Grgich Hills 2008 Miljenko’s Vineyard Estate Grown Petite Sirah (Napa Valley)

Country: US / Miljenko’s Vineyard Estate Grown
Variety: Petite Sirah California
Winery: Grgich Hills / Napa Valley

Grown in Calistoga, this is textbook Petite Sirah: It’s black as a moonless night, bone dry, intensely tannic and enormously packed in fruit. Those tannins really lock the wine down in astringency, but they can’t hide the massive burst of blackberry, cassis liqueur, mocha, crispy bacon and black pepper. Nowhere near ready to drink, it’s a wine to be cellared for 5–6 years, at the very least. It should glide through the decades effortlessly, gradually losing tannins and growing more clean and pure.