Oddball Wine of the Week: Petite Petit
Michael~David Winery Petite Petit 2007 Lodi
This wine was a press sample provided by Michael~David Winery.
Which came first the name or the wine? That’s what I wonder when see that this wine is called Petite Petit for it’s combination of Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot (and oddball blend to be sure). Clever name, but is that the best reason to blend these two grapes? Does it make oenological sense? Let’s find out.
Producer: Michael~David Winery
Grapes: 85% Petite Sirah, 15% Petit Verdot
Appellation: Lodi (AVA, California)
Vineyards: no info
Vintage: 2007
Winemaking: The wine spent 14 months in French oak barrels.
Alcohol: 14.5%
Price: $18 (though I’ve seen it at Whole Foods for $14)
My tasting notes: Deep purple-black color. On the nose, I get blueberry, sweet tobacco, baking spices and just a touch of fresh earth. The palate delivers nice blackberry and vanilla cream flavors (maybe a little black cherry, too) with a bit of spice. It’s smooth-textured, almost plush in the mouth with fine-grained tannins and decent acidity.
Overall impression: I’m not sure any magic came from the Petite + Petit combination (I didn’t sense much from the Petit Verdot), but this is an enjoyable bottle of wine, firmly in the “fruit & oak” camp. B/B-
Free association: Speaking of odd combinations, the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual was full of them. Here’s a favorite.
More info:
88 pts. Robert Parker
More reviews at Gabe’s View, Wine is Life, What’s New in Booze, CellarTracker, Snooth and Cork’d.
If you ever played Dungeons & Dragons as a kid (or even now – hey, no judging here) you’ll love this series of Monster Manuel comics from one of the funniest people alive: Lore Sjöberg over at BadGods. The Owlbear one is here, though my favorites are: Orc, Chimera, Ear Seeker and Kobold.
7 comments. Add yours.
What? Who told that I played D&D…, oh wait, nobody did. Nevermind.
I’ve seen this wine before and been curious about it. Sounds like it might be worth a try. Definitely seems like a bit of an oddball wine. I love this feature of the blog. Reading about some really fun wines that you don’t hear much about.
You were a half-elf ranger/illusionist weren’t you, Ben?
Glad you like the Oddball series. It’s fun for me, too. Stay tuned, I’ve got some doozies in the pipeline: unpronounceable Georgian grapes (as in Republic of Georgia, not the Peach State), old-vines Carignan from Chile, Mencia from Ribeira Sacra, etc.
Boy, you two sure are geeks. I’ve never even seen a game of D&D
Jim it does seem like this was a pairing for novelty sake more than anything. 85% Petite Sirah – sounds like the Verdot was added for some muscle.
I look forward to the Rep of GA post! Should be a fun one
Josh
Man Jim, You’ve got me pegged.
Sweet, I’m looking forward to checking out the upcoming oddballs.
That was absolutely hilarious.
I caught an unrelated bit of D&D humor the other day in a random forum. A DM got tired of his players rolling the same boring characters, so he modified each character before the game started. The guy playing a halfling got the following change: “You’re 11 years old, overweight, and your racial ability is Truffle Shuffle.”
Josh – I’m not buying it. I’m betting you were a Lawful Good Paladin wielding a +5 Holy Avenger.
Ben – I hope the DM gave the halfling a bag of holding for all his Baby Ruths, not to mention One-Eyed Willie’s treasure!