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What We Say 2006 Old Vines Petite Sirah
SUPERIOR WINE ALERT:
Today’s Petite Sirah is the best we have tasted in recent memory. No kidding. If you love great Petite Sirah, this is one to pay particular attention to. We don’t issue these alerts about a wine… unless we mean it.
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Mission Codename: Roots run deep
Operative: Agent Red
Objective: Our Operatives loved David Fulton Winery’s spectacular 2007 Old Vine Petite Sirah. Send Agent Red back to the winery, to raid the winery’s secret Library stash, and return with an allotment of their 2006 Old Vine Petite Sirah.
Mission Status: Accomplished!
Current Winery: David Fulton Winery
Wine Subject: 2006 St. Helena – Napa Valley Petite Sirah
Backgrounder: St Helena, and most of Napa Valley for that matter, is dedicated to creating some of the world’s finest wines. When we heard about David Fulton’s St. Helena Petite Sirah, we dispatched Agent Red to investigate. Some of California’s oldest old-vine Petite Sirah are planted right here, by David Fulton, who established what is now the oldest, continually owned family vineyard in the Napa Valley.
Varietal Backgrounder: Petite Sirah’s California roots dates back to when it was believed to be a close relative of the Syrah grape. Later it would be found to be genetically identical to the Durif, named for its after French discoverer François Durif who found that the varietal was a Syrah grape pollinated with Peloursin flowers. Its smaller berries with higher skin to pulp ratio leads to more intense flavors. Another benefit of the smaller berries are tighter clusters that are more resistant to mildew. Currently Petite Sirah is less popular in France and increasingly popular in the United States.
Wine Spies Tasting Profile:
Look – Dark magenta, with a darker core. At the edge of the glass, a ring of garnet runs a circle around the wine. After swirling this wine, the bowl of the wine glass is coated with light magenta. The coasting coalesces into super-skinny wine stained tears move very slowly to the wine below.
Smell – Bold, ripe and perfumed, with lush blackberry, blueberry, plum and cedar as primary notes. As the wine breathes, additional aromas of black tea, savory herb pastry, leather, spice, India black tea leaf, cocoa powder and a hint of toasty oak.
Feel – Cool and soft on initial entry. Then, the wine settles onto the mid-palate, where it takes on a fuller body with plush tannins. The wine continues to evolve in the mouth, with a spreading dryness that succumbs to a soft, grippy dryness.
Taste – Delicious! Very flavorful, with bold, mouth-filling flavors of softly spiced blackberry jam, dark plum skin, violets, dusty bramble and soft bakers chocolate. At the very end, hints of black pepper and dried leaves continue on.
Finish – Very long and very flavorful, with the fruit and earthen flavors slowly fading in equal proportion. As these fade, black pepper and dried fall leaves persist for a long time.
Conclusion – We are, once again, blown away by a David Fulton’ Petite Sirah. We were absolutely crazy for the 2007, but this 2006 David Fulton Petite Sirah has more flavor, more finesse and more complexity. This wine is bold and deeply flavorful, with aromatics that had us inhaling the wine long before taking our first sip. Pair with a hearty meat dish, spicy foods or, well, nearly anything. This wine holds its own with nearly any food we tried it with. This wine gets our heartiest recommendation.
Wine Spies Vineyard Check:
The location of the David Fulton Winery can be seen in this satellite photo.
What the Winery Says
David Fulton Winery & Vineyards
About This Wine:
Out of the historic and highly regarded David Fulton Vineyard comes yet another year of an outstanding Petite Sirah. Elegant but more inky and massive than the previous vintage this year’s prize leans a little more into the “Old World” camp as a welcomed companion alongside a plate of rich food. Laden with intense black fruit flavors, coated with a coco-like texture on the mid-pallet and sprinkled with cloves, leather, black tea, fresh pie dough and dark chocolate, this complex yet balanced wine will transform your ordinary meal into an evening of enchantment. Though it will cellar well, why wait?
Growing Season: The year began with wet weather turning into a near flooding from the Napa River. Rain continued at times into spring delaying bud break. The warm sun came out in July for good, and vines began to bloom and set fruit. Then there was a record ten-day heat wave before the close of July. Turning to normal, the heat helped catch the vines up to a “normal.” Somewhat cooler weather arrived in August and continued through September allowing for moderately paced ripening. Our harvest of Petite Sirah came Saturday, October 14th as we squeezed by a week of cool weather and a little rain.
About The Winery:
Here, at David Fulton Winery, we invite you to fall in love … with our Petite Sirah! Our vineyards, originally planted in 1860, produce less than 350 cases of Petite Sirah a year. This dry-farmed, estate vineyard is the oldest, continuously owned and operated family vineyard not only in Napa Valley but all of California.
We are located at 825 Fulton Lane, just four blocks east of Hwy 29, in Napa Valley’s historic St. Helena. We don’t have any commercial signage, so you’ll have to look for our address (825 Fulton Lane) to enjoy our winery’s private setting!
We encourage you to seek us out when in the Napa Valley and fall in love! If you can’t make it to the winery, feel free to sample our award-winning Petite Sirah in the comfort of your own home by ordering online or simply joining our wine club.
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