Wine of the Week: 2009 Hess Allomi Petite Sirah

The longer you spend working on something – loving it into being, almost – the more you get attached. It's silly, but you do hope they go to good homes. ~ Anne Desmet

Time for another Wine Wednesday wine of the week and shining brightly in the spot-light is the Hess Allomi Petite Sirah. I've really become a big fan of Petite Sirah of late, I've started filling up my cellar with them, buying as many as four at a time, in some cases.

I love the way it tattoos my tongue with wonderful, rich dark, ripe blackberry flavors. To me this is a wine-lovers wine, it's big and burley, an inky gob of goodness, just waiting to be uncorked.

I'd recommend decanting just an hour or so to open up all those wonderful aromatics, just waiting to be unleashed. I got some wonderful herbal and black pepper overtones, with vivid ripe dark plums and blackberries; I'd love to hear what you think?

If you've never experienced this wonderful grape on its own, do yourself a favor order a bottle of this wine from the Hess Collection to see what I'm talking about. Because once you have had a PS, it's so hard to stop going back to that well. By the way the only way you can get this bottle is either by walking in for a tasting experience or ordering it online. This wine sells for $36, if you join their club of course you'll get a discount, but honestly this wine is well worth the price of admission. By the way score hunters, I gave this wine 91 points, it's excellent.

So many times Petire Sirah is used merely as a blending grape, because it gives added color, depth and a rounder mouth feel to finished wines that need a flavor boost. So when a winery thinks highly enough of that blending grape, to bottle it on its own, then I take notice, so should you. The Hess Collection Petit Sirah fruit is obtained from their Allomi vineyard, which has a nice bit of elevation, ranging altitude of 770 - 950 feet above the Napa Valley floor.

This wine is aged for 20 months in 100% [used] French Oak, in my opinion, helping the fruit and soil express itself so much better. I get a little bit of chalk in the background, along with crumbled graham cracker crust, like you find at the bottom of cheese-cake topped with ripe-plum and blackberry compote adorned with fresh blueberries.

I encountered this wine while visiting with my friends at the Hess Collection just a few weeks ago, they will seem a little more off the beaten path, as their winery lies near the bottom of Mont La Salle. But it's easily found off Highway 29 just take Redwood Road and follow the signs. If you like art, think of yourself as an artist or you just appreciate different types and styles of artwork. The Hess Collection has something for everyone, very unique pieces and some very unexpected.

I'd recommend a tour, as my first time through the gallery had me scratching my head a bit. They just added another piece to the exhibit, but it was still under wraps while I was there with my son and the fetching Mrs. Cuvee. Speaking of tours, they offer a few different options which do require a reservation, we took the Cheese and Wine pairing tour, it was fantastic, not only are wines fantastic, but the pairings chosen by Chef Chad Hendrickson were excellent.

The Hess Collection as it known today; was founded in 1978 by Donald Hess, a Swiss entrepreneur, a leader in sustainable and organic practices before it was “hip” and who purchased vineyards on Mount Veeder known for producing famous Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. They have an interestingly simple, yet straight forward philosophy in regards to sustainable practices; “Nurture the land; return what you take.” I like that common sense approach. Remember that not only do they have a great collection of art in the gallery, it's also in nearly every bottle of wine I tasted, save the Savignon Blanc [overly aggressive grassiness] but it did pair nicely with the cheese. Until next time folks, I hope you continue to sip long and prosper cheers!