ojglove wrote:

Someone else mentioned a few of these. A good place to start if you want try Petite Sirah.
Rosenblum 04 San Franciso Bay heritage clones - 14 USD
Peltier Station 05 Lodi -13 USD
Langtry Guenoc 04 California - 8 USD

Closer in pricepoint to the Rasmussen I think "Elyse" makes teriffic Petite Sirah year after year... A couple others similarly priced that are really good:
"Madrigal"
"Summers"
I do agree that for the price Concannon does a nice job with theirs and is varietally accurate

Hi, this is Kent Rasmussen here. I just want to say hello now. This morning I have a bunch of barrel work that I must get done before mid-day, but I will be on this afternoon to answer any questions you have on this offering. I don't want to sound like I am trying to sell my product, but I will say that I don't think anyone will be unhappy with these wines (unless you don't like big reds)...all three are very tasty.

Winedavid39 wrote:
(from the Wellington Quartet)
Evening. Been traveling quite a bit this week and just now "dusting" off the ole' keyboard. thanks to Peter for the positive contribution this week. Great community vibe. this coming week is looking up (not horizontal). and yes great detective work !

winefarm wrote:

ahh.. Rutherford dust..

Nice subtle clue from last night regarding the Rutheford AVA of todays trio. I came across this fascinating newly posted article on the history and debate over AVAs within Napa at the Appellattion America website.

Not sure if this site has been mentioned before, but it is also a great resource for reseaching varietals and wineries that produce them. Definitely a Terroir advocacy site:
http://wine.appellationamerica.com/

pengu1n wrote:Way to go MATTLIA! As far as I could tell you were the first person to mention this winery during the guessing last week. SMLAUREN is the one who seems to have nailed it down too with further research.
Too bad you didn't win anything. Just wanted to give props where props are do.
-Pengu1n

Thanks! You may recall that SonomaBouliste was too scared to confirm my guess. WineDavid must rule wine.woot with an iron fist ;-)

Just bought one. Love the vertical tasting idea, kudos to whoever had that idea!

Kent: Thanks for stopping by. I'd love to hear some food pairing ideas if you get a chance.

unixrab wrote:Now here's a question: Should I drink from youngest to oldest? Or oldest to youngest.... ?

and ...why?

There is no right or wrong way. I prefer to taste (good) wines of the same varietal randomly in blind tastings and keep each wine in a separate glass so that one go back and forth between the offerings. Once everyone had a chance to comment and guess each wine, all bottles are revealed and food is served to enjoy with the wines. This works best with experienced wine lovers in small groups of 6 to 10. This approach requires a lot of wine glasses but you can ask you guests to bring theirs.

PeixeGato wrote:I would be curious to hear about the ageability of these wines. Are they drinking well now, how long will they hold, etc?

PG

Generally speaking, GOOD Petite Sirah ages extremely well thanks to abundant tannins. I personally like that you can drink them young (fruity) as well as well aged (traditional Bordeaux texture).

Let's hear from the winemaker what he has to say about the aging potential of these wines and how they taste now!

openfood wrote:
Closer in pricepoint to the Rasmussen I think "Elyse" makes teriffic Petite Sirah year after year

They also source grapes from the Chavez-Leeds Vineyard for their "Elyse" and "Jacob Frankiln" Petit Sirahs - same vineyard as this weeks offering.

Because I always give up alcohol for Lent, I will have to wait another thirty days to taste it and by then, the cellar will be stacked high. How difficult is it for an anglican to convert to judaism?

patwilson wrote:Because I always give up alcohol for Lent, I will have to wait another thirty days to taste it and by then, the cellar will be stacked high. How difficult is it for an anglican to convert to judaism?

You could always convert to the Church of Wine...

santhony66 wrote:

Nice subtle clue from last night regarding the Rutheford AVA of todays trio. I came across this fascinating newly posted article on the history and debate over AVAs within Napa at the Appellattion America website.

Not sure if this site has been mentioned before, but it is also a great resource for reseaching varietals and wineries that produce them. Definitely a Terroir advocacy site:
http://wine.appellationamerica.com/

Thanks for pointing us to wine.appellationamerica.com. Interesting site.

This looks good but I still haven't received shipment from a woot two weeks ago. Way way too long.

rb1205 wrote:This looks good but I still haven't received shipment from a woot two weeks ago. Way way too long.

this is why moving from california will be difficult...i love receiving my wine within the week!

Corrado wrote:

...if possible, I HIGHLY recommend skipping the Bogle if they carry Concannon's Petite Sirah. Better product, MUCH better bottle (you'll understand when you see it), and should be the same price.

Longtime listener, first time caller: In addition to the recommendations of the Bogle and Concannon for wading into the "shallow end" of the Petite Syrah pool, I highly recommend the 2003 or 2004 McManis Petite Syrah. Its about 11 or 12 bucks and is just stellar for the price. I think Parker gave it an 86 or somesuch...

I'm particularly excited about this week's offering and can't wait to hear more from Kent.

I particularly recommend this choice:

Rosenblum 04 San Franciso Bay heritage clones - 14 USD

If you can find it at 14$, get a few.

If you are a 'tediously long delivery time' state or it has been extremely cold there, this is to be expected and personally, i'd prefer woot keep my wine if it's freezing so that there arent anymore busted, frozen bottles as there was with the Ty offering.

rb1205 wrote:This looks good but I still haven't received shipment from a woot two weeks ago. Way way too long.

I'm afraid this is going to sound dumb....I plead forgiveness in advance.

What is a "vertical tasting"?

Judy

JudyL1118 wrote:I'm afraid this is going to sound dumb....I plead forgiveness in advance.

What is a "vertical tasting"?

Judy

same variety is successive years...in this case, PS in 2000, 2001, and 2002. assuming that the same methods are used every year, one can "taste" differences in climate/rainfall/etc...at least that's the idea.

kugino wrote:
same variety is successive years...

A vertical tasting is a great way to see how the same grapes grown in the same place can vary from year to year. It will help you to see why the vintage date has always been considered an important piece of label information. Wine reflects the experience of the grapes it is made from: a good year versus a great year can depend on things like pruning, available sunlight, whether the harvest was completed before the big rains come. This should be a wonderful experience for anyone trying to learn the nuances of wine.

MinistrOfJustiz wrote:
Corrado beat me to it, but I hope you realize this isn't a Syrah.

Yes I did know this was a petite sirah which I really like also as they tend to be nice deep reds of which I enjoy. A Mouvedre would have been nice and tasty also.

Thanks

I ventured to the Kent Rasmussen website and noticed that they have the Ramsay label too. I had a short love affair with the Ramsay Cab Merlot until my local wine shop stopped carrying it. I might have to try this woot now...plus I've never done a vertical tasting.

deaconbluez wrote:

I'm right there with you, Jen. I used to think I made a pretty decent living. But lately, with $100-120/ week going to wine.woot, along with my other wine purchasing, I think I may have to work until I'm 85! (but think of the wine cellar I'll have)

I'm glad I've got company. This is getting out of hand, but could I buy just one? I'm in for 3, for the 4th time in a row (skipped the Sake, though.)

-Alex

creining wrote:I ventured to the Kent Rasmussen website and noticed that they have the Ramsay label too. I had a short love affair with the Ramsay Cab Merlot until my local wine shop stopped carrying it. I might have to try this woot now...plus I've never done a vertical tasting.

Some more info....

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Former librarian Kent Rasmussen spent many years making wine at Robert Mondavi before setting up on his own in 1986. From his tiny and surprisingly low-tech winery on the Silverado Trail, he pursues a hands off- approach to winemaking. He believes that if you start with top-quality fruit, then too many treatments and adjustments merely dilute the wine`s varietal and geographical origins.
His Carneros Pinot Noir is definitely his showpiece but he also produces superlative Chardonnays. He often creates a few casks of whatever grape variety fires his imagination in a particular vintage and these are released under the Ramsay label - Ramsay is his wife's maiden name and is used particularly for imported varietals such as Sangiovese, Petite Sirah, and Mourvèdre.

EEAlexHay wrote:

I'm glad I've got company. This is getting out of hand, but could I buy just one? I'm in for 3, for the 4th time in a row (skipped the Sake, though.)

-Alex

Here's how sad this has become for me.
I have boxes and boxes of wine laying around my apartment. I need to get a 250 bottle wine fridge to get them organized and safely stored. All I would need to do is not woot for 6-8 weeks and the money I would spend on wine would get me a really nice unit.
I can't do it.
I can't even stop buying wine for long enough to get a place to store it!
I am filled with self-loathing... and yet I'm gonna go ahead and buy three of this vertical when I get home from work.

Hate to sound like a total n00b but what is "vertical"? Good years too. Very tempting. I have 9 reds right now. May have room for 3 more Some white blends would be a good change though!
=== Edited by mander77 @ 05 Mar 2007 3:05 PM [GMT -6] ===
Oops. Finally found it... NM... sounds really interesting... I'll decide tomorrow.

JudyL1118 wrote:I'm afraid this is going to sound dumb....I plead forgiveness in advance.
What is a "vertical tasting"?
Judy

boy the temptation to joke about drinking wine on a stepladder was almost overwhelming.... :-)

andrewma wrote:

boy the temptation to joke about drinking wine on a stepladder was almost overwhelming.... :-)

Yeah, but that's one of the things that entered my mind.....

Thanks, everyone, for explaining - I get it now! Yeah, one more thing learned since joining this website.

mander77 wrote:Hate to sound like a total n00b but what is "vertical"? Good years too. Very tempting. I have 9 reds right now. May have room for 3 more Some white blends would be a good change though!
=== Edited by mander77 @ 05 Mar 2007 3:05 PM [GMT -6] ===
Oops. Finally found it... NM... sounds really interesting... I'll decide tomorrow.

kugino and cathky answered this question beautifully just a few posts above on this page in a reply to JudyL

Corrado wrote:

...if possible, I HIGHLY recommend skipping the Bogle if they carry Concannon's Petite Sirah. Better product, MUCH better bottle (you'll understand when you see it), and should be the same price.

Not to disagree with a noted authority on this site, but in a blind tasting by three intermediate wine drinkers the Bogle slightly edged out the Concannon. The wine was open for three hours and they were both 2004 Petite Sirahs. The Conncannon bottle is very impressive, but that is the beauty of a blind wine tasting. It must be noted that I report this with some degree of contempt as I am a dedicated wine purchaser by the label.

Malvoe1 wrote:Also, does anyone know of a good website that lists common varietals and their general tasting notes and foot pairings? that would be extremely useful when picking a bottle for dinner. Thanks

D'oh. Obviously, looking for food pairings. There's got to be some sort of summary page out there somewhere.

Also, are Petite Sirahs similar to Zins?

While i cannot attest to this particular Petite Sirah, I can say that as a huge fan of Petite Sirah's, the Concannon 2004 Limited is about half the WOOT.com price of the KR PS, and 1/3 of the store price, and one of the best wines i have ever tasted at any price level. (I originally tried the Concannon b/c W&S mag rated it a 92. I do not recall seeing the KR, or at least it did not rate a 90+)

has anyone here tired both, and if so, IYO, should the KR be twice as expensive as the Concannon?

TIA

JudyL1118 wrote:I'm afraid this is going to sound dumb....I plead forgiveness in advance.

What is a "vertical tasting"?

Judy

Also, I thought the write-up explained it really well.

ojglove wrote:

good call! I was going to recommend the Bogle myself. It's usually around 10 bucks, give or take..

if you live near a total wine Web site of the same name you can get the bogle for 8.47 and the concannon for 10.99

millsp wrote:

if you live near a total wine Web site of the same name you can get the bogle for 8.47 and the concannon for 10.99

GOOD NEWS! I DO!!! BTW, have you tried the Grizzly Petite Sirah, or the Concannon Blend (sorry, I cannot recall its exact label name)

dynersooner wrote:While i cannot attest to this particular Petite Sirah, I can say that as a huge fan of Petite Sirah's, the Concannon 2004 Limited is about half the WOOT.com price of the KR PS, and 1/3 of the store price, and one of the best wines i have ever tasted at any price level. (I originally tried the Concannon b/c W&S mag rated it a 92. I do not recall seeing the KR, or at least it did not rate a 90+)

has anyone here tired both, and if so, IYO, should the KR be twice as expensive as the Concannon?

TIA

I have tasted the Concannon Limited side by side with Concannon's Reserve as well as Stags Leap's Petite Syrah. Concannon's Limited is an excellent value but their Reserve and Stags Leap were much more complex and worth the extra money. I am interested to see how Kent Rasmussen's Petit Sirah stacks up against these two.

sagefool1975 wrote:If anyone from the winery is reading this, how well would you expect these to age? I can't imagine I will be able to resist having a wine tasting party with the vertical, but most just curious.

Hi, Kent here
It seems to me that Petite Sirah is one of the most interesting wines when it comes to the issue of aging and drinking. Young PS is big, rich, usually pretty tannic and above all full of luscious fruit. Funnily enough, unlike a Cab. Sauv., even though they are structurally huge, they are still very drinkable when they are young—mostly because of the charm of all the wonderful fruit. Once a PS is about 10-15 years old it usually starts to go through a “dumb” phase as it loses it’s fruit, but then when they get really old – 20-25 years they come around again like no other wine I have ever had….wonderful rich Bordeaux-like complexity…tons of that cedar-cigar box character that you always associate with really nice old clarets. So my recommend is drink them young or let them sit forever—most PS have the structure to handle the age.
What made me “an expert” on old PS: A few years ago there was a small wine shop in the San Francisco Bay Area that bought people’s cellars. He also bought our wine, but unfortunately, while the fellow who ran the shop was a nice guy, he didn’t pay his bills. One day I was in the shop (collecting a bill) and he had dozens of bottles from the late 1960s to about 1980 of California PS on a table…I said…why? And he told me that when he resold the wine he bought from collections he could never get anyone to take the PS. I made a deal with him that we would trade a bottle of our wine for a bottle of PS…he got something he could sell and I got paid. Over the course of the next year or so (before the IRS caught him) we traded about a hundred bottles and Celia and I had old old PS for dinner several nights each week. These were the great old fathers of PS…Concannon, Burgess, Freemark Abbey, Ridge, and so on. Other than an occasional corky bottle we never had a single one that was “over the hill”. It was a treat and a rare opportunity to learn about old PS.

jdurish1 wrote:any thoughts from kent on these wines?

Kent here:

My first thought one these wines is that if I would buy, buy, buy…but then you probably expected me to say that…..
But beyond the above…
Petite Sirah has been my favorite grape ever since I first started making wine (back when my hair wasn’t grey). I think that I have made PS every vintage since 1979. PS is truly the “winemaker’s grape”. I don’t think I know one winemaker who doesn’t think that PS should be one of the “big” varieties…perhaps replacing poor beleaguered Merlot. It is a variety that seems to please everyone…it has structure, richness, fruit…it goes well with food, but is in-your-face enough to drink on its own. From a winemaker’s point-of-view, it is a wonderful wine to bottle on its own, but also is about the best blender that I have ever run into to bring life to boring blends of other varietals. I know a couple of winemakers who refer to it as “Type O”---the universal blender!
As to my thoughts on the three wines we are offering here: All three came from really nice vintages, and I promise you there will be no disappointments quality-wise. They are all fruity, tarry, rich and peppery. The differences between them are substantial, but truly those differences are almost entirely vintage-related, as the wines were made from exactly the same grapes and in almost exactly the same fashion each year. 2000 is a bit lighter than the other two (although compared with any other variety, it is far from light) but has the brightest fruit, 2001 is probably the most complex, and 2002 is the most forward and peppery. The vineyard that we get these grapes from is a wonderful old vineyard in the Rutherford appellation on the west side of Hwy 29 right across from the Franciscan Winery. The grower is by far the best grape-grower that I have ever worked with; he farms these grapes totally organically, and is certified from the State of California.

When you vertical taste do you do each bottle seperately or do you open each bottle pour in three glasses and taste randomly? Can you do this with food or not? Thanks

KRWINE wrote:

Hi, Kent here
It seems to me that Petite Sirah is one of the most interesting wines when it comes to the issue of aging and drinking. Young PS is big, rich, usually pretty tannic and above all full of luscious fruit. Funnily enough, unlike a Cab. Sauv., even though they are structurally huge, they are still very drinkable when they are young—mostly because of the charm of all the wonderful fruit. Once a PS is about 10-15 years old it usually starts to go through a “dumb” phase as it loses it’s fruit, but then when they get really old – 20-25 years they come around again like no other wine I have ever had….wonderful rich Bordeaux-like complexity…tons of that cedar-cigar box character that you always associate with really nice old clarets. So my recommend is drink them young or let them sit forever—most PS have the structure to handle the age.
What made me “an expert” on old PS: A few years ago there was a small wine shop in the San Francisco Bay Area that bought people’s cellars. He also bought our wine, but unfortunately, while the fellow who ran the shop was a nice guy, he didn’t pay his bills. One day I was in the shop (collecting a bill) and he had dozens of bottles from the late 1960s to about 1980 of California PS on a table…I said…why? And he told me that when he resold the wine he bought from collections he could never get anyone to take the PS. I made a deal with him that we would trade a bottle of our wine for a bottle of PS…he got something he could sell and I got paid. Over the course of the next year or so (before the IRS caught him) we traded about a hundred bottles and Celia and I had old old PS for dinner several nights each week. These were the great old fathers of PS…Concannon, Burgess, Freemark Abbey, Ridge, and so on. Other than an occasional corky bottle we never had a single one that was “over the hill”. It was a treat and a rare opportunity to learn about old PS.

That's an incredible story. It's real world experience and feedback like this that I treasure and that will probably get me off of my one week self-imposed wine.woot moratorium. But gimme till the end of the week. I still have to convince my subconscious.