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The 2007 Petite Sirah shows a terrific sense of place. The wine is filled with aromas and flavors of freshly cracked black pepper, dark cherry and minerals, along with hints of cedar and cocoa. Juicy acidity and refined tannins complete a concentrated and textured wine, one which is definitely influenced by our granitic soils and the superb ripeness of the 2007 vintage. Blend: 100% Petite Sirah Price: $27 Cases Produced: 197
Making a delicious Petite Sirah is no easy task, especially if you like it with Petite's signature tannin, as we do. Ripeness and balance are key, in the vineyard and in the winery. Bill and Trish Naylor's Petite Sirah vineyard is the oldest, and at 2700 feet, possibly the highest elevation in Fair Play. Yields are low, flavors are intense. With a view of Mt. Diablo to the west, and situated above the Middle Fork of the Cosumnes River below, the fruit from this vineyard gives us a unique and pure expression of Petite Sirah. The 2006 Petite is full of smoky blackberry and mineral aromatics, with big, ripe flavors and well-mannered tannins in the mouth and a long fresh-cracked black pepper finish. It is classic Fair Play Petite Sirah with a tremendous sense of place. Blend: 95% Petite Sirah, 5% Syrah Price: $27 Cases Produced: 269 Bill and Trish Naylor's 30 year old, 4 acre Petite Sirah vineyard is one mile away from us at the 2700 feet elevation here in Fair Play. When we decided to begin working with the Naylor's Petite Sirah in 2001, we harvested a selection of grapes from the entire four acres in hopes of finding a preferred acre among the four. Two of the four acres rest on a relatively flat plateau, the other two on a on a southwest facing slope. In 2002, we decided to claim one of the two southwest facing acres as ours alone. Our 2002, 2003, and 2004 Petite Sirah are exclusively from this acre, and we are exceptionally happy with these wines. We kept a watchful eye on the other southwest acre, and in 2005 decided to harvest grapes from it, too. We'll continue to harvest these entire two acres for the foreseeable future. This is all good news, giving us more barrels of Petite Sirah to choose from for our final blend, and more Petite Sirah for you to enjoy, beginning with this vintage! Blend: 95% Petite Sirah, 5% Zinfandel Price: $25 Cases Produced: 271 Tasting Note: Our 2005 Petite Sirah leads off in the nose with classic freshly cracked black pepper and dark cherry aromas, root spices and dark chocolate flavors, with big, yet soft tannins – and again, the classicity that seems to be the hallmark of our 2005 vintage wines. This wine should develop beautifully in the bottle for years to come. Those of us who enjoy Petite Sirah don’t expect it to be some kind of elegant, fancy-pants wine. Contrary to its cute moniker, Petite Sirah is anything but petite. Like all three of our previous vintages of Petite Sirah, our 2004 hails from the southwest facing slope of Bill and Trish Naylor’s Petite Sirah vineyard, at 2,700 ft. elevation here in Fair Play. We can see this vineyard from our front porch, and these 30 year old vines are some of the oldest in Fair Play. Blend: 96% Zinfandel, 4% Petite Sirah 15.5 % alcohol Price: $25 Cases Produced: 196 Tasting Note: The 2004 is a classic ripe vintage Petite Sirah. Incredibly inky color, with aromas of fresh cracked black pepper, blackberries, and cocoa, followed by sweet blackberry, dark chocolate and creamy flavors with nice texture and lots of sweet, integrated tannins. It’s a powerhouse of a wine - big and generous in every direction.
As we have discovered, folks who like Petite Sirah REALLY like Petite Sirah. If you fall in this camp, you'll find a whole lot to like in our 2002 version. In 2002, which was our second vintage of Petite Sirah, we were looking for something a little "extra" from the grapes. So, we began working exclusively with what we think is an exceptional one acre block of Bill and Trish Naylor's vineyard, and we'll continue to work with this same block in the future. It's the steepest part of this old vineyard and has a sunny southwest exposure. The vines in our block are naturally lower yielding than the rest of the vineyard and the grapes tend to get a little riper - we find the flavors that develop are very much to our liking. Vineyard: Naylor Vineyard, in Fair Play, El Dorado, at 2700 ft. elevation 14.7 % alcohol Price: $22 Cases Produced: 162 Tasting Note: Ripe aromas of blackberry, dark chocolate and wood smoke leap from the glass, followed by mocha, blackberry, and sweet cream flavors. This dark colored, inky wine has delicious texture with plenty of fine, soft tannins and nice acidity. We are very pleased with this wine, and feel it expresses the magic of this esteemed vineyard. Our vineyard consultant, Bill Naylor and his spouse Trish, own a small and very highly regarded Petite Sirah vineyard here in Fair Play. Situated on a southwest slope at 2700 ft. elevation, the Naylor Vineyard Petite Sirah grapes have been a part of many legendary Petites from our area. Planted in the late 70s, the vineyard is low yielding, dry farmed (non-irrigated), head trained and spur pruned. We promised ourselves if some of these grapes ever became available to us, we'd break our "estate- fruit-only" rule and make wine from them. So, here it is Petite Sirah fans, our first ever! Vineyard: Naylor Vineyard 13.7% alcohol Price: $22 Cases Produced: 168 Tasting Note: Aromas of blackberry and blueberry emerge first, followed by cinnamon, dried herbs, and a light toasty quality. The flavors are chocolate and black pepper, with hints of dried cranberry. The tannins are mouth- watering, as you'd expect from this wonderfully unique grape variety, and a long, dark chocolate finish will reward a match with robust food. |
