2021 Lytton Estate Petite Sirah

Deep, dark, inky purple in color. Nose of freshly cracked pepper, ripe blackberry, violets, cocoa and minerality. Juicy blue and black fruit on the palate with well coated tannins and a lengthy finish. SR (2/23)

A dry winter brought 13” of rain. All eight petite sirah parcels were harvested between September first and September twenty-fourth and fermented separately. Of those, seven were chosen for their depth of color and rich texture. To manage tannin extraction, pump overs were limited to once daily. Built to last, this lovely, powerful wine will age twelve to fifteen years. SR (3/23)

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: 14 inches (below normal)
Bloom: Early May
Weather: A dry winter and spring stressed the vines, limiting yields and concentrating flavors.

Harvest Dates: 1 – 24 September
Grapes: Average Brix 23.3˚
TA: 6.0 g/L
pH: 3.77
Fermentation: Whole berry fermentation. Natural primary and secondary; limited pump-overs to once daily.
Barrels: 100% air-dried American oak barrels (15% new, 10% one year old, 12% three years old, 22% four years old, and 41% five-plus years old).
Aging: Sixteen months in barrel

Hand-harvested; organic, estate-grown grapes; destemmed, whole berry fermented on the native yeasts, followed by full malolactic on the naturally-occurring bacteria; oak from barrel aging; minimum effective sulfur for this wine (35 ppm at crush; 86 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.

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