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Clay Station Petite Sirah

Clay Station Petite Sirah Wine Details
Price: $12.99 per bottle

Description: There is nothing petite about Petite Sirah. It has traditionally been used in blends to make red wines bigger and more assertive. Our 2002 Petite Sirah was fermented warm and handled gently throughout the winemaking process, maximizing color and flavor extraction. 70% was barrel aged 12 months in both new and older American and French oak. The remainder was cellared in stainless steel to better preserve the delicate and fresh blueberry fruit character so typical of the variety. This is a big, full-bodied and peppery red wine with intense blueberry character mingling with notes of ripe blackberry, dark chocolate and hints of toast and vanilla. With soft tannins and a plush frame, this wine remains rich, powerful and lushly concentrated. It is a robust wine perfect for barbecue, chicken cacciatore or spinach ravioli in a meaty red tomato sauce.

Varietal Definition
Petite Sirah:
Petite Sirah is the same as the French variety known as Durif, a cross of Peloursin, with the true Syrah. A French nurseryman, Dr. François Durif, propagated the grape trying for resistance to powdery mildew and named it after himself, in the 1870s. Petite Sirah has long been an important blending grape, prized primarily for its deep color and fairly intense tannin. It is the variety most often chosen to blend into Zinfandel for added color, complexity, body, and to tone down the tendency of Zins toward "jammy" fruit.


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