Petite Sirah

When I was first introduced to wine in the 1980s, I was certainly overwhelmed about how complex the subject of wine could be. I had some friends that had enrolled in a wine tasting course at the local adult education center and were eager to share what they learned and I was eager to soak it up. After all, it did become my eventual career. What I remember most about this early exposure to wine was that they had a pretty extensive collection of wine, and on special occasions, he would peruse the basement and come up with an “abc” bottle, referencing the “Anything But Chardonnay/Cabernet” (aka the C’s) mantra. Often what he surfaced with was a bottle of Petite Sirah, which was popular before the C’s but had a tough time competing with the C’s. It is now increasing in popularity because it is different in name and because the wines are dark, richly pigmented and have a tannin structure that can contribute to long aging. What is true about almost all grape varieties is that there are a