Green & Red Petite Sirah 2016
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Wine & Spirits
The Heminways planted two acres of petite sirah in red soils with gravelly loam at their highest vineyard, the elevation reaching 1,800 feet. Those vines were 20 years old in 2016, producing a brisk and sunny petite, expansive in its black-fruit richness. The tannins taste like chewy blueberry skins, their mineral density forming a tight, elastic web. That structure is saturated with generous fruit, mouthwatering now, and probably better ten years from now, when the tannins have relaxed.
Green & Red Vineyard, named for its red iron soils veined with green serpentine, is located in the steep hills on the east side of Napa Valley. The planting was started in 1972 on ground originally in vineyards in the 1890’s. The vineyards are a small percentage of the 200-acre property, which ranges in elevation from 900 to 2,000 feet. Our separate vineyards are at different elevations with different exposures.
Green & Red Vineyard directs its farming practices to emphasize the particularity of the grapes from this many faceted piece of earth. Each vineyard receives different amounts of water determined by soil texture, depth and exposure encouraging root depth through varying soil strata. A no till native cover crop is mowed minimizing erosion. In row weeds are controlled mechanically and manually. The vines are cropped to 3 tons to the acre. Selective leaf pulling and cluster thinning focus intensity in the fruit.
With its deep color, firm tannins and bold flavors, there is nothing petite about Petite Sirah. The variety, originally known as Durif in the Rhône, took on its more popular moniker after being imported to California in the early 1880s. Quintessentially recognized today as a grape of the Golden State, Petite Sirah works well blended with Zinfandel and finds success as a single varietal wine in the state’s warmer districts. Somm Secret—Petite Sirah is not a smaller version of Syrah but it is an offspring of Syrah and the now nearly extinct French Alpine variety called Peloursin.
Nestled in the Vaca Mountains on the northeast side of Napa Valley, Chiles Valley is one of the cooler Napa subregions with vineyards at about 600 to 1,200 feet in elevation. The region is known for its Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon blanc.