1995 Turley Petite Sirah Aida Vineyard

The opaque black/purple-colored 1995 Petite Syrah Aida Vineyard offers up a licorice, smoke, earth, and cassis-scented nose, extraordinary sweetness of fruit, and monstrous-sized proportions of glycerin and tannin. This huge, massive Petite Syrah needs a decade of cellaring. As longtime readers know, I have often said that Petite Sirah is one of the most under-appreciated varietals in California. I have enjoyed some dazzling Petite Sirahs over the years, especially from Ridge and some older vintages of Freemark Abbey. More recently, small wineries such as Rockland and Sean Thackrey (along with Ridge), have turned out limited quantities of impressive Petite Sirah. I do not believe anyone has ever made Petite Sirah as concentrated and as potentially grand as that produced by Turley since 1993. I never thought I would see Petite Sirahs as extraordinarily rich as Turley's 1994s, but the 1995s look equally prodigious. These are Zinfandels of such singular character and greatness that they truly establish new benchmarks for this varietal. Readers' best hope of latching onto a few bottles is to get their name on the winery's mailing list. (release date, 5/97) Tel. (707) 963-0940; Fax (707) 963-963-8683