Peirano Estate Heritage Collection petite sirah review: OH MAMA

30 06 2011

Hi!  This (hopefully) wraps up our special series of rushed, poorly written wine reviews of good wines.  Today we chug down a 2008 petite sirah from Lodi, California that costs around $13.

Peirano Estate is not super well-known, but the label says they have been growing grapes since 1895 (wow).  This Heritage Collection petite sirah is full bodied, super dark, deep, luscious, ripe, oaky, warm, and very juicy.  It has a medium-to-high amount of mouth-drying tannins, and it doesn’t have too much of any one thing, so its elements come together with impressive balance.  (Many petite sirahs can be tannic monsters.)

For $13, this wine is flat-out incredible.  I would have recommended it at $18.  The only thing that seems “less than $20” about Peirano Estate Heritage Collection is that the various fruit flavors are hard to pin down — you just know you’re getting dark red and black fruits — and that’s fine.  It’s possible that you will find it too heavy, or just “too much,” but that’s true for any petite sirah.  This one is delicious, is hereby awarded a “Best Value” award, and is:

Peirano Estate Heritage Collection petite sirah review

Highly Recommended.


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Categories : -----petite sirah, 1 All, 3 Reds, 6 Under $15, 9 Recommended, Best Values

Line Shack petite sirah review – a close call

15 11 2010

This powerful petite sirah from southern Monterey and San Antonio Valley, California cost me $15 at Total Wine.

Line Shack was recommended very enthusiastically by someone whose opinion I respect, so I had some expectations when I tried it.   It’s really, really deep, and dark purple, and really, really “dark berry” in your mouth, like a jam of blackberries and blueberries with some dates and something else that’s dark.  And maybe too sweet, or even much too sweet.  And too young.  But then there are some tannins that creep in later, to remind you it’s serious.  

It’s also a bit hot, as they say, with the 14.9% alcohol content coming off more like 80 proof.  Maybe I’m just not man enough to drink this wine.  Where’s Anthony Quinn when you need him? 

Or, maybe Line Shack is way, way too sweet, so it’s for girly men.  In which case, I’m fine.  I have to say, it’s a very close call, because I can tell this is good wine, but I just can’t hack it.  Really nice texture and very interesting flavors, but tooooo much berry.  Tooooo much alcohol.  Tooooo sweet and deep and dark.   No mas.  ¡Ay, caramba!   This juicy firebomb is . . . at least I’m pretty sure it is . . .

Not recommended.


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Categories : -----petite sirah, 1 All, 3 Reds, 5 $15-$30, 7 Not Recommended

Cupcake petite sirah review

7 11 2010

Cupcake Petite Sirah review

Here’s a 2007 petite sirah from California’s central coast that costs only $8.99 at the unstoppable Premier Wine in Wilmington, DE.

 This wine is not incredible, but it’s easily good enough to score a recommendation at this bargain price, even at $10, or $11.  Very “berry” in character, you almost feel like this cannot have come only from grapes — they had to use blueberries, didn’t they?  Either way, I keep drinking glass after glass.  It’s not complex, but it does nothing wrong.  Bravo!  I’ve already recommended their cab and merlot, and this Cupcake is the best yet.

The smell is some kind of dessert — blueberry rhubarb pie? — and the taste is sweet (for a red wine), full of dark berries, and just plain good.  Pure.  Tannins appear, but only after you let it breathe for an hour.  I just finished enjoying this wine with a fantastic t-bone steak, and it rocked.  The label says “dense” and “full-bodied”, but I found it pleasantly drinkable and medium-bodied at best.  

Cupcake petite sirah doesn’t taste altered, and it doesn’t taste cheap.  But it is cheap.  And those last two sentences are the main reason that this California girl is:

Recommended!


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Categories : -----petite sirah, 1 All, 3 Reds, 6 Under $15, 9 Recommended