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

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

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