Carpe Diaz

Jo Diaz, the genius behind Dark & Delicious and the PerSon who keeps PS I Love You running, has had a number of particularly interesting PoSts over the past few months that I wanted to highlight.

• A nice article on PS Godfather Carl Doumani, currently of Quixote (which makes both the Quixote and Panza labels), and formerly of Stags' Leap Winery. There's some nice personal info on Carl, his influence on other winemakers, his personal generosity, his quixotic personality, coupled with beautiful shots of the winery's unique architecture.
  
  I had a chance to visit in August, and was very impressed by the wines and the structures. I'm a big fan of the Silverado Trail wineries in Napa, much more so than the ones on 29. In fact, just this past weekend had the opportunity to sample a Doumani-made Stags' Leap PS from 1982, and it was not only still alive, but utterly sublime.
  
  
• Jo's top 5 images from Sonoma County in 2008 features, at the bottom, a nice bit about Gilles Liege, who is apparently trying to revive PS in its Rhone birthplace.
  
  
• Comparing 1970s PS with a 2003, which I found especially interesting, given my own near-obsession with old PS
  
  
• PS as the John Wayne of grape varieties -- it really is the all-American grape, Zinfidels be damned!
  
  
• Jo takes a walk through Kick Ranch, from which Rosenblum made a single-vineyard designate PS from the 2005 vintage.
  
  
• How winter-hardy is the PS vine? Let's discuss.

There's another set of PoSts to summarize, including one from Jo on PS and Terroir, but those get their own post here. As does additional detail on D&D 2009, the event of the year!

On Tap

Here's what's on deck for the next 2 weeks or so:

• Birthday Wine Review -- Vincent Arroyo 2005 Petite Sirah Winemakers' Reserve (Sunday or Monday)
• Inauguration Day Wine Review -- Stags' Leap Winery 2004 Ne Cede Malis Petite Sirah (with Synchrodan)
• [Within the next 10 days] -- Mettler Family 2005 Petite Sirah (with Synchrodan)
• Tasting notes and impressions from the PSychos' PSeminar in Chicago next Friday night (hopefully including my friends themostrighteous, Octocat, and MarkDaSpark posting on here as themselves, *hint hint*)
• Tasting notes on McDowell Valley Vineyards' first release, their 1979 Petite Sirah (which, its initial labeling aside, they now believe to be sourced from ~78% Syrah grapes)
• A big post on Appellation America and the interaction between terroir and PS in California
• Lots of posts from Jo Diaz, including a bit about my French counterpart who is trying to revive PS in its birthplace...

So, Stay tuned!

An Early Birthday Present

I turn 28 on Sunday, but the PresentS have already started rolling in, in addition to the scheduled finishing-up of a MASSIVE project at work next Wednesday.

Yesterday, as you may have seen, Gary Vaynerchuk did an entire episode devoted to Petite Sirah, which dedicated to me, the biggest petite sirah fan he knows, as a birthday PreSent. I've ferreted out that this was at least in part due to emails from my friend Octocat and my brother. And what a PreSent it was, though I'm disappointed that some of the wines didn't show better.

I'm not sure how long he had the 2005 Lolonis Orpheus open and breathing, (as the accompanying notes explicitly caution against trying it out soon and suggest serious decanting,) and I really do think that it will improve vastly with age, but I've never been a huge fan of the 06 David Bruce Central Coast myself. And it was very nice to hear that the '06 Bogle is a solid value play (at the moment, mine are usually the Rosenblum Heritage Clones 2005/6 or Concannon Limited Release 2005)

I've met GV in person a number of times (as I grew up, and my parents still live, 15 mins away from Wine Library), and he always has time to say hi or see if I need his help with anything in particular. Contrary to others' (usually uninformed) imPressionS, GV is for real, and I'm truly honored to know a PerSon of his caliber.

GV, thanks again for getting my birthday started out on an AMAZING note. I can't wait to bring my own PS on "THE THUNDER SHOW" someday! But that is, perhaps, putting the cart before the horse, as my PadawanS and I have to start making it first...

Dr. Debs on Entry-Level PS

Dr. Debs at Good Wine Under $20 tried the Lot 205 PS from Cartlidge & Brown, and enjoyed it. Click on over to see her specific impressions.

Relatedly, GaryV reviewed this wine as well in the most recent (as of 1/12) WinelibraryTV link in the righthand column.

PaSt and PreSent PreSents

Kent Rasmussen has long stated that PS has the ability to age superbly, due to its tannins, and will pick up after 15 years and have another, very complex drinking period that will last at least until it's 25th birthday. Most people with whom I've raised this theory, many of whom are very knowledgeable about wine in general, dismissed this theory as lunacy.

I'd like it to be true the vast majority of the time. But apparently, it's certainly true for some PS. I love to get confirmation of my pet theories (pun intended).

(N.B. -- I am really sorry about the lack of posts. Work has been eating me up lately, and in fact, I shouldn't even be posting this)