Winemaker Notes
If, like us, you are fans of the wines of the Northern Rhone Valley—Cornas in particular—then you’ll love the 2017 Pesenti Petite Syrah as much as we do! Lightly smoked, ripe dark fruits with fresh cracked pepper on the nose. The palate is surprisingly graceful despite its powerful heft, thanks to the excellent acidity in the soils. Dense, inky, and loaded with spice, the Pesenti Petite is a bold, deeply flavorful, and satisfying wine. We recommend giving it some time in the bottle and decanting well ahead of mealtime to best experience this powerful Petite.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Petite Syrah Pesenti Vineyard was bottled three weeks before I tasted it but is nonetheless showing beautifully. It has a very deep purple-black, opaque color and nose of crème de cassis, black cherry liqueur, cracked black pepper, bacon fat, savory green and black olive, violet, lilac, perfumed earth and tons of blue fruit jam notes. Full-bodied, rich and savory, it features wonderful black and blue fruit layers with tons of floral and savory perfume, very firm, chewy tannins, great freshness and a very long, savory finish.
Rating: 98+ -
Wine Spectator
Broad-shouldered and plump with personality, this red is marked by floral blueberry and pepper flavors, revealing a hint of game. The tannins are firm but refined. Best after 2020.
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.
Paso Robles has made a name for itself as a source of supple, powerful, fruit-driven Central Coast wines. But with eleven smaller sub-AVAs, there is actually quite a bit of diversity to be found in this inland portion of California’s Central Coast.
Just east over the Santa Lucia Mountains from the chilly Pacific Ocean, lie the coolest in the region: Adelaida, Templeton Gap and (Paso Robles) Willow Creek Districts, as well as York Mountain AVA and Santa Margarita Ranch. These all experience more ocean fog, wind and precipitation compared to the rest of the Paso sub-appellations. The San Miguel, (Paso Robles) Estrella, (Paso Robles) Geneso, (Paso Robles) Highlands, El Pomar and Creston Districts, along with San Juan Creek, are the hotter, more western appellations of the greater Paso Robles AVA.
This is mostly red wine country, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel standing out as the star performers. Other popular varieties include Merlot, Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Grenache and Rhône blends, both red and white. There is a fairly uniform tendency here towards wines that are unapologetically bold and opulently fruit-driven, albeit with a surprising amount of acidity thanks to the region’s chilly nighttime temperatures.