Petite Sirah I hosted when it was my turn to host Wine Blogging Wednesday. This wine would have placed extremely well in the tasting in my opinion. Overall, a delicious, tannic, beast of a Petite Sirah, perfect for those who love this wild grape.

Welcome to the round-up of WBW #40-Que Sirah Sirah. I’m very pleased to have been the hostess for this month’s iteration of WBW. I must of course give thanks to Lenn of Lenndevours for his creation of WBW over 3 years ago and for selecting my theme for this month.

I sent you off in search of a bottle of Petite Sirah or Durif, any bottle of your liking, as Petite Sirah is one of my favorite varietals. We had an amazing number of participants, especially given that this is such a busy time of year. I’d like to thank everyone for participating.

We had 54 blogs participate, including at least 14 who participated for the first time. Bloggers joined this WBW from Australia, Canada, England, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United States. Even one blogger whose blog focuses exclusively on Petite Sirah joined us! Overall, 78 bottles were reviewed. Wines came from Israel, Mexico, Australia, Chile, and the US.

Onto the reviews!

Julian of Full Pour was the first participant this month, joining us with a 2000 Morris Durif from Australia. Sadly he wasn't entirely pleased with his choice, finding it to be a bit lacking in balanced flavors, but thought perhaps it might be better with food. His choice wasn't totally without merits though, head on over to Full Pour for Julian's full review.

Over at Enobytes, Pamela participated in WBW for the very first time. She chose the 2005 "39 Degrees" Lake County Petite Sirah from Cecchettti Wine Company. Pamela was also disappointed with her choice, finding it to have a pleasant nose, but no follow through on the palate. Sorry Pamela, wish you had found one you loved! Visit Enobytes for her review.

Another first time participant, Joe of 1 Wine Dude, was our first PS success. Joe found a 2003 Stag's Leap Winery Napa Valley Petite Sirah, and reviewed it for us, despite the fact that he doesn't normally review wines! He tells us to "take the Leap and pair this one with grilled bison." You can find his review over on 1 Wine Dude.

Professor Bainbridge of Professor Bainbridge on Food and Wine found time during finals to review a bottle of PS for this WBW. He chose a 1997 Behrens and Hitchcock Napa Valley Old Vines Petite Sirah. He said that this one could age for at least another ten years but his description makes it sound delicious right now. I only wish my law professors had been cool enough to have wine blogs. His full review is available at Professor Bainbridge on Food and Wine.

We were lucky enough to be joined by El Jefe and the staff of Twisted Oak Winery for WBW, with a review of not only a Twisted Oak 2005 Petite Sirah but also a Lucchesi 2004 Lodi Petite Sirah, and a Pinot Noir (I think someone got a little confused about the theme!). They did an impromptu blind tasting on Tuesday afternoon, where the staff correctly identified the Twisted Oak PS. Head on over to El Bloggo Torcido to read all the details of their tasting.

Next up is another Jeff, from Indiscriminate Ideas. After an exhaustive search (really, he went to 5 shops and even checked up on the options offered to him in CellarTracker before settling on a bottle!) he picked up his first ever bottle of PS, a 2003 Markham Vineyards Napa Valley Petite Sirah. He suggests PS as a perfect cold, snowy day wine, and was pleased with his bottle, even though he doesn't favor "big" reds. You can read his whole review over at Indiscriminate Ideas.

Goofy Girl, of, appropriately enough, the blog Goofy Girl, is another first time WBW participant. She got her husband in on the act and they reviewed the same wine as Pamela of Enobytes, a 2005 "39 Degrees" Petite Sirah. However, she had a totally different opinion of the wine, loving it, and pronouncing it a definite rebuy. Visit Goofy Girl for such descriptors as "a bite of strawberry shortcake while smelling a fine cigar...."

Vinquire jumped into their very first WBW with a bang, tasting the most Petite Sirahs of any blog! They reviewed 9 Petite Sirahs/Durifs, but sadly came to the conclusion that it "doesn't stand on its own as a classic," but they seemed to have a great time anyway! Out of their nine wines, the two favorites were the 2004 McDowell Vineyards Santa Cruz Mountains Durif and the 2004 Storrs Petite Sirah, also from Santa Cruz. Read their reviews of all 9 wines over at Vinquire.

We have another first time participant, Hank of Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, who also brought out the big guns for his first WBW and tasted 3 Petite Sirahs! He chose the 2003 Ehrhardt Petite Sirah, the 2004 Earthquake Petite Sirah, and the 2005 Twisted Oak Petite Sirah. His winner was clearly the Twisted Oak, with the Earthquake being the loser. Head on over to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook (wow that's a mouthful) for his full review.

Sean of More is Less is also joining us for his very first WBW! He found a bottle of 2004 Carmen Reserve Petite Sirah from Chile, our first Chilean wine of this WBW. Now this sounds like my kind of PS...violets, dark chocolate, vanilla, dessert in a glass! Sean terms it worthy of a rebuy. You can read his review over on More is Less. I'm happy he could participate as I understand PS is lacking in availability up North in Canada!

And yet another first timer! Loweel, over at The PSychos' Path, a blog devoted entirely to Petite Sirah, joined this very appropriate for his blog, WBW. For this particular event he reviewed the 2004 Concannon Limited Release Petite Sirah, the 1999 Lorca Napa Valley Petite Sirah, and the same 2004 Earthquake Petite Sirah that Hunter Angler Gardener Cook reviewed, though with much different results. See his full reviews over at The PSychos' Path, his coreviewer's review of the 2004 Parducci "True Grit" Petite Sirah, and also make sure to check out his post on Menu for Hope prizes that involve PS!

Sensing a theme here yet, beyond the whole PS thing? Amy of West Coast Wine Country Adventures joins us for her very first WBW as well! It took her several bottles before she could find one she would like to recommend, but she persisted and came up with a most interestingly labeled and named wine. She drank the 2004 Waltzing Bear "Bud" Petite Sirah from French Camp Vineyard in San Luis Obispo County. Head on over to West Coast Wine Country for her review!

I believe Darby is yet another first time WBW participant, or at least, I don't see any evidence on Vinodiversity of past participation...In any case, Darby from Australia chose, appropriately enough, an Australian Durif. The bottle was a 2005 Vale Durif. Darby pronounces it "positively elegant" and "reminiscent of cool-climate Shiarz. Visit Vinodiversity for the full review and some pairing suggestions!

Sue of Sue Courtney's blog of Vinous Ramblings joined WBW after a forced 2 month hiatus due to her inability to find the previous two months' theme wines in New Zealand. She feared she would not be able to participate this month, but fell into a stroke of luck when a fellow blogger visiting NZ brought a Petite Sirah! Sue tasted the 2005 Four Vines "The Heretic" Petite Sirah from Paso Robles and seems to have absolutely loved it. See her full review over at Sue Courtney's blog of Vinous Ramblings.

Next up is David of the Winebaer. David dove into the depths of his own cellar and produced a long hidden bottle. He chose a bottle of the 2001 Eaglepoint Ranch Petite Sirah from Mendocino. Although he liked the wine, PS isn't his style of wine, and he didn't think he could see himself enjoying more than a glass at time, though he thought a large piece of red meat might help its cause! Read his review over at the Winebaer.

Another blogger, Dale of Drinks Are On Me, chose what's shaping up to be the most chosen bottle of this WBW. It must be the name! Dale also went with the 2005 "39 Degrees" Lake County Petite Sirah. Like Pamela of Enobytes, Dale was less than impressed with this PS. He paired it with a hamburger, and enjoyed his hamburger more than the wine, unfortunately. Visit Drinks Are On Me for his full review!

A second time WBW participant, Eddie of OeNo! Not Another Wine Blog...(great name by the way!) picked a bottle of the 2005 Rosenblum Cellars Petite Sirah Heritage Clones. I think I may have found a PS convert in Eddie, after an initial shock at finding pepper on the nose of a wine, he ultimately decided the blackberry and coffee flavors were delicious and the wine was a winner. Head on over to OeNo! Not Another Wine Blog... for his review!

Edward of Wino Sapien jumped in for this month's WBW with an Australian Durif. Edward's wine choices always sound lovely, and I wish I could find more of them here in the US! Although he finds PS too sweet in general, he was able to appreciate the bottle of 2002 Stanton and Killeen Durif he found. I love the description of the wine as a "sledgehammer." Read his full review over on Wino Sapien.

Michael of A Food and Wine Blog joins us for his first WBW! Michael is a rather local blogger to me, hailing from Baltimore, and I'm happy to have found his site through WBW! He chose a 2005 Vinum Cellars PETS Petite Sirah, which he found to be not only a good wine, but a good cause as some of the profits go to local animal shelters. A first in a PS description, he found buttered toast in his wine!. Visit A Food and Wine Blog to read his review.

Over at A Passionate Foodie, Richard went rummaging in his cellar and came back out with the 2003 Sean Thackrey Sirius Petite Sirah from Mendocino. Richard's pockets are a bit deeper than mine, clearly, the wine ran him $70!! He absolutely loved this bottle of wine and it sounds right up my alley as well. Head on over to A Passionate Foodie to read his review and his review of the 2000 Sean Thackrey Orion.

John of Anything Wine, who just switched his platform and came out with a snazzy new layout, is also a first time WBW participant. John drank a bottle of the 2005 Peltier Station Petite Sirah, that he picked up from a local shop after a tasting. It sounds like I've found yet another PS convert among John, clearly my evil plot is working. He very much enjoyed his PS and you can read his review over on Anything Wine.

Over at the Wine Scamp, Andrea tasted a bottle of the 2005 Peirano Estate Vineyards "Heritage Collection" Petite Sirah. And based on her drool worthy dinner that she paired it with, I certainly wouldn't mind being a guest for dinner at her house! Her wine choice was "all minty blueberry madness" and it seems to me to be a toss up between the wine and dinner for what sounds more delicious. Check out her review over on Wine Scamp.

Then there's me. I reviewed 4 Petite Sirahs/Durifs that I served at a blind tasting for our friends. It was supposed to be 5, but sadly one of the bottles was corked. Our favorites of the evening were the 2003 Connor Park Durif from Australia and the 2004 Twisted Oak Petite Sirah from Lodi. You can read my full post and see pictures of my dining room on my blog, Wannabe Wino.

Carol at Celebrate Wine also brought out the big guns for this WBW. She tasted 4 different Petite Sirahs. Carol chose the 2004 Foppiano Petite Sirah, the 2004 Concannon Limited Release Petite Sirah, the 2002 Barkan Petite Sirah, and the 2005 Huntington Petite Sirah. Phew, quite the line up! Overall her favorite by far was the Huntington, read all about her experience on Celebrate Wine.

Brooklynguy, the host of last month's WBW came out for this month as well, despite the fact that PS is not quite his thing! He chose the 2006 Fleur North Coast Petite Sirah. Although he prefers other wines, he was able to appreciate it, and has grudgingly agreed to try another with soul food! Read his full review over on Brooklynguy's Wine and Food Blog.

Over on McDuff's Food and Wine Trail, David chose a bottle of 2004 Trinitas Cellars "Old Vine" Petite Sirah from Lodi. David is another blogger who is not so big on Petite Sirah, but was willing to try it again for WBW. Sadly, the bottle didn't do anything to change his opinion on Petite Sirah but his bottle sounded pretty good to me! Check out his review over on McDuff's Food and Wine Trail.

Dr. Debs of Good Wine Under $20 has excellent taste, and chose one of the bottles that I did, a 2004 Twisted Oak Petite Sirah. Dr. Debs and I often tend to like similar wines, I've noticed our Qs over at WineQ tend to be identical. And like me, she loved this wine, describing it as "a palate of plummy richness with notes of fig." Head on over to Good Wine Under $20 to read her full review.

Farley of Behind the Vines and Wine Outlook was delighted with the PS theme and did a blind tasting of two wines from her new gig over at Rosenblum Cellars. She chose the 2006 Rosenblum Cellars Heritage Clone Petite Sirah and a barrel sample of 2006 Rosenblum Cellars Patio Vineyard Petite Sirah. You'll have to read her blog at Behind the Vines to discover the results and learn about Rosenblum PS.

Our next review comes from Jill of Domaine547, where a 2003 Saracina Petite Sirah from Mendocino was her choice. She thought the wine was a bit lacking for the price tag, but definitely wouldn't say no to future vintages and other offerings from Saracina. Head on over to Domaine547 to read her full review.

I think Russ, the Winehiker, just might sweep this WBW for most dramatic, hilarious, and over the top post. Chandler Bing and wine? Who woulda thunk. Russ chose the 2004 EOS Reserve Petite Sirah, and the one tidbit I will share is "Oh. My. Gawd." Check out his highly entertaining review over on Winehiker Witiculture.

Andrew of Rouge and Blanc chose a 1998 Guenoc Petite Sirah from the North Coast. Not quite the oldest bottle making a WBW appearance, but almost! Andrew found this bottle to still be quite youthful, having stood the test of time, and in his analysis, probably not optimal storage conditions. Andrew also presents a nice history of PS. Visit Rouge and Blanc to read his full review.

Serge the Concierge, the French Guy from New Jersey, tasted a bottle of the 2005 Vinum Cellars PETS Petite Sirah, the same bottle as Michael of A Food and Wine Blog. Serge also appreciated the donation made to local shelters for the purchase of this wine. He found it to be a "good, decent wine" for the price. Head on over to Serge the Concierge for his review.

Jim Eastman over at Music & Wine rejoins WBW after a long hiatus and chose what sounds like an absolutely delicious bottle of PS. He picked the 2004 C G diArie Petite Sirah from Lodi. Jim notes that he would have loved to taste the wine after 90 minutes or even 2 or 3 hours, but it sounds like my house where wine simply doesn't last that long! Read his full review over on Music and Wine.

Derrick from An Obsession with Food found himself in the unusual position of getting in on a WBW this month before it was over. He chose a bottle of the 2004 Parducci "True Grit" Petite Sirah from Mendocino. Derrick found the wine to be lightweight and subtle, unusual for a Petite Sirah, but an excellent sounding bottle nonetheless. You can find his review over on An Obsession with Food.

Jack and Joanne of Fork and Bottle, who will host WBW next month, took this month's theme as an opportunity to test their interest in 2 bottles of PS. They chose the 2002 Switchback Ridge Peterson Family Vineyard Petite Sirah and the 2002 Carver Sutro Palisades Vineyard Petite Sirah. Both seemed more impressed with the Switchback, but Jack wasn't blown away by either bottle. Read their full review over on Fork and Bottle, and make sure to watch for the January WBW announcement!

Andrew of Spittoon joined us from England, but sadly his first choice of an Australian Durif was not delivered on time. Luckily, he found another PS in a pinch, the 2005 L A Cetto Petite Sirah from Baja, Mexico. It rated fairly well on his site, and seems like an excellent value, looks to be just over $10 US? Head on over to Spittoon to read the full write-up.

Next up is Tim of Winecast. Tim is a fellow fan of PS and was pleased with this month's theme. He chose two bottles to review, the 2004 Foppiano Vineyards Petite Sirah from the Russian River Valley and the 2005 Peltier Station Winery Petite Sirah. Tim was a big fan of the Peltier and after reading several reviews now, I think I will have to pick some of it up myself. Check out his review of both wines over on Winecast.

Joe of Joe's Wine is another PS skeptic, having never tasted a bottle he liked. This WBW allowed him quite a few firsts, an Aussie Durif and a wine from Mexico, the second bottle of Mexican wine so far (and the same bottle as Andrew from Spittoon)! He chose the 2004 L.A. Cetto Petite Sirah from Baja, Mexico and the 2005 Deen de Bortoli Vat 1 Durif from Australia. I don't think I've made a total PS convert out of Joe, but both bottles scored well on his scale! Read his full review over on Joe's Wine.

Over on Vinewords, Cass chose the 2003 Beringer Single Vineyard Tuttle Ranch Petite Sirah that she received in her latest club shipment. Cass is another first time WBW participant and was not very familiar with PS, but very much enjoyed her choice. Head on over to Vinewords for her review.

Another first timer, Shea of Just Grapes (who is a law student, like I used to be, and I don't envy her!) joined us in her first month of blogging. Shea chose the 2003 Earthquake Petite Sirah from Lodi. She fell in love with PS on a trip to Napa and seems to have hunted all over Vancouver, BC for every available bottle (a city I love that we visited on our honeymoon!). Shea enjoyed this bottle, but found it a bit overpriced. Check our her full review on Just Grapes.

Diane over at Wine Lover's Journal chose a bottle of 2005 Courtney Benham Petite Sirah from Paso Robles. Her description makes me want to run out and buy this wine that she terms "BERRYLICIOUS." However, she does suggest serving it with something other than pork casserole. Visit Wine Lover's Journal for her review.

Well, Jeff over at Good Grape may win for strangest post title with "Even a Blind Squirrel....Wine Blogging Wednesday." In addition to his title, he reviewed two bottles for this WBW, the 2006 McManis Family Vineyards Petite Sirah and the 2005 Jewel Petite Sirah, both from Lodi. For a good review of wine shopping and squirrels, visit Jeff at Good Grape.

(Yes, I'm starting to get punchy at about 40 some odd reviews in!)

Over on Wine Blogging Wednesday, Susan, posting as Sonoma33, shared a review of the 2004 Carver Sutro Petitie Sirah. Susan pronounces the bottle one of the best Petite Sirahs she has ever had and she can't wait to share a bottle with family and friends over Christmas. Head on over to Wine Blogging Wednesday for her full review.

Mike of Wicker Parker (love his slogan by the way, "Points on wine, without the points") chose a bottle of the 2005 Elizabeth Spencer Special Cuvee Petite Sirah from the North Coast. Mike also came out of his comfort zone to participate in WBW, and recommends this bottle to those of us who love PS, but it's just not for him. Read his thoughtful review over on Wicker Parker.

The Corkdork picked a bottle of the 2001 Lolonis "Orpheus" Petite Sirah that he received as a gift. Unfortunately, it did not live up to his expectations based on previous experiences with Lolonis Zinfandels and he can't recommend it to us. You can read his full review over on the Corkdork.

Tim over at Cheap Wine Ratings also chose the 2006 McManis Petite Sirah and loved it, giving it 90 points on his scale. Oddly enough, he's drawn a connection between WOW (World of Warcraft for those who aren't up on their massively multiplayer virtual worlds) and Petite Sirah, a first for me, I must admit! Head on over to Cheap Wine Ratings to find out what that connection is.

Alder from Vinography joined us this month with a review of the 2005 Storrs Winery Petite Sirah from the Santa Cruz Mountains. He gives a detailed description of the Santa Cruz AVA, an area I'm not that familiar with, so I was happy for the lesson. The wine earned between an 8.5 and a 9 on Alder's scale, visit Vinography to find out why.

James over at Second Leaf chose the 2005 Mount Aukum Winery Petite Sirah, in part based on a description of the previous vintage written by his local wine merchant. James has an excellent photo of his wine posted, I'd visit just for that, but the review will also draw you in. Find out James' opinion of the wine on Second Leaf.

Well then. I can't say tofurky and wine, um, sorry Petite Sirah, is ever a pairing I would make, but that's what Kathleen Lisson of Wine and Stories from the Vinyarrd chose with her Petite Sirah, a 2005 Bogle Vineyards Petite Sirah. She tells us it was an excellent match. You'll have to visit Wine and Stories from the Vineyard for the whole non-meaty scoop!

Erika of StrumErika chose the 2005 David Bruce Petite Sirah, the same wine we tried to drink. However, her's was great AND she managed to work her WBW participation into a first date. According to her, all was cool, which is great...maybe her first date will turn into a second! Head on over to StrumErika to read her account of the evening.

The Mad Wino, excellent pen name!, of My Wine Information, reviewed the 2003 Westend Estate 3 Bridges Durif. His descriptors include plums, blackberries, and vegemite? I can't say I know what vegemite is, so I make no judgment on whether that's a good or bad thing. Visit My Wine Information for the full scoop!

Grazza from the blog Tales of a Sommelier chose a bottle from deep in his cellar that he came across many moons ago. He chose the 1995 Ridge York Creek Petite Sirah, which is officially the oldest bottle consumed for this WBW. And how did this bottle taste after 12 years? You will have to visit Tales of a Sommelier to find out!

Our founder, Lenn of Lenndevours has joined us! Better late than never, and good thing blog posts are super easy to edit! Lenn chose the 2006 Fleur Petite Sirah from the North Coast. Apparently wine shops in his area don't really carry much PS (shame on them!) so he had to order this, and found it to be a fairly decent bottle, but won't be ordering any more. Check out his full review over on Lenndevours.

And finally I heard from the folks over at Classic Wines, more first time participants for this WBW! They reviewed the 2005 Rosenblum Heritage Clones Petite Sirah, the earlier vintage of the wine Farley from Behind the Vines chose. Sadly they weren't so thrilled with the bottle, expecting more given their experiences with Rosenblum's other offerings. Head on over to Classic Wines to see their review.

Whew. That was quite an experience as the hostess of WBW! I cannot believe the level of participation this month, and I am overwhelmed by the contributions! Thank you all for your reviews, I've very much enjoyed visiting old friends and checking out a great number of new blogs!

If I've missed you, please email me at ctsonadora@gmail.com and I will be happy to add your review. If you did not get an email response from me, I did not get your review.

So get out there and find your Petite Sirah! You can find lots of resources over at PS I Love You as to who produces Petite Sirah.

Happy hunting of your beast, as Alder has named Petite Sirah!

Report back to me at ctsonadora@gmail.com on December 12 with the link to your entry or your tasting note if you don't have a blog.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, sends you off in search of what is arguably my favorite red wine varietal: Petite Sirah. So often confused with Syrah or Shiraz, it deserves it's own time to shine, and this is it.

Petite Sirah is lesser known by the name Durif. I have noticed, and actually picked one up, Durifs coming out of Australia recently, so they are out there, it just takes some hunting. I haven't found any from France yet, but maybe one of you will have better luck than me.

The assignment is simply that. Report back on any Petite Sirah that strikes your fancy.

Post your review on Wednesday, December 12 and send me an email at ctsonadora@gmail.com with a link to your review. If you don't have a blog, please send me your tasting notes and I will be happy to publish them here and include you in the round up.

I am thrilled that my theme suggestion was taken by our fearless leaders over at Wine Blogging Wednesday and am incredibly happy to be hosting this month. Many thanks to the creator of WBW, Lenn of Lenndevours and to last month's host, Brooklynguy for his excellent theme and write-up! Can't wait to read about all the delicious Petite Sirah everyone discovers!

So we drank this 2004 Twisted Oak Silvaspoons Vineyard Petite Sirah with cheeseburgers and Doritos. See, I don't make gourmet meals all the time!

I got this bottle of Petite Sirah in my latest WineQ shipment, though I've been eying it for quite some time now! However, if you want your own bottle, you'd better hurry up and order it, last time I heard El Jefe told us Twisted Oak was nearly sold out, though WineQ had their own personal stock!

The wine. I may be a bit biased as Petite Sirah is one of my absolute favorite wines, but this was simply a delicious bottle of wine, I highly recommend it and if it weren't for the fact that is absolutely too hot to ship wine to VA at the moment, I would be buying up what I could because I would love to see how this bottle develops in the next 2-5 years.

The wine! It had a real cork closure, was 13.5% alcohol by volume and cost me $23.99 with free shipping from WineQ!

The nose was very aromatic with blueberries, oak, vanilla and cloves as the most prevalent aromas. However, it kept developing as it sat out (and you should let it sit out a bit to aerate before you drink it as it appears to be a really complex wine, in both the mouth and the nose) and I eventually could distinguish nutmeg, allspice and chocolate. In the mouth there were gobs of fresh dark berries, mostly blueberries, though a bit of blackberry with plums as well. The allspice and cloves showed under the fruit and after an hour I found vanilla cream and velvety chocolate.

Overall my impressions of the wine were that it was a dark, juicy wine that stained my lips purple! It needs time to open up, but you will be glad you were patient as the flavors keep appearing and showing a very complex and well-made wine. And it even goes well with Doritos and cheeseburgers!

As I've mentioned at least a few times now, Matt and I did some excellent wine tasting with Ken of Ala Wine and his wife while we were in the Sonoma area (which I probably should have been more clear about as I think many people, including Ken, thought we were actually in Sonoma, rather we were staying just outside of Healdsburg). While visiting the in-laws I received an email from Ken inquiring about our schedule and asking if we would like to do some tasting with him and his wife Cori (sorry if I didn't get the spelling on that right!). I quickly said we would be delighted and thus we headed to their home on Thursday. Sadly, I underestimated the traffic and we were a touch late, but we eventually made it! You can head on over to Ken's blog to read full details of all the wines we tasted, I'll just give you some brief tasting notes here.

But first, Ken and Cori are wonderful people and we had the best time with them (and their really active cat, seriously, I don't think I've ever seen a cat move that fast!). Their home is lovely and it was so incredibly kind of them to have us over. This was Matt's first experience in actually talking about wines and writing notes while he tasted, he usually leaves it up to me and will occassionally offer an opinion if I prod him enough, but he enjoyed it and is already talking about getting tasting sheets and hosting a tasting at our house. After we finished tasting Cori suggested we all go grab dinner and we went to a great Italian place where I just had to get fettucini alfredo as we had been talking about how a cream based sauce would be great with one of the wines we tasted and the craving stuck in my head. We got to taste some great wines and meet some interesting new people, all in all a fantastic evening in my book! Thanks again for having us!

Onto the notes:

First up, a 2005 Unionville Vineyards Chardonnay, from New Jersey. Now, I know you must be thinking, Huh? New Jersey? But actually this isn't the first wine I've had from New Jersey as I had a friend in law school in that area and she would frequently bring back wines from various vineyards. The Unionville Chardonnay could best be described as having a damp nose with a slight hint of oak and undertones of lemons. In the mouth there were lemons and pears. It had a short finish, but was smooth with a good mouthfeel. The wine was slightly tart and left a clean feeling in the mouth. We discussed having this wine with an herbed chicken or a pasta with cream sauce and decided it would be really food friendly. It doesn't appear on their website, but the last 2 vintages were $19.99 a bottle.

Second on the list was a 2004 Cliff Creek Syrah. The nose of this wine was full of dark fruits, specifically black cherries and blueberries with a touch of maple syrup, as odd as that sounds, but it worked and was a very pleasing nose. The wine clocks in at 14.6% alcohol by volume and I can see from their website runs for $35. In the mouth there were black cherries and the wine was fairly smooth but appeared to have tannins that would allow it to age, and hopefully bring out more of the flavors we found in the nose.

Next up was a 2002 Meola Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon. On those nose of this one we found oak, black currants and peppers. In the mouth there was a distinct taste of dried fruits, mostly currants and raisins. We all liked this wine, but thought that it would be even better if we decanted, so Ken did so and we went back to it later. After an hour or so decanting, this wine was much better. It had opened up and the powerful impression of dried fruit was gone, as were the peppers, showing a sweet nose with strawberries and more strawberries in the mouth. I would venture to guess you should age this one and it will be an excellent wine in a few years. Looks like the winery is sold out, but it goes for $50 and has 14% alcohol by volume.

Fourth bottle of the evening found us drinking a 2004 EOS Reserve Petite Sirah from Paso Robles. I love Petite Sirah, so I may be biased, but this was my favorite wine of the evening. The wine does not appear on the website, but the 2003 vintage does, which was also a big award winner and goes for $25 a bottle. If that's the price of the 2004, I say run and get some. On the nose was an enticing aroma of raspberries, plums and pipe tobacco. In the mouth, gobs of raspberries, strawberry jam and a bit of blackberry, plus a note of the tobacco from the nose. The finish was long and very pleasant, overall this was just a lovely wine.

Finally we tried what would be my first ice wine and my first Fingerlakes wine, a 2005 Casa Larga Fiori Delle Stelle Vidal Ice Wine. It appears to cost $25/375 ml and was 11.5% alcohol by volume with 17% residual sugar. I can't find a website for the winery. On the nose there was peach, honey, apricots, with honey, mandarin oranges (yes, like the ones in the can), pear and green apple to be found in the mouth. The wine was tart, not cloying or palate coating at all. It was well balanced with excellent structure. It really was a dessert in and of itself. I may now be spoiled to all other dessert wines but ice wine.

2003 Quivira Petite Sirah. Nothing small about this wine. Big nose, big mouth. I smell blackberry, currants, pepper and vanilla on this one. Dark fruits of many kinds in the mouth, though primarily blackberry. Spicy, some toasted oak in the mouth as well. Tannins at the end would probably mellow a bit more with some age.

Club shipment, $24 minus whatever discount, plus shipping (really, I understand that I don't save anything with the discount since I have to ship it across the country, but eh, I can't get these wines locally). 14.2% alcohol by volume and a real cork closure. Quivira only makes this varietal wine in years they deem to be "exceptional." Otherwise, I gather they blend the grape in their zinfandels. A very good value on this one, and I wish I had another bottle to taste in a year or so to see if the tannins have mellowed out. Though perhaps if I had bothered to decant this for a while, I wouldn't have noticed them at all. And really, that's probably what would have happened as I noticed the wine getting smoother as I made my way through my glass (hey, it took me a while, I was distracted by typing up last night's tasting notes).

A fair match for our dinner of homemade bruschetta (sensing yet that we really like bruschetta?) and porcupines (no silly, not road kill (though that would be interesting, I wonder exactly how one would skin and prepare a porcupine and what it taste like? Chicken probably, everyone always says various meats taste like chicken) but meatballs made with rice and simmered in a beefstock just like my mom used to make). For some reason, I think it would have gone really well with Pasta Bolognese.