Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a big, potent, Incredible Hunk of a wine. It’s gigantic in wild, exotic blackberry, blueberry, mulberry, pomegranate, licorice, pepper and dark chocolate flavors, wrapped into firm tannins. Continues a near-perfect streak of ageworthy, dry Petite Sirahs from Girard.
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Wine & Spirits
A significant portion of this wine comes from the Godward Vineyard north of Calistoga, where the oldest petite sirah vines are nearing 100 years of age, including a block of mixed blacks. Right now, it's all primary fruit-blunt blueberry and wild, spicy purple fruit flavors. What predicts its potential, however, is the freshness and balance of that fruit, held by a firm structure even if the detail is not yet articulated in the wine. Give this ten years in the cellar and it should grow into a beauty.
Undoubtedly proving its merit over and over, Napa Valley is a now a leading force in the world of prestigious red wine regions. Though Cabernet Sauvignon dominates Napa Valley, other red varieties certainly thrive here. Important but often overlooked include Merlot and other Bordeaux varieties well-regarded on their own as well as for their blending capacities. Very old vine Zinfandel represents an important historical stronghold for the region and Pinot noir is produced in the cooler southern parts, close to the San Pablo Bay.
Perfectly situated running north to south, the valley acts as a corridor, pulling cool, moist air up from the San Pablo Bay in the evenings during the hot days of the growing season, which leads to even and slow grape ripening. Furthermore the valley claims over 100 soil variations including layers of volcanic, gravel, sand and silt—a combination excellent for world-class red wine production.