2006 TOLOSA Estate Petite Sirah
Varietal Composition:
91% Petite Sirah; 7% Syrah; 2% Viognier
Appellation: Edna Valley AVA
Production: 158 cases
Vineyard Notes
The block that we source this wine from is one of the smallest in our vineyard. It is about one acre. It sits on a little ridge just south and above our oldest Chardonnay plantings. The soils are a sandy and gravely loam that has a good bit of calcareous material in it as well. Out main challenge with this grape in our cool climate is thinning the crop down enough that the grapes fully ripen. The clusters tend to be large and the vine wants to produce lots of them. We thin shoots early and then cluster a bit later to keep the vines balanced. This varietal has to get quite ripe to show fruit flavor. In 2006 this was a particular challenge, because the vintage was one of the latest ever seen in our region.BR>
Winemaking & Cellar Information
As with all red wines, the work you have done in the vineyard is more important than the winemaking itself. However, with this inky dark and savagely tannic grape, great restraint must be exercised in the winemaking if you want to make a balanced wine. The last thing you would want to do is extract everything that these grapes have to offer. We carefully de-stem this fruit as we do not need the extra tannin of the stems. The fermentation is conducted a little cooler than is usual for red wine both to control extraction and to heighten fruit aroma and flavor. We tend to press this wine off very early, often before it has completed its fermentation. All this is done in an effort in rein in the natural overabundance of color and tannin. We age the wine for more than a year in neutral cooperage to finish it .
Analytical Information:
Alcohol: 14.7%
T.A.: 5.9g/L
pH: 3.7
Brix at Harvest: 25°
Barrel Regime: 15 months
Tank/Barrel Aging: 100% barrel aged
ML %: 100%
Bottling Date: 3/10/2008
Aging Potential: 6-8 years
Tasting Notes
The inky dark colors announce right away that this is a wine of substantial extract. Lovers of Petite Sirah will find all that they desire in a glass of this. Besides the expected mouth puckering power there is also a substantial amount of ripe fruit flavors akin to blueberry. This wine needs rich fatty food to balance it. A hearty stew such as Osso Buco would do the trick nicely.
Other products in the category All Wines:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||