Continuing with my series of reviews checking in on aging wines, I’m going to try a 10 year old Petite Sirah.
10 Year Check
There are many factors for how well a wine ages such as vintage, producer, variety, provenance and ultimately your personal palate. That’s why it’s important to experiment with different wines at different ages. I like to check in on wines at 10 years of age, which is when mid-level ageable wines might start to gain some tertiary notes and are softer and more integrated in comparison to their youth. These are wines that peak between 10-15+ years of age.
With traditional ageable wines like old school Barolo or Bordeaux that can go several decades, sometimes you need 10 years just for it to be approachable in terms of its structure. These can still remain mostly primary at this age. In addition, some mid and long term ageable wines go through dormant stages typically around ages 6-10, so 10 years is a time when age-worthy wines start to wake up.
Aging Petite Sirah
I’ve looked at Petite Sirah before in the blog, and it’s always been a wine described as being age-worthy. However, I’ve never tried one beyond 7 years of age.
Tasting younger Petite Sirah (Durif), one would guess it should at least soften up some and keep well with age since it’s a full-bodied, tannic, high alcohol, medium acid and dark fruity wine with spicy, herbal undertones. However, will the flavor profiles become more complex too?
You mostly find Petite Sirah in California. In fact, before Cabernet Sauvignon became the dominant variety in Napa, Petite Sirah was the most planted grape there. If you don’t want to spend twice as much or more on Napa Cab for your cellar, Petite Sirah from Napa or Sonoma can serve a similar role. However, it’s generally even more tannic and dense than Napa Cab.
Let’s try this 2014 Petite Sirah and see where it’s at in its evolution.
Tasting Notes
2014 Carlisle Palisades Vineyard Petite Sirah Napa Valley
Dry farmed. Oldest vines date back to 1968 on St. George rootstock when Petite Sirah was the most planted variety in Napa. Previous vintages were aged in about 20% new French oak. Unfined and unfiltered.
Completely opaque. So dark in fruit. Blackberry. Blueberry. Prune. Ripe. Violet. Intense and concentrated. Full-bodied. Some vegetables and herbal. Licorice. Tannins present but soft. A little heat without food but it surprisingly holds the 15%+ alcohol well and there are plenty of Petite Sirah from California with much higher alcohol. Open and expressive. Still young. No signs of age other than possibly softer tannins but they’re still present. Perhaps a tad bit of dried fruit notes too. Underlying acid which keeps it from going over the top. So much fruit at first. Feels like it could be just released. But restrained compared to many Petite Sirah. It’s powerful with plenty of fruit but there’s a bitter coffee, medicinal, vegetal, herbal side and underlying freshness that keeps it from being just a fruit bomb. It’s the Petite Sirah variety that offers peppery and herbal notes although perhaps there’s a bit of oak influence but the oak is not heavily featured here.
Some remarked that if they had drunk this young, it would’ve been too much and that it needed at least 5 years of age, but a lot of the early reviews said it was approachable young in terms of the phenolics. Parker was still around to rate this one and gave it 95-97. I can give it 93+. It’s less the style of wine I’d want to drink everyday, but with rich stew in the winter, this will warm you up. Plus, I’m curious to see what happens in another 5-10 years. 575 cases produced.
My friend who kept the bottle after our tasting, said it was a step up in quality 2 days later, so I’ll definitely look to age more and open them at 15-20 years old. I have a 2013 Turley Napa Petite Sirah that should do the trick.
Sadly Carlisle is closing down because the owner is retiring. Apparently, the owner hasn’t found a buyer yet that he feels comfortable with to continue his legacy of preserving and making wines from old vines in California. For example, their estate Zin blend is a field blend of 40 varieties of nearly 100 year old vines.
Share your experience with aged Petite Sirah or Carlisle.
Well said above. In fact my thought is that 10 years is the peak.
It really depends on each wine and your palate: How much tannin tolerance you have. How much fruit you like versus how much tertiary flavor you like, but 10 years is often a moment where at least the primary and secondary notes are integrated and the tannins are approachable. Then it’s mostly a question of tertiary vs. fruit at this stage which can vary widely. This PS was still almost all primary and secondary.