This is only our second release of Petite Sirah, grown from 120 vines that we planted in 2011, plus 4 acres of Petites Sirah in the Red Hills of Lake County, grown at 1,700' of elevation on steep, rocky hillsides up to 35-degrees in steepness. It has all of the dark fruit and full body, and tannin one would expect from Petite Sirah, but also delicate and pretty parts that sometimes get lost with this bold grape.
 
Tasting notes: Blackberry and blueberry jam front and center in classic Petite Sirah fashion, but lurking below are black cherry, rose petals, hibiscus, peppery spice blend and a hint of pomegranate. Ample fine-grained gritty Petite cocoa-and-black-tea tannin on the back palate and low acid as is the norm, uncluttered by oak sweetness. Like all Prima Materia wines we are focused more on earth and tactile mouthfeel than soft, oaky fruit and hedonistic beverages.
 
Label image: Taken from Cabala, published in 1616 by Steffan Michelspacher, it would be hard to find a cooler example of fire-breathing metal dragon art. This image has layers within layers of astronomical, astrological, cosmological and metalurgical becoming, with coded alphabet symbolism, and the general thrust according to the author was “…the degree of exaltation which doth comprehend sublimation and elevation together with distillation.” 
 
100% Petite Sirah 
 
34% 2016 (one barrel)
66% 2017 (two barrels)
blended in Spring of 2018, then bottled August 2018
 
3 neutral 225l barrels, 
all at least 10 years old
 
No racking until bottling,
unfined and unfiltered
 
pH 3.87
TA 5.6gm/l
14.3% abv
 
72 cases produced