From: Paso Robles, California
Varietal: Petite Sirah
Taste: Dark garnet in color, this wine has aromas of black fruit, licorice, anise and sage. It is bright on the palate and tastes of black currants, dark herbs and boysenberries.
Pairing: The winery suggests to pair this Petite Sirah with grilled meats and vegetables, roasted pork roasts and game meats. Taking our cue from their suggestion, we’re sharing a recipe for Grilled or Oven-Roasted Santa Maria Tri-Tip by Kim Severson. It’ll yield 8-10 servings and take about 40 minutes to make, but you’ll need time to let the rub do its thing.
Peachy Canyon is a small, family-owned winery that has gained a reputation for its highly acclaimed Zinfandels, Cabernets, and Merlots. Nestled in the Santa Lucia Mountains just six miles west of Paso Robles and 14 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, the winery exemplifies the contrasts of a region that is ideally suited for growing a premium red wine grape. There is a fairly uniform tendency in Paso Robles toward unapologetically bold wines that are opulently fruit-driven, albeit with a surprising amount of acidity thanks to the region’s chilly nighttime temperatures.
With its deep color, firm tannins, and bold flavors, there is nothing petite about Petite Sirah. The variety, originally known as Durif in the Rhône, took on its more popular moniker after being imported to California in the early 1880s. Quintessentially recognized today as a grape of the Golden State, Petite Sirah works well blended with Zinfandel and finds success as a single varietal wine in the state’s warmer districts. Somm Secret—Petite Sirah is not a smaller version of Syrah, but it is an offspring of Syrah and the now nearly extinct French Alpine variety called Peloursin.
Winemaker note. Half of the grapes for this wine were grown by Peachy Canyon, and the other half were sourced from a small vineyard site in El Pomar with which Peachy Canyon has a decades-long relationship. The resulting wine is dense and chocolatey – a vivid example of what well-grown Petite Sirah from Paso Robles tastes like. After sorting the fruit, these wines were aged in a combination of French and Hungarian Oak barrels and puncheons. The final blend was assembled and bottled in May of 2021.
