2017 Refugio Ranch Petite Sirah, Santa Ynez Valley
Divvy-Up
80 Points
Tasting Notes
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The 2017 Petite Sirah is dark and inviting. It is lifted from the glass with aromas of brandied cherries, raspberry, clove, dried orange peel, and a touch of wintergreen. The wine has great presence on the palate. Blackberry and cocoa, cherry liqueur, and vanilla bean. The tannins are dense and fine, layering in black fruits and baking spices with a rich and almost savory character. The finish is fresh and perfumed. Fermented in stainless steel, and aged for 20 months in new and neutral french oak. The vineyard features Linne Clay Loam - this whitish gray soil contains limestone pieces beginning 18”-24” below the surface. The presence of limestone captures and preserves the freshness in this wine, and being a heavier soil lends itself to a rounder mouthfeel.
Comments
Get to know Santa Ynez AVA
That movie, you know the one, put Santa Barbara wine country in the minds of many wine drinkers and non-wine drinkers alike, probably for different reasons I’d bet. But I just want to pick up on the title “Sideways”, because that’s what’s really different about this region.
West to East transverse mountain ranges, the only spot on the CA coast like this, act like a high power air conditioner for the valleys. Now add that to a very southern latitude for grape growing and bingo - super long growing season with sunny days and cool nights - uber perfect climate for rich, balanced fruit.
Santa Ynez Valley is the first wine growing region you hit coming north from Santa Barbara. It’s a big West to East Valley, with cool loving varietals like Pinot Noir on the west side and warm loving varietals like Grenache, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon inland on the east. Sauvignon Blanc lovers take note, this is a great region for you. With all that going on, it’s kind of hard to go any farther north.
Also, because of all this variety, the Santa Ynez AVA, which is the second largest in Santa Barbara County, is being dissected into sub-AVAs. The Sta. Rita Hills, Ballard Canyon and Alisos Canyon to the West featuring Pinot, Chardonnay and Syrah. And Happy Canyon and Los Olivos district to the east where the warm loving Rhone Blend and Bordeaux fruit thrive. Santa Ynez, everybody wants a piece of you.
Refugio Ranch sits above the Los Olivos District on the eastern side of the Santa Ynez Valley. The vineyards on the valley near the Santa Ynez River are ideal for Sauvignon Blanc, while red Rhone and Bordeaux varietals lounge up in the mountains enjoying the hillside exposures and developing their amazing character. Cheers!
photo credit and more info - https://sbcountywines.com/portfolio_page/santa-ynez-valley-2/
When we 1st opened the 2017 Petite Sirah, the 1st thing we noticed was the brilliant, dark, rich color. Being more pinot drinkers with a light fare (pork, chicken, fish), the larger reds do not normally pair great with our dinners. We decided to do a pork sausage and shrimp over rice dish, similar to jambalaya. We thought the PS may be a little big for the dish, but we were very surprised by the great pairing. The PS was flexible and versatile, and paired perfectly with the seasoning in the dish. The PS had a very gentle, mild entry for a 2017, but as it moved across the palate, a burst of beautiful fruit abounded with a great exit. We kept 1/2 the bottle for night 2, and it was just as beautiful as when we opened it. Great pairing wine, next time we will try a spicey'ish dish, with chicken. We probably drink 10 bottles of Petite Sirah a year, this ranks with the best of 2021. We purchased more right after our dinner! Enjoy!
Hmmm..Jambalaya got me craving it now. And the wine sounds like the perfect complement, Cheers
The Refugio Petite Sirah is delicious and your description is spot on. This wine has a wonderful mouth feel with subtle tannins. I enjoyed this wine all by itself and it paired well with the lamb dish we had the next evening. Every wine I have purchased through Divvy-Up has been very good and I look forward to what comes next. Love the wines and love the price point. Well done…. Cheers.
That's two reviewers liking this Petite Sirah. I have been wanting to add a couple bottles to the stash and this sounds like a good bet. I've had good results here so far. I'm in!
I hope this one comes back up sometime in the future. I'm not sure when the offer length dropped to 1 week from 2 weeks but I couldn't get my divvy group to get their lives together before it expired.
More petite sirahs in the future!
Houstonian - too much wine to drink