Winemaker Notes
The True Grit Petite Sirah has heady aromas of dark fruit, plum, and blueberry with hints of dried herbs and wet stone. Full-bodied and muscular, the palate is replete with ripe blackberry, boysenberry and plum. Notes of dark chocolate, vanilla and nutmeg balance the rich fruit and carry through to a luxurious finish.
Enjoy with blue cheese, glazed pork chops or Moroccan beef stew.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine & Spirits
Scents of tar, clove, licorice and carob hint at the depth of flavor in this wine. The blackberry-compote richness and concentration are hard to overstate, but a mass of tannins intercedes, linking up with the wine’s acidity for impressive firmness and length. It’ll take years in the cellar.
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.
A large and diverse appellation within California’s North Coast AVA, Mendocino is home to several smaller sub-regions—most notably the Anderson Valley. This scenic region, with rolling hills covered in redwood forests as well as vineyards, is one of the world’s top producers of certified organically-grown grapes. Due to wide geographical and climatic variation, a vast array of wine styles can be found here.