3 Burgess
Petite Sirahs
1976
Burgess Cellars Napa Petite Sirah, 13.2% alc.: The bricked garnet
color even LOOKS thick, and we all agreed with Bree when he observed that
this is "a little musty." As it opens, the mustiness blows off
and the prune and raisin character evolves into rich purple and red fruit
aromas, and there’s still a big mouthful of fruit flavors that echo the
nose. Tom marveled at the "incredible
leather and tobacco." Because of the initial mustiness,
someone wondered aloud if this might be slightly corked.
"This was culled way before the days of cork
problems." – Tom
"Well, you’d hear about them, but it was
always someone else who had cork problems. We never experienced many
ourselves, I think." – Bill
Bree commented on how food friendly this is, in contrast to many of today’s
overblown, high alcohol wines, saying, "Table
wine’s becoming an archaic phrase."
"We picked these a lot different than we do
today. I think we were going for 22 ½ or 23 sugar." –
Tom
"It was ripe enough. I don’t think we
bottled anything under 12% alcohol, it was probably about 13."
– Bill
"By the time they sugar up a little in the
fermenters, I would think they’re about 13% alcohol." -
Tom
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Accolades for
Gang of Pour site
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1975
Burgess Cellars Napa Petite Sirah, 13.4% alc.: Another bricked garnet,
this shows plum, prune and raisin on the nose; oddly, I find it richer on
the palate than the nose, while Bree says just the opposite.
"This smells very, very ripe, prune-y, but
not unpleasant." – Bree
"Raisin-y, like you might get from a really
ripe Zinfandel." – Bill
The wine is still deep, dark, dense and chewy, with more prune and raisin;
Bree calls it "very pretty in the
mouth," adding "the food
really tames down the tannins just beautifully."
"That was hard for ’75… ’75 was a
really cool year. I think we supplemented our growth with fruit down
around Zinfandel Lane. They were all old vines though, I’m sure. I think
that character comes from valley floor fruit. The fruit up here was spicy
and peppery." – Tom
"So the vines predated even the founding of
Souverain up here?" – Bree
"I don’t know, to be truthful. But ’77
was our last year with Petite Sirah. After that, we bought it to put into
our Zinfandel. Before that we didn’t put any into our Zinfandel."
– Tom
1974
Burgess Cellars Napa Petite Sirah, 13.2% alc.: It was no surprise to
find another bricked garnet with this; Bree remarked that it "has
the most lovely aromatics. I get a wonderful lilt of mint."
Kerr and I added impressions of licorice and cigar box, along with lovely
prune, plum and raisin fruit on the palate. Notes of coffee and more
tobacco come out with air, adding interest and complexity.
"It seems like a younger wine in a lot of
ways." – Bree
"I like the ’74 best of all, as far as
fruit, mouthfeel and balance." – Tom
"I’m kind of surprised that they’re so
different." – Bill
Tom tames a troublesome cork, while
Bill looks on.
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Bill had a good point in that regard. Back when
these were young, there was a very consistent style to all of them, a
Burgess "signature," if you will. But in the quarter century
that they’d aged, each has taken a somewhat divergent path of
development, and has its own distinctive character. All three have plenty
of life left in them, and are anything but tired. I had a hard time
picking a favorite, but would probably opt for the ’74, for the same
reasons that Tom mentioned above. In any event, it was a very special
treat to enjoy them with the people who made them.
We finished things off with a rare little curiosity
that Mr. Kerr brought along from the frozen wastes of "Canader,"
as he sometimes refers to it, a half bottle of 1998 Inniskillin
Sparkling Ice Wine. When poured, it showed a deep rich golden color
and big foam, causing Bree to observe, "It
looks like a good lager." The fine bead was decent, if not
exactly vigorous, but the huge apricot flavors and aromas exploded from
the glass and on the palate, all with a refreshing spritz. Despite it
being somewhat over the top, I found it rather interesting and enjoyable.
With that, it was time for us to take our leave, and
we did so with many thanks to Tom, Catherine and Bill for their
hospitality. Before we departed, we were each generously gifted with a
bottle from the current Burgess lineup, which would be the focal point of
a tasting back at Gang Central a few weeks later. We bid our adieus, and
made our way back down to the Valley, having thoroughly enjoyed our
renewed acquaintance with what were for Kim and this taster, dear old
friends.
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June 2002
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