2017 Le Vigne Petite Sirah, Appellation Series, Paso Robles
2016 vintage, 91 Points, “Editor’s Choice” from Wine Enthusiast 2018 vintage, 92 points, Orange County Fair
Tasting Notes
Pronounced aromas of dark berries, with a subtle hint of sweet spices from American oak, introduce saturated flavors of dried fig, cacao and allspice. The grippy, upfront tannins are packed with flavor for an everyday appeal.
Vintage Notes
The 2017 vintage was marked by a spring full of rain, bringing a renewed sense of vigor to long-stressed vines.
Slow-building heat capped the growing season with unrelenting high temperatures.
The apogee of harvest occurred with widely fluctuating diurnal temperatures, granting freedom over harvest decisions that the winemaker is seldom afforded.
Specs
Vintage: 2017
Varietal Composition: 100% Petite Sirah
Appellation: Paso Robles
Vineyard: 100% Domenico Estate Vineyard
Cooperage: Aged 22 months in 13% new American oak with medium and medium plus toast
Titrable Acidity: 0.7 g/L
Residual Sugar: 0.35 g/L
pH: 3.69
Alcohol: 14.5%
Harvest: October 18, 2017
Case Production: 545 cases bottled on February 21, 2020
What’s Included
4-bottles:
4x 2017 Le Vigne Petite Sirah, Appellation Series, Paso Robles
Case:
12x 2017 Le Vigne Petite Sirah, Appellation Series, Paso Robles
The Filippini family history in the Paso Robles area began in the early 1960’s when winery owner Sylvia Filippini’s family purchased the property where Le Vigne winery now stands. Hay and cattle were the main commodities until 1982, when the first grapevines were planted. That time was the catalyst for what evolved into the current Paso Robles wine region. Early on, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon were planted to supplement the growing demand of other wine growing regions like Napa and Sonoma. As the vines matured, growers and winemakers began to see real potential for the area with its unique soils, climate and coastal influence.
The grapes grown on the estate were highly regarded by local producers and always in demand. Recognizing the quality, the family began making wine with grapes from the property beginning in 1989. Then they built a state of the art winery in 1995 and developed additional vineyards in 1998. They expanded the winery’s varieties to include: Merlot, Syrah, Sangiovese and Cabernet Franc in addition to the original plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Additionally small blocks of Grenache, Petite Sirah, Malbec and Tannat were planted.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, MD, MI, MN, MO, MT, NV, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, TN, TX, VA, WA
Once again, I am the honored recipient of a lovely bottle of “rat” wine. The wine arrived sometime Friday morning. I hadn’t checked my personal e-mail for a couple of days so it was a pleasant surprise when I went downstairs to pick up a different package. Ooops! I need to be better about checking my e-mail (slacker!). Sadly, I missed an opportunity to have a friend join me in tasting at dinner on Friday night, though Italian probably wouldn’t have been an ideal pairing anyhow (more on that below).
Fair warning: I’m a bit under the weather so my sniffer and taster may not be in prime shape.
Saturday night:
Pop and pour – dark, inky garnet leaning to purple; no sediment but so dark I can’t see much beyond in a small initial pour. On swirling, narrow, closely spaced, very slow to develop/drop legs, whatever that may indicate.
Nose – alcohol up front (14.5%), dark fruit (think blackberry/blueberry range), something “woody”, some pepper, and maybe dark chocolate? There’s also a hint of something in the menthol/anise/licorice range but I can’t put my finger on it.
Taste – alcohol, peppery spice, fruit (at this point non-descript dark fruit), a healthy acid backbone, and plenty of tannin. Unfortunately, the only paring available was pizza, which was (for me) suboptimal. I really like grilled meat/BBQ with PS, in general.
After a couple of hours the alcohol did seem to dissipate and the fruit was a bit more present, though I still am struggling to pinpoint specific flavor notes.
Sunday night:
I had an early dinner with a friend, unfortunately without the bottle as we had been out and about all afternoon. I believe this would have been great paired with the brisket tacos I ordered. Alas, there were no leftovers, so in the best interest of the CaseMates community, I took one for the team and ordered some pulled pork, garlic mashed potatoes, and coleslaw to take home. Bottle was left corked, at room temp on the counter (my room temp is about 70).
Color/appearance unchanged. Nose: less alcohol than yesterday, same dark fruit and pepper.
Taste: it’s still quite tart, definitely has tannins. The fat from the pulled pork definitely helps cut the acid. I’m struggling a bit to find specific fruits. As a point of reference, I also can’t identify any garlic in the garlic mashed potatoes, but I can totally taste the BBQ sauce, so I think my senses are off.
It’s definitely better IMO with the BBQ than the pizza. Oh…and when I wiped a drip from the side of the bottle with my thumb, it left a light pink/purple stained stripe…so definitely PS!
I’ve reserved a bit for a night 3 taste tomorrow (will likely pair with the pulled pork and garlic mashed potatoes again)…stay tuned!! Hopefully my nose and taste buds will cooperate more!
My best guess as far as aging potential is that this is quite young and could use some cellar time to develop. Having said that, I can’t tell if this is built for the long haul or if it peaks in -5 yrs. Someone with for more PS experience than I would need to chime in for that.
As always, thanks to WineDavid, Alice, and the folks at LeVigne Winery for the opportunity to taste and report!
Cheers!
As promised, I 'm back for night 3.
I don’t have much new to report. On the nose, alcohol has mostly dissipated leaving dark berries, something “woody” which @i8dacat may have pinpointed as cedar, though I may call it closer to the stemmy notes you get with whole cluster wines, and I am now getting some light floral notes. Taste still has some zingy tartness, berries, and medium tannin.
That’s all I’ve got…bottle is empty!
Cheers!
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2017 Le Vigne Paso Robles Petite Sirah - $45 = 23.06%
Visual: Dark inky red, very bold and intimidating looking - what am I getting into? Alcohol content is somewhat high at 14.5, there was a lot we are expecting out of this.
Scent: Before giving a big swirl around the glass, the nose was very subtle and not too much jumping out at you. After a few vigorous swirls a lot more jumps out at you: immediately I picked up some cedar, hay, light floral aromas, dark berries and a hint of cherry.
Taste: Compared to visual inspection, the wife and I were expecting a lot out of this but were really surprised at how subtle the entire wine was. We were expecting something big and bold, something to jump out at us but we found the wine very well mannered. Wine had medium tannins with a delayed dry mouth feel to it, nothing that would peel your lips to the top of your teeth, but again…well mannered.
We did pair the wine with a grilled tri-tip and salad combo and the wine played very well with that combo.
After letting the wine breathe a bit more it opened up a whole lot, with full floral notes on the nose, some tartness on the tongue and lots more tannins.
Overall we were thinking this wine was a bit young and could definitely use some time however, after looking back at this wine we are more inclined to call this a well balanced wine rather than subtle, where the high alcohol content doesnt jump out at you and encourages 2020 type pours, the tannins don’t pull your teeth back for that selfie, or even high acidity. We consider this a crowd pleaser that plays very well with grilled food (just in time for summer) and opens up and rewards those with patience to allow it to breathe.
Considering the price, for what its worth, we are in for a case and willing to split with any So-Cal folks.
I don’t know nuthin about birthin- well, wines, but when I see “2016 vintage, 91 Points, “Editor’s Choice” from Wine Enthusiast, 2018 vintage, 92 points, Orange County Fair”, I have to ask how many point the 2017 got. Just curious - maybe no one rated it or I just missed it in the description.
There’s nothing on CT either,
Usually when you see wineries do this hold back, it’s either a bad vintage or needs extra aging in the bottle.
And from the limited notes above it could be both!
Most the time I shy away from them.
2017 Le Vigne Petite Sirah, Appellation Series, Paso Robles
2016 vintage, 91 Points, “Editor’s Choice” from Wine Enthusiast
2018 vintage, 92 points, Orange County Fair
Tasting Notes
Vintage Notes
Specs
What’s Included
4-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not for sale online, $324/case MSRP
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, MD, MI, MN, MO, MT, NV, NM, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, TN, TX, VA, WA
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Jul 26 - Friday, Jul 30
Le Vigne Paso Robles Petite Sirah
4 bottles for $64.99 $16.25/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $149.99 $12.50/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
2017 Le Vigne Paso Robles Petite Sirah
2017 LeVigne Petite Sirah, Paso Robles
Greetings Casemateys!
Once again, I am the honored recipient of a lovely bottle of “rat” wine. The wine arrived sometime Friday morning. I hadn’t checked my personal e-mail for a couple of days so it was a pleasant surprise when I went downstairs to pick up a different package. Ooops! I need to be better about checking my e-mail (slacker!). Sadly, I missed an opportunity to have a friend join me in tasting at dinner on Friday night, though Italian probably wouldn’t have been an ideal pairing anyhow (more on that below).
Fair warning: I’m a bit under the weather so my sniffer and taster may not be in prime shape.
Saturday night:
Pop and pour – dark, inky garnet leaning to purple; no sediment but so dark I can’t see much beyond in a small initial pour. On swirling, narrow, closely spaced, very slow to develop/drop legs, whatever that may indicate.
Nose – alcohol up front (14.5%), dark fruit (think blackberry/blueberry range), something “woody”, some pepper, and maybe dark chocolate? There’s also a hint of something in the menthol/anise/licorice range but I can’t put my finger on it.
Taste – alcohol, peppery spice, fruit (at this point non-descript dark fruit), a healthy acid backbone, and plenty of tannin. Unfortunately, the only paring available was pizza, which was (for me) suboptimal. I really like grilled meat/BBQ with PS, in general.
After a couple of hours the alcohol did seem to dissipate and the fruit was a bit more present, though I still am struggling to pinpoint specific flavor notes.
Sunday night:
Bottle was left corked, at room temp on the counter (my room temp is about 70).
I had an early dinner with a friend, unfortunately without the bottle as we had been out and about all afternoon. I believe this would have been great paired with the brisket tacos I ordered. Alas, there were no leftovers, so in the best interest of the CaseMates community, I took one for the team and ordered some pulled pork, garlic mashed potatoes, and coleslaw to take home.
Color/appearance unchanged. Nose: less alcohol than yesterday, same dark fruit and pepper.
Taste: it’s still quite tart, definitely has tannins. The fat from the pulled pork definitely helps cut the acid. I’m struggling a bit to find specific fruits. As a point of reference, I also can’t identify any garlic in the garlic mashed potatoes, but I can totally taste the BBQ sauce, so I think my senses are off.
It’s definitely better IMO with the BBQ than the pizza. Oh…and when I wiped a drip from the side of the bottle with my thumb, it left a light pink/purple stained stripe…so definitely PS!
I’ve reserved a bit for a night 3 taste tomorrow (will likely pair with the pulled pork and garlic mashed potatoes again)…stay tuned!! Hopefully my nose and taste buds will cooperate more!
My best guess as far as aging potential is that this is quite young and could use some cellar time to develop. Having said that, I can’t tell if this is built for the long haul or if it peaks in -5 yrs. Someone with for more PS experience than I would need to chime in for that.
As always, thanks to WineDavid, Alice, and the folks at LeVigne Winery for the opportunity to taste and report!
Cheers!
As promised, I 'm back for night 3.
I don’t have much new to report. On the nose, alcohol has mostly dissipated leaving dark berries, something “woody” which @i8dacat may have pinpointed as cedar, though I may call it closer to the stemmy notes you get with whole cluster wines, and I am now getting some light floral notes. Taste still has some zingy tartness, berries, and medium tannin.
That’s all I’ve got…bottle is empty!
Cheers!
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: Tax & Shipping not included in savings calculations)
2017 Le Vigne Paso Robles Petite Sirah - $45 = 23.06%
grateful-compromising-knot
Lab rat here:
2017 Petite Sirah, Le Vigne
Visual: Dark inky red, very bold and intimidating looking - what am I getting into? Alcohol content is somewhat high at 14.5, there was a lot we are expecting out of this.
Scent: Before giving a big swirl around the glass, the nose was very subtle and not too much jumping out at you. After a few vigorous swirls a lot more jumps out at you: immediately I picked up some cedar, hay, light floral aromas, dark berries and a hint of cherry.
Taste: Compared to visual inspection, the wife and I were expecting a lot out of this but were really surprised at how subtle the entire wine was. We were expecting something big and bold, something to jump out at us but we found the wine very well mannered. Wine had medium tannins with a delayed dry mouth feel to it, nothing that would peel your lips to the top of your teeth, but again…well mannered.
We did pair the wine with a grilled tri-tip and salad combo and the wine played very well with that combo.
After letting the wine breathe a bit more it opened up a whole lot, with full floral notes on the nose, some tartness on the tongue and lots more tannins.
Overall we were thinking this wine was a bit young and could definitely use some time however, after looking back at this wine we are more inclined to call this a well balanced wine rather than subtle, where the high alcohol content doesnt jump out at you and encourages 2020 type pours, the tannins don’t pull your teeth back for that selfie, or even high acidity. We consider this a crowd pleaser that plays very well with grilled food (just in time for summer) and opens up and rewards those with patience to allow it to breathe.
Considering the price, for what its worth, we are in for a case and willing to split with any So-Cal folks.
Cheers!
@i8dacat Missed you guys on Saturday!
/giphy agile-upsetting-magpie
I don’t know nuthin about birthin- well, wines, but when I see “2016 vintage, 91 Points, “Editor’s Choice” from Wine Enthusiast, 2018 vintage, 92 points, Orange County Fair”, I have to ask how many point the 2017 got. Just curious - maybe no one rated it or I just missed it in the description.
There’s nothing on CT either,
Usually when you see wineries do this hold back, it’s either a bad vintage or needs extra aging in the bottle.
And from the limited notes above it could be both!
Most the time I shy away from them.