Gutshot Wine Rating

Special thanks to Loweeel of The PSychos' Path for this insight into the PSycho's PSyche!

Hi, I'm Loweeel, PSommelier over at The PSychos' Path (are you sensing a pattern yet?), the one and only blog devoted to Petite Sirah. My good friend "Octocat" asked me to share how I "rate" wine with you. Tonight's sample is the 2001 Petite Sirah (Napa Valley) from Blockheadia Ringnosii. I picked out this particular bottle because the rear label claims that it is a "rustic, provincial wine[] with characteristics of peppercorn, earth and game with the influence of oak flavors kept to a minimum." I got this bottle for fairly cheap ($17.25) on winebid.

There's not a lot about it on CellarTracker -- the rating is 89.7 on three ratings, only one of which has notes (89); the other two are 89 and 90, by the same user, without notes. The ratings range from October 2004 through December 2005, so they're not particularly helpful with this wine.

As Gary Vaynerchuk keeps emphasizing, rating is very subjective. I'll be the first to admit that the results of my ratings are neither particularly consistent nor rigorous, and have a lot to do with my impression of the wine at any given time, how true it is to a platonic ideal of the variety or wine region, what food I'm having it with, my mood, and even the stemware. But what I do try to do when rating wine is describe in objective terms, or as close as I can get, what I'm smelling and tasting at any given time. Often, I'll keep a time series, and note how the wine changes -- e.g., write down the sensory data at pop'n'pour, and after every X minutes in the decanter. I also try to keep track of the stemware I use and how long I decant the wine.

Upon opening, there was some nice sediment attached to the cork, so I busted out the strainer/funnel, which trapped more sediment Other sediment remained in the bottle This being PS, I didn't want a blank data series, so I decanted the wine for about 2 hours 15 mins in the WineCountryConnect decanter before pouring my first glass into Riedel Vinum Syrah stemware I paired the wine with Buffalo London Broil
(marinated in cheap red wine for 90 mins, then packed in kosher salt for ~45 mins before grilled medium rare) sliced and drizzed with my famous Solera-style steak sauce, accompanied by sauteed spinach cooked in balsamic vinegar and red wine with cumin and pepper.

Upon pouring, dark ruby translucent rim, brilliant clarity without a hint of cloudiness (as might be expected from all the sediment that precipitated out of solution), but a very dense, deep, dark red color.

On the nose, not screaming aromatics, but quite pleasant. Blackberries, anise, pencil (graphite and wood), just a hint of tar. No real oaky or vanilla/cinnamon aromas.

On the attack, blackberries, black pepper, plums, softening in favor of the pepper and graphite towards the midpalate. Gets a bit liqueur-like right before the finish, which adds black raspberry and black cherry to the mix. Tannins are perfect right now, sweet and slightly chewy, noticeable but not dominating, and as usual with PS, the acidity is excellent as well, cleansing the palate for the next bite of food. The finish is about 20 seconds.

The wine really shines with some meat in the mouth, the fruit and leanness complimenting the gamy grass-fed buffalo.

My gut is that this wine is just short of 4/5 stars. Here's why -- The fruit, tannins, and acidity are all in balance. It's true to varietal in color, flavor profile, acidity, and tannins. The oak is extremely subtle, and pairs well with the food. It does nothing wrong (so loses no points), has an intruiging nose, and some layers and depths of flavors and scents that I can't quite pick apart yet, but which will reveal themselves more fully as the wine continues to open up.

And I'm right -- the 2nd glass is much more open. Blackberry pie filling on the nose, with a few bits of what smells like game meat in there as well, on top of the graphite from before. The more intense flavors carry over to the palate as well, fleshing out what was in the first glass a lean but enjoyable wine. It's still elegant and balanced, just more muscled -- it went up a weight class or two, but is still in wrestling shape. 3rd glass is more of the same -- a bit of cream from the Maltolactic fermentation, but still nice sharp acidity and a nice blackberries-and-cream finish. If I had to put a number on it, I'd give it a 91 -- it does everything well, has nice evolution as it opens, and shows wonderful complexity without being too big to have with food. And of course, I'd be lying if I said that the price were not a factor.

If you see this on winebid, or elsewhere, snatch it up if it's cheap. It's a nice bottle of wine.