WBW#40 Has Been Announced: Que Sirah Sirah

Some grapes just don't get no respect. Petite Sirah might easily qualify as a member of that club. This grape reminds me of some hulking brute with a heart of gold. He's the giant who doesn't know his own strength or recognize the coarseness of his bearing, but is a steadfast and soulful friend. Call him the Beast.

Petite Sirah is sometimes tough to love. It's a tannic brute of a wine, that at its worst never becomes more than an exercise in bludgeoning your palate with the taste of stems. But when those tannins are kept in check, it can be a seductive, rich wine, with depth and complexity.

It is presumably these qualities that Sonadora, the host of this month's Wine Blogging Wednesday #40 would like us to seek out. Sonadora, who runs the blog Wannabewino, and has asked us all to seek out any version of this grape we can find, even if by its other name: Durif.

Those wishing to participate must simply review a Petite Sirah on their blog December 12th. And if you don't have a blog and still want to participate, you can e-mail Sonadora and she'll post your review for you.

Get out your tannin reflectors and drink some Petite!! If you're looking for producers in California, you might drop by the P.S. I Love You society, as they seem to have a thing for this grape.

Posted by: Alder on November 28, 2007 11:59 PM: Filed under: Wine Activities; Like this post? Share it! Digg it! - Add to del.icio.us - Add to Stumbleupon - Add to Reddit

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Comments (4)

andrea gori wrote:

11.29.07 at 12:42 AM

and where I find in italy a petit syrah?!?

Sonadora wrote:

11.29.07 at 4:30 AM

Thanks for the lively write-up of WBW #40, I especially like "the beast!" :) Hope to see you participating in 2 weeks!

Jo Diaz wrote:

11.29.07 at 9:09 AM

Thanks for the PS I Love You plug. With approximately 70 members (a few are growers, only) there are many Petite's from which to choose... And, good luck finding Petite in Italy (sorry). There are slightly over 7,000 acres planted worldwide, with California having over 6,000 of those acres.

It's cult ~ a passion of the few, and as a group of winemakers were saying this past Tuesday at a meeting at Trentadue, only the most advanced of palates (not for sophistication, but for "gimme more flavor!") "gets" this cultivar.

This will be a very interesting post on December 12, and I'll spread the word to the PS group; so they, too, can watch this phenomenon.

B-T-W, Jeff Stai of Twisted Oak sent an Email to me, putting this on my radar screen, but I was too busy setting up the next Dark & Delicious event (Feb. 9, 2008) to pay this close attention.

Thanks for your post, Alder. You're invited to Dark & Delicious... Please let me know if you're up for it! --jo

Pamela wrote:

11.29.07 at 7:56 PM

I game and on the hunt for a good PS. Leaning towards Vincent Arroyo if I can find one!