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Lori and I recently attended the 2012 Dark & Delicious tasting event, put on by the PS I Love You Petite Sirah group. As always, this annual event was held at Rock Wall Wine Company in Alameda, which is in one of the old Naval Air Station buildings. I last went to Dark & Delicious in 2010. We love this event because it's not just about the wines, but also about pairing food with Petite Sirah. It's also a small event, so you can get around to see all the vendors in a couple of hours. Well, most people can. If you schmooze, sip, spit, schmooze some more you don't have enough time. But I still enjoyed myself!
Here are my highlights from the event:
DK Catering: They were serving two dishes. First, a pulled pork "slider" on sourdough. The best pulled pork of the night, and having it on toasted sourdough was much better than the usual bun. Second, a pork "satay" skewer, though not with a Thai peanut sauce but instead with a lime-based sauce. (I should have found out what else was in the sauce, as this was my favorite of the night.)
Page Mill Winery, 2008 Petite Sirah: best nose of the night, with nice floral tones. Don't knock the Livermore Valley wines until you've tried them. And actually, Petite Sirah grows quite well in this area.
Andis, 2009 Petite Sirah. Andis is in Amador County, in the Sierra Foothills. Another good region for Petite Sirah. Mark McKenna has been working at wineries in the Foothills for over a decade, and based on this one data point, seems to know what he's doing. Since Lori and I get up to the Foothills somewhat regularly, I'll hopefully be able to taste his other wines soon, and (scientifically, of course) gather more data.
Odonata: Denis Hoey, winemaker/owner, was pouring his Petite Sirah. Really nice wine, but nicer even talking to Denis about all his wines. Tasting room in downtown Santa Cruz. Looking forward to tasting his other wines. I'm also looking forward to talking to him about "Odonata", which is the biological order for dragonflies. And a dragonfly is their logo. But what does it all mean?
Lava Cap, 2008 Petite Sirah: Nice balance, slightly lighter body, soft and lingering finish. A number of years ago, at a business dinner in Silicon Valley with customers from France, I ordered Lava Cap Zinfandel for the table. My sales person, from France, went white. But I figured that instead of trying to impress these customers with either a California take on a French varietal, or by ordering a French wine, I should play the game on our rules. I had previously had Lava Cap Zin, so I wasn't going too far out on a limb, and in fact it ended up working quite well that evening. So I have a bit of loyalty to Lava Cap, for coming through in the clutch for me. Nonetheless, this was a nice wine.
Grizzly Republic, 2008 Gypsy Noir: This Rhone blend, which included Petite Sirah, was really nice. This one goes in the "why I like blends" category, with the whole greater than the sum of the parts. They're opening their tasting room in Paso Robles in the next few months; another reason for us to head that way sometime soon.
Tres Sabores, 2007 Petite Sirah: We first visited Tres Sabores nearly 3 years ago. We loved the people, the winery and the wines. (Tres Sabores post.) And from this event, we really enjoyed their Petite Sirah. It must be time to go back and buy more of their wines!
Diamond Ridge Vineyards, 2010 Petite Sirah: One of the youngest wines there, and also interesting because the grapes were grown in Lake County. It will be interesting to see how this wine ages, and what else the winery puts out.
Estrella Creek, 2007 Petite Sirah. This is a small winery north of Paso Robles. We haven't been there, and had never tried their wines before this event. This was a really nice wine; made this list.
Aver Family Vineyards, 2007 Blessings Petite Sirah. Last summer at a PS I Love You event, I met John Aver and tasted his wines. Well, I liked it so much that when I saw the magnum of 2007 Blessings at the silent auction for this event, I made sure I was the top bidder. I'll probably be opening this one sometime around 2020.
You should put this event, and other PS I Love You events, on your calendar.
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