Chilly weather is upon us and that means heartier dishes are likely on your table that beg to be paired with red wine. Theopolis Vineyards Petite Sirah is the perfect partner for a wintery meal and beyond. This is a very food-friendly wine.
2017 Theopolis Vineyards Petite Sirah, Yorkville Highlands, Mendocino County — medium ruby in the glass with aromas of raspberries, wet slate and alfalfa hay. Flavors lead with red raspberries, dark cherries, blackberries, minerals and just-ripe blueberries. Notes of black pepper are evident along with juicy acidity and smooth tannins in a medium body. 13.9% abv. 216 cases made. $39 direct from the winery.
This Petite Sirah is so sippable. There is the right amount of everything in this wine: pleasant, complex fruit flavors without being overly ripe or too heavy, well-managed tannins and lively acidity. Grapes were fermented in three-quarter-ton bins and manually punched down. Aging took place in mostly neutral French oak for 20 months.
Theodora Lee is the force behind Theopolis Vineyards. By day she is a busy law firm partner and trial lawyer in San Francisco. She also sits on multiple boards of directors in the Bay Area and somehow still finds time to run a 5-acre vineyard situated in Mendocino County’s Yorkville Highlands AVA.
You may think of Petite Sirah primarily as a blending grape and it’s true that the variety often accompanies Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel to lend body and color, but Petite Sirah is delicious on its own as well. Wine Enthusiast magazine recently featured a group of California winemakers who are championing Petite Sirah as a varietal wine. Theodora Lee was among those featured in the article.
Over the past few months we’ve had the opportunity to taste more Petite Sirah than we have ever. Most recently we tasted a group of Petite Sirahs made by members of the Petite Sirah advocacy group PS I Love You that was eyeopening. Ms. Lee is a member of that group.
We’ve now tasted Ms. Lee’s Rosé of Petite Sirah and Pinot Noir in addition to her Petite Sirah and can unreservedly recommend all three wines. We hope you will look for them. Ordering direct from the winery website is easy and fast.
Cheers!
