Petite Sirah

  • Aromas and Flavors: herbal and black pepper overtones, blue fruit, black fruit, plums, and especially blueberriesspicy, plummy, with new oak barrels, the wine can develop an aroma of melted chocolate
  • Highly tannic and relatively acidic
  • Grape originated as a cross of Syrah pollen germinating a Peloursin plant
  • California and Australia are now the two leading producers
  • Can also be found in Israel, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico
  • Known in the U.S. and Israel as Petite Sirah (over 90% of the California plantings labeled “Petite Sirah” being Durif grapes)
  • Peloursin is practically indistinguishable from Durif, even by experts
  • Field-blending was the norm, with many varieties often interplanted
  • Therefore, few vineyards identified as Petite Sirah are “pure”
  • Vineyard blocks are often planted with vines of Alicante Bouschet, Carignan, Grenache, Mourvedre, Peloursin, or Zinfandel. The reality therefore is that wines from these vineyards labeled “Petite Sirah” to at least some degree are blends, accidentally if not purposefully
  • Has long been an important blending grape, prized primarily for its deep color and fairly intense tannin
  • Variety most often chosen to blend into zinfandel for added complexity, body, and to tone down the tendency of zins toward “jammy” fruit
  • Wines made from Petite Sirah age slowly and can survive fairly long cellaring of ten years or more