There are certain wines that have become standards of a varietal. Often they have been around a long time and have earned a reputation of quality within their price category. So, when I embarked on this mission that I’m calling the 12 Days of Petite Sirah, there were a couple I knew off the bat I needed to cover. Wines that have become ubiquitous within the Petite Sirah realm. One of those is the Bogle Vineyards Petite Sirah.

The Bogle family first planted vines in Clarksburg California in 1968. Today they farm over 1,200 acres of vineyards. Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and their proprietary blend called “Phantom” are the first wines that come to mind when I think of Bogle Vineyards.

The 2005 Bogle Vineyards Petite Sirah has moderate alcohol at 13.5%. Fruit was sourced from both Clarksburg and Lodi. This wine spent 12 months in American oak and it’s finished with a natural cork enclosure. The suggested retail price is $11.

This wine opens with a full nose of candied blueberry, plum and vanilla notes. Right out of the bottle this wine is fairly smooth and accessible. Throughout the palate, both black and white pepper notes feature prominently. Sweet wild berry fruit come out in the mid palate and hangs through the finish which is fairly long and persistent. Within the world of Petite Sirah this is a medium bodied offering, full of character and well balanced. This will pair nicely with a wide array of foods. Beef Stew, Mushroom Ragout and Grilled Chops are just a few of the things that come to mind.

The Bogle Vineyards 2005 Petite Sirah is a classic example of this varietal. It’s also a good entry point for those who may be unfamiliar with Petite Sirah but want to give it a try.

Light but persistent tannins suggest this wine will age gracefully for a few years, gaining complexity and additional earthiness as the current fruitiness subsides a bit. To that point I tasted this wine again after it had been open for a full 24 hours. I found it to be just as charming and appealing, having lost none of the characteristics that made it so enjoyable to drink the first night. The fruit had mellowed ever so slightly and the nuances had emerged.

While this wine retails for $11, it’s widely available for closer to $9. At that price point, this wine offers a lot drinking pleasure and more than a sufficient amount of Petite Sirah character. Some 30 years after their first vintage of Petite Sirah, Bogle Vineyards represents one of the benchmark wines in it’s price category, year after year.

Check out PS I love You, the Advocacy Group dedicated to this great varietal.

Coming Up: 12 Days of Petite Sirah Continues, 15 wines to go.

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The 12 Days of Petite Sirah continues. Another selection made from Lodi fruit is up to bat. This one is from the Jewel Collection. The only previous wine of theirs I’d had was Viognier. I’d enjoyed that on several occasions and was thus looking forward to seeing what they could do with Petite Sirah.

The Jewel Collection 2005 Petite Sirah is 100% varietal and all Lodi Fruit. Alcohol is a moderate 13.5% and the suggested retail price on this wine is $10. This wine is finished with a synthetic cork closure.

Dried blueberry and light plum notes come out in the nose. The first sip also reveals blueberry characteristics along with some light spice notes. Those flavors are accompanied by quite a bit of tartness. This isn’t unusual for a Petite Sirah right out of the bottle. Decanting often helps the tartness blow off. In this case it never really did. The initial nose and tastes stayed but the palate of this wine drops off very quickly. The finish is well below average.

Over an evening this wine was retasted quite a few times. Instead of it opening up and becoming more expressive any flavor profile it had dissipated. The only thing that really remained was that initial tartness. Wines can have a good soft lingering tartness that adds to it’s appeal at times. That’s not the case with the Jewel Collection 2005 Petite Sirah. The lingering tartness this wine displays is unfortunate and unappealing. It also does not offer much in the way of the characteristics normally associated with Petite Sirah.

Even for a suggested retail price of $10 I can not recommend this wine. There are other Petite Sirah’s in this price range that surpass it by leaps and bounds. I’ll post notes on a few of them as my Petite Sirah coverage continues

Check out PS I love You, the Advocacy Group dedicated to this great varietal.

Up Next: 12 Days of Petite Sirah Continues, Please Stay Tuned.

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