2020 Lytton Estate Petite Sirah

Midnight purple in color with medium-full to full body. Rich black currant and plum on the nose. Complex and well-structured, with supple tannins, juicy bramble fruit, and notes of cardamom spice and smoked meat. MB (6/23)

Petite Sirah is most frequently a complementary variety to zinfandel in traditional field blends. At Lytton Estate, since 1992, we have made it as a stand alone wine. Here in the loamy-clay soils, it thrives, producing compact clusters of very small, concentrated berries. True to the nature of this grape, the 2020 is deeply colored, rustic and capable of aging for at least ten years. JO (4/22)

The oldest petite sirah vines on our Lytton Estate were planted in 1901 and the youngest in 2008. We made our first wine from the property in 1972. In 2002, we began bottling portions of the petite sirah as a separate wine for a limited release. Up until then it had always been included in the Lytton Springs Zinfandel. In 2003 we made another limited release and in 2009 our first national release.

Rainfall: 8 inches (below normal)
Bloom: Late May
Weather: Winter rains were light this year. Yields were average, with good ripeness.

Harvest Dates: 7 – 10 September
Grapes: Average Brix 23.5˚
TA: 6.44 g/L
pH: 3.68
Fermentation: Whole berry fermentation. Natural primary and secondary; limited pump-overs to once daily.
Barrels: 100% air-dried American oak barrels (25% new and 75% five years old).
Aging: Seventeen months in barrel

Hand-harvested organic estate-grown grapes, de-stemmed and whole-berry fermented on the native yeasts; full malolactic on the naturally-occurring bacteria; oak from barrel aging; minimum effective sulfur for this wine (35 ppm at crush, 74 ppm over the course of aging); pad filtered at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.

Wine Enthusiast: 95 Points + Cellar Selection “Amazing aromas of black figs, black pepper and star anise grab attention with the first whiff, before dense, layered blackberries, dark chocolate and espresso flavors coat the palate. Firm, thick tannins and a superdark color are typical of the grape variety, and bode well for further aging. Best from 2027–2040.” -Jim Gordon (November 2023)

OwenBargreen.com: 94 Points “The 2020 ‘Lytton Estate’ Petite Sirah is a fantastic wine made in a tough vintage. The wine is loaded with concentrated huckleberry, black tea, blackberry cobbler and Turkish coffee flavors that combine with a fantastic mineral backbone and firm tannins. A slumbering giant right now, this needs a few more years of bottle aging to be fully awoken — but the potential is there. Drink 2025-2035.” -Owen Bargreen (October 2023)

Vinous: 93 Points “The 2020 Petite Sirah Lytton Estate is superb, and also the highlight of the 2020s at Ridge. Deep and resonant in the glass, the 2020 impresses with its balance, something that was very hard to achieve in 2020. Scents of blackberry, grilled herbs, menthol, lavender and mocha are immediately alluring. There is maybe a bit of graininess in the tannin, but that is a pretty small critique within the context of the year.” -Antonio Galloni (October 2023)

Wine & Spirits: 90 Points “The generations of petite sirah vines sharing the ground at Lytton were planted from 1901 up through 2008. They are stalwart vines making a stalwart wine, with a concentrated depth of flavor that does not budge from its tannic cave. For now, those tannins dry all the moisture out of the mouth, though they can’t completely hide the richness of the wine. Good petite usually takes a decade or two to show its best. This one demands it.” -J.G. (March 2024)

The Wine Advocate: 90 Points “The 2020 Petite Sirah Lytton Estate is bursting with blueberry, boysenberry, violet, woodsmoke and cast-iron aromas. The full-bodied palate is dense and broody, its powerful, blue fruit structured by clay-textured tannins and rounded acidity, and it has a long, perfumed finish. It’s showing very well despite the challenges of the vintage, but it may be best enjoyed on the earlier side.” -Erin Brooks (September 2024)

See all food pairing recipes we have created specifically for this wine.