Plungerhead Lodi Petite Sirah 2015
-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Tasting
Panel
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
#21 Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Best Buys of 2018
This Petite Sirah bursts with aromas of muddle blackberries, fresh caramel, and smoky oak. At second swirl, there is a distinct tobacco leaf aroma with other subtle notes of dried vanilla bean, brambly blueberries and coriander seed finishing with an earthy Lodi terroir stamp. True to its varietal, flavors of intense blackberry, dried cherry, and wild strawberries glide across the palate. The finish lingers back toward the earthy nuances of forest floor with a hint of mocha.
90% Petite Sirah 5% Tempranillo 4% Merlot 1% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
This very full-bodied wine is a great deal for $14. It tastes smoky and spicy, weaving herbaceous, savory nuances with meaty ones while a rich and relatively gentle texture coats the palate and holds onto the charred, beefy flavors on the finish. Best Buy
-
Tasting Panel
Blended with 5% Tempranillo, 4% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine was aged in a combination of French, American and Hungarian oak. The varietal is new to the line-up and paints an opaque inkiness in the glass, with aromas of ripe blackberry, black pepper and mocha-cedar. Densely washing the tongue with dark chocolate, espresso, bramble bush and bittersweet lilac, the fruit intensifies as the texture softens through to the finish.
According to local legend, after giving the creative department a bit of grief during a wine brand creative process, a mysterious bottle of wine bearing a label that was eerily familiar and quite uncanny made its way to Eddie’s desk. The character on the label had his face, his signature facial hair and was wearing his favorite purple blazer. However, on the label he was also wearing a red toilet plunger hat, wine barrels for trousers and holding a sign that simply said, “Plungerhead.”
Eddie, because he’s that kind of guy, took it in stride with a good laugh, and then proceeded to pour a glass of wine for anyone willing to enjoy a glass along with him. That’s just Eddie.
With its deep color, firm tannins and bold flavors, there is nothing petite about Petite Sirah. The variety, originally known as Durif in the Rhône, took on its more popular moniker after being imported to California in the early 1880s. Quintessentially recognized today as a grape of the Golden State, Petite Sirah works well blended with Zinfandel and finds success as a single varietal wine in the state’s warmer districts. Somm Secret—Petite Sirah is not a smaller version of Syrah but it is an offspring of Syrah and the now nearly extinct French Alpine variety called Peloursin.
Positioned between the San Francisco Bay and the Sierra Nevada mountain range, the Lodi appellation, while relatively far inland, is able to maintain a classic Mediterranean climate featuring warm, sunny days and cool evenings. This is because the appellation is uniquely situated at the end of the Sacramento River Delta, which brings chilly, afternoon “delta breezes” to the area during the growing season.
Lodi is a premier source of 100+ year old ancient Zinfandel vineyards—some dating back as far as 1888! With low yields of small berries, these heritage vines produce complex and bold wines, concentrated in rich and voluptuous, dark fruit.
But Lodi doesn’t just produce Zinfandel; in fact, the appellation produces high quality wines from over 100 different grape varieties. Among them are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc as well as some of California's more rare and unique grapes. Lodi is recognized as an ideal spot for growing Spanish varieties like Albarino and Tempranillo, Portugese varieties—namely Touriga Nacional—as well as many German, Italian and French varieties.
Soil types vary widely among Lodi’s seven sub-appellations (Cosumnes River, Alta Mesa, Deer Creek Hills, Borden Ranch, Jahant, Clements Hills and Mokelumne River). The eastern hills are clay-based and rocky and in the west, along the Mokelumne and Cosumnes Rivers, sandy and mineral-heavy soils support the majority of Lodi’s century-old own-rooted Zinfandel vineyards. Unique to Lodi are pink Rocklin-Jahant loam soils, mainly found in the Jahant sub-appellation.