Synopsis, Our Opinion: NOTEWORTHY California Petite Sirah.
Producer/Winery: Ridge Vineyards; Healdsburg, California.
Grape Variety: Petite Sirah.
Geographic Appellation,, Region, Country: Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley, California.
Vintage: 2014
Price: $33.30 (with a Ridge club discount)
Purchased From: Ridge Vineyards; Cupertino, California.
Paired With: Chicken enchanilats, refried beans and Mexican rice.
Tasting:
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Preamble: We bought two bottles of this wine and when we opened the first bottle we could see leakage when the foil wrap was removed. The wine was disappointing and when we reviewed it (see: Ridge York Creek Petite Sirah 2014 – First bottle) we noted that if the second bottle was different, or better we would write it up again…it was, and the following is our review of the second bottle.
Opened 90-minutes before drinking. Just at the edge of being opaque, inky dark garnet color with a lighter red rim. Strong plum, blackberry, cherry, pipe tobacco before it’s lit and menthol aromas (with lots of alcohol on the first pour). Very smooth, dry, spicy tea-like mouthfeel, full body and a 150-grit texture. Rich and abundant ripe plum, black cherry, blackberry and dark chocolate flavors. Edgy acidity, memorable chewy tannins and a long POWERFUL dusty fruit finish with a mouth-puckering aftertaste that was filled with dusty fresh ground pepper and black coffee tastes. WOW, WOW, WOW this was lively, a bit flamboyant and overflowing with rich Petite Sirah character. It almost became viscous when swallowed. Each taste filled the mouth with chewy texture and layers of flavors. Needless to say it was dramatically different from our first bottle tasting experience. We called it NOTEWORTHY California Petite Sirah.
Photo from Robert Holmes.
See also: our reviews of other Ridge Vineyards wines.
Alcohol Content: 15.1%
Closure: 50mm Natural cork .
UPC Code: 7 44442 79198 9
Imported by: Not applicable.