2005 Concannon Limited Reserve Petite Sirah

The facts:

2005 Concannon Limited Release Petite Sirah
Region: Central Coast, California
Winemaker: Adam Richardson
Variety: Petite Sirah



This wine is one of our regular stand-bys. We almost always have it on hand and drink it pretty often. We first tasted it at the DC International Wine & Food Festival a couple of years ago. We wandered by a table that was tasting wines from Big House and Concannon. The guy who was pouring the wine told us the Big House wines are more popular, but we liked the Concannon Limited Release Petite Sirah better than the Big House wines. And yes, that is a mouthful (no pun intended). I’m saying “Limited Release Petite Sirah” deliberately because the Concannon winery makes more than one petite sirah. The Limited Release one is the only one we’ve tried, but they also produce a Reserve Petite Sirah and a Heritage Petite Sirah. I’m also deliberately spelling it the way they spell it – makes it easier for you to find online, should you be searching for it.

At the time, when we first tasted it, neither of us could believe there was actually a California wine that we enjoyed. Now, that could have had something to do with the amount of wine we had already consumed that day, so when we saw it at the grocery store (yes folks, even Safeway carries it), we decided to give it another try. And we were pleasantly surprised once again. So we tend to keep it on hand. I’d call it a good sipping wine – not one that requires or demands food.

So here’s my take:

The wine smells dark red, maybe a little purple, with just a bit of the stringent alcohol scent/sensation. Upon sipping, it’s spicy and more complex than I’d expect from a wine in this price range and I think it has a rather long finish. It's on the dry side and I might call this one full-bodied.

As an aside, I’d love to have someone in the industry give me a light-bodied, medium-bodied, and full-bodied wine one after the other so I can feel the difference. Maybe then I'd actually get it. I had an experience like that at the International Wine Expo some years ago, when a pourer perfectly demonstrated for me what oak smells and tastes like. Ever since then I've been able to smell oak on a wine and now I know that I dislike oak aging of white wines – especially American oak. Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled program....

Drinking the LRPS (that’s the texting shorthand for Limited Release Petite Sirah, heheh) with Italian food (red sauce) made it taste a bit more on the purple side than red and made it less dry; kind of mellowed (dulled?) it out a bit. It definitely seems less complex and less spicy after the red sauce.

Price point:
$10 - $14 per bottle

2005 Concannon Limited Reserve Petite Syrah

So I have a dirty little secret. It weighs on me heavily at times, and today is the day that I free myself from its crushing weight. Given that, I think perhaps its best to just put it out there before I go on.

Our house/table wine is Californian and I love it dearly.

Yes…yes… I know it may come as a shock, and I can certainly understand why it does. I spend more time talking shit about Californian wines than I do writing sonnets about French ones. And while I am sure this admission will bring jeers, this wine is certainly worth enduring the mockery that comes from my love affair with a left coast wine. That being said, we ran into this wine as the DC International Wine Expo a couple of years ago, and to this date I don’t think any wine we have had at a large venue tasting has had such a a lasting impact on me. It’s the Concannon Limited Release Petite Syrah, and I think its wonderful.

There I said it. Its like a weight has been lifted from me.

The gentleman who was pouring it was pushing the distributing wine group's Big House series of jail themed wines (true story….) and mentioned that the Concannon was the lesser known “off brand” (As a slight tangent, I cant think of anything that makes less sense than jail themed wines other than say….a Wookie on Endor, but hey, they do silly things out in Cali so who am I to judge). As you would expect the big house wines sucked being single note, huge and jammy as is the coin that Californian wines typically trade in. It was this off brand however that really did capture my attention, and I dare say undying devotion. The moniker off brand does this wine a great disservice, but hey, that’s how it was presented.

First and foremost it’s a Petite Syrah. For those of you not in the wine industry, a Petite Syrah is basically like a Syrah (or Shiraz) that doesn’t suck….or maybe I am just editorializing a tad. Regardless, the wine is a rich red tending more towards the purple, and the nose is fruity and light. The flavor is where it shines for me. I find it incredibly soft on the palette, so much so, in fact, that you can fill your mouth with wine holding it there without a hint of tannins or alcohol, simply meditating on the soothing blend of soft complexity. With air pulled across said mouthful, again we are treated to a dizzyingly complex array of flavors and aromas without the least hint of overbearing tannins. The complexity, the softness, and ease with which this wine goes about it's busniss all belie its modest price tag, and are what make it shine in otherwise crowded wine racks.

For the record I am well aware that I am swooning over a $13 wine. Did I mention the price? While not a dollar twice (but granting, that the reaction is indeed satisfaction) the Concannon is a steal. It’s widely available, and infinitely drinkable, and for those nights that you want a glass (or three) of wine and don’t feel like getting into something new you cant beat it. It’s also widely available, finding its home in most reputable wine shops, as well as grocery stores.

I love it, and don’t think I have had more bottles of any single wine other than this one. Which makes sense, because if I had the same number of bottles of $30 bottles of wine, I would need to force Kerri to get a second job. To summarize, you are unlikely to find a wine of the complexity and character in this price range. And if by some miracle you did manage to make that happen, it’s likely that you would be telling me about it when you showed me your pictures of the Loch Ness Monster, Leprechauns and Big foot.

Run out to buy a bottle or six now.