I’ve referred to it in the past as “the beast.” Possessing tannins that need to be tamed through intelligent winemaking, Petite Sirah can truly be a monster of a wine. One of the least-well -known red grape varieties that are commonly grown in California, it does not command legions of rabid followers like those who attended today’s ZAP Zinfandel festival, or the loyal drinkers of Cabernet, or even those who swear by Syrah, from which it takes its misleading name. In the right hands, however, Petite Sirah can be a stunning wine — deep, resonant, and rich.

Petite Sirah has been grown in California for a long time, but apart from some limited success in the 1970s at the hands of Carl Doumani and Stags’ Leap Winery, wines made exclusively from this grape variety never really earned the respect or attention of mainstream wine lovers in any significant way.

Yet producers all over the state continue, quietly, to make Petite Sirahs, and many have no trouble selling them at all to an equally quiet, but passionate following of wine lovers.

And occasionally, these producers, not so quietly serve up their wines with roast meats and chocolate for anyone who dares drink on the dark side, if you’ll pardon the expression. The next opportunity you have to sample their wares will be Friday, February 19th, when the society of winegrowers and makers known as P.S. I Love You holds its annual tasting at The Rock Wall Wine Company in Alameda.

By then you should be:

a) sufficiently recovered from the Zap Zinfandel festival

b) in the mood for something other than Zinfandel

So go check it out. Who knows, perhaps you’ll fall in love too. The event web site has a list of the wineries pouring this year as well as a list of the tasty treats that await you in addition to wine.

P.S. I Love You Dark and Delicious Tasting
February 19th, 2010
6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
The Rock Wall Wine Company
2301 Monarch Street
Alameda, CA 94501 (map)

Tickets are $60 per person and in the past they have sold out. If available, tickets will be sold at the door for $70. They should be purchased in advance online.

My usual recommendations for such public tastings apply. Wear dark clothes; arrive well slept and with food in your stomach (or chow down when you first get there); drink lots of water; and SPIT if you want to actually learn anything and enjoy yourself. These are big wines, often high in alcohol.

More: continued here

After the Rain
It’s been awful wet these past few weeks in wine country so I thought I’d share this image from Andy Katz. Perhaps this weekend we’ll get a little sun. — Alder Yarrow

INSTRUCTIONS:
Download this image by right-clicking on the image and selecting “save link as” or “save target as” and then select the desired location on your computer to save the image. Mac users can also just click the image to open the full size view and drag that to their desktops.

To set the image as your desktop wallpaper, Mac users should follow these instructions, while PC users should follow these.

PRINTS:
If you are interested in owning an archive quality, limited edition print of this image please contact photographer Andy Katz through his web site.

ABOUT VINOGRAPHY IMAGES:
Vinography regularly features images by photographer Andy Katz for readers’ personal use as desktop backgrounds or screen savers. We hope you enjoy them. Please respect the copyright on these images.

More: continued here

File this under things I always meant to do but have never gotten around to…. Every year an organization called the Geoffrey Roberts Trust picks several people to give about $5000 to so they can travel someplace in the world to eat, drink, and write about it, or do something that makes a positive difference in the culinary or beverage world.

Yes, you heard that right, you could get $5000 towards some fabulous culinary or wine adventure provided you had a good reason to go other than simply wanting to see how much Barolo you could drink before falling over.

Geoffrey Roberts was a lawyer-turned-wine-importer whose personality left him endeared to many, and whose passion for wine and food left few tables unoccupied or bottles untasted. The award set up in his honor after his untimely death at 46 is given each year to commemorate his life and his passions.

Applicants must simply be prepared to demonstrate that “by winning the travel bursary the winner is likely to make a positive different to their chosen field of food, drink and/or travel rather than simply advancing their own knowledge or career.” Other than that, there are few criteria to win.

Past winners have included a baker interested in learning artisan techniques, a biochemist studying a particular kind of pineapple and the dishes made from it, a Master of Wine student studying indigenous grape varieties in Eastern Europe, a cider brewer interested in sharing techniques with brewers in other countries… the list goes on and on.

I highly encourage anyone who is truly passionate about doing something in the wine or food world (other than simply imbibing) to apply. Who knows, maybe I’ll even get around to it myself this year.

See more at http://www.geoffreyrobertsaward.com/

More: continued here