Retro 2004 Petite Sirah, Howell Mountain

“Powerful Petite Sirah From One Of Napa's Prime Spots”
By John Rittmaster, Prima Wine, Walnut Creek
www.primawine.com

Those who know me well know it is rare for me to get too excited about Petite Sirah. As I like to say, “it ain’t Syrah and it sure ain’t Petite.” I’ve found fault with many of the examples I’ve had over the years because of their monolithic, unyielding characters, unrelenting tannins and inability to develop any complexity in the bottle, even with extensive age. I remember tasting a 1978 Freemark Abbey Pet in 1996 or 7 and the wine looked like a barrel sample, had no aroma whatsoever and still had enough tannin to blow off the back of my head. There have been exceptions, of course. Concannon’s Reserve from Livermore immediately comes to mind. But a new wave of producers (Turley, David Fulton, Carver-Sutro, T-Vine, etc.) have recently made some successful, longer-macerated, marginally softer versions that have encouraged me about the variety’s commercial future, but I recently tasted a Petite Sirah that has shown me something even rarer with Petite: style! It’s called Retro.

When it comes to pedigree, not much can top the names Dunn and Pecota in the Napa Valley. The Dunn, in this case, is Mike, son of Randy, of Dunn Vineyards and the Pecota is Kara, daughter of famed Calistoga winemaker Robert. Together they have fashioned 250 cases of very impressive Petite Sirah from the Dunn’s extraordinary Howell Mountain vineyard called Park-Muscatine. This historic spot yields a parsimonious ton per acre of amazingly dark, dense mountain Petite that captures the cumin-blueberry scented essence of the variety. Though there is a wall of dusky tannin, to be sure, it’s the supple, ripe quality of those tannins that give me hope that Retro will both mellow and develop character with age. I loved the dark, musky blueberry-plum core to the wine, as well as its expressive aromas of cumin powder, coriander and espresso. I’d actually drink this tonight with a steak off the grill, but will definitely lay a few bottles aside to see if my instincts about this new breed of Petite from this new generation are correct.