Wine Review: Priest Ranch 2009 Petite Sirah

Set high in the hills above Napa sits Somerston Wine Company. They have over 200 acres planted and the area has cool nights, late morning fog and warm afternoons.  This lends itself to a nice slow ripening at harvest.

The eastern part of the property sits Priest Ranch. The history dates back to 1849 when a man named Joshua James Priest gained the title to 638 acres of the Catacula land grant in a section called Soda Valley.  Today Soda Valley is called Priest Ranch.

The 2009 Priest Ranch Petite Sirah is 100% Petite Sirah. It has a pretty high alcohol content, clocking in at 15%.

Aromas of rose petals, vanilla and oak come out immediately.  The first sip was strong cherry licorice and very tight.  As the wine opened up it became very complex.  Layers of sour cherry, cassis and hint of licorice filled my mouth.

The wine is very inky in color and you will walk away with purple teeth.

This is a pretty big wine and a although I received this wine as a media sample over a year go, this wine could use another 4 - 6 years in the bottle.  So if you see it, buy it and cellar it for a few more years.  SRP $46

Hanging with the Priest

What kind of wine do you open when  you are faced with a Super Storm heading your way?  Something that can pray with you for no damage and the electric to stay on.  We were lucky, we had no damage, but the lights did go out for a day, which is nothing compared to what happened south of me.

What did we open?  A 2009 Priest Ranch Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Hanging with the Priest during a storming night we were.  Maybe that saved us.

Priest Ranch is part of the Somerston Wine Company which encompasses three wine brands, one of them being Priest Ranch.  Priest Ranch wines represent the diversity of the Somerston property. The Cabernet selected for this wine comes from 11 different hillside blocks on the ranch which is planted with 72.2 acres of Cab.

At harvest, the end of October, beginning of November 2009, the brix level clock in at 26.8. The grapes were cold soaked for 8 days then fermentation began with indigenous yeast. Only the free run juices were used and malolactic fermentation occurred in the barrel.

The wine spent 20 months is the barrel.  50% was new French Oak land 50% was neutral French Oak.  The wine was bottled in April 2011 land released in November of 2011 with the alcohol clocking in at 14.9%

This wine was a perfect pairing for the perfect storm.  Aromas of vanilla, black cherry and blackberry with hints of oak filled the glass. The wine was very nicely balanced with lots of black fruit and black current expressing itself.  A soft finish with a slight hint of black pepper. (I paired this with a beef stew I made in the crockpot, knowing if the lights went out, the generator runs that outlet)

There were 220 cases of this wine make and it retails for $40.

**I received this wine as a sample from the winery's PR firm