I was literally screaming with joy when I opened the notification letter as this is our third Gold this year. I just cracked a bottle of this Petite and thought it would be a good time to update the blog.
I knew this wine from the get go was going to be delicious and in the barrel it was tough to stop tasting. The Orange County Fair Wine Competition is the largest one of California wines in the world and therefor the most competitive. There is no charge to enter so there is typically 40-80 wines entered per category and this year there was a total of 3089 wines entered.
I am thrilled about this wine for the following reasons-
About 7 years ago I convinced my father to plant this Petite Sirah at his vineyard and I am so excited to be working with this fruit. My father has no regrets eitheras he receives more per ton for his Petite than any other grape and has sold these grapes to some excellent boutique wineries.
This is the year that I began experimenting with convection toasted French oak and was extremely thrilled in the barrel and bottle with the results.
While I am a huge fan of blending- this wine is 100% 2007 Lambert Bridge Vineyard Petite Sirah! I invited some friends in to work on the blend and we tried for hours on end to come up with a wine with a touch of Cab or new vintage Petite Sirah but we always went back to the original!!!
While I enjoy Cabs and Merlots- I am a bigger fan of the "Rustic Reds" (Zin, Syrah, Petite Sirah) so this wine was fun to make and now drink!
Just bottled this wine 2 months ago and it will only get better.
Now where did that bottle go......
