2022 Petite Sirah
This is a HUGE tasting wine, and nothing compares to the result of a well-made Paso Robles’ Petite. It’s got everything a Petite Sirah fan would want, including huge tannins that are lengthy and smooth, followed by flavors of dark fruits. The mid-palate is intermingled with a plethora of oaky bouquets. The nose burst forth with lavender flower and all-spice pepper, a combination that is unforgettable and an accurate representation of Paso Petite done right. The aromas are dominated by black coffee, smoked bacon, grilled meats, marshmallow campfire, and candied berries thrown in there too. It’s an amazing wine and calls out to be enjoyed with a chipotle-sauced cheeseburger or a meat lover’s pizza. It tastes great upon release and will continue to get better and better; it’s the most ageable wine we produce.
100% of the winemaking took place at Sculpterra Winery, from crush to bottle. The entire production never left our facility. First, the grapes were destemmed, followed by the primary fermentation process. A portion of this wine is fermented and aged in new large format puncheon barrels, significantly helping stabilize the wine’s deep color and soften its immense mouthfeel. Three yeast strains were used, splitting the wine up into three lots and enhancing its intricate taste. We aged the wine in 88% new oak barrels! That’s A LOT of new oak and enhanced immense bouquets of smoke, char, chocolate, caramel candy, coconut, and cedar flavors. Frankel Vineyards Petite Sirah was exclusively aged in all-new 475-liter AP John’s American Oak barrels. These barrels are amazing, pristine barrels, crafted with elegance and adding delicate woody notes that are just stunning! Rafael’s Petite was aged in primarily new Demptos Hungarian 225-liter barrels. Demptos Hungarian barrels add notes of vanilla, butterscotch, spicy pepper, and a sweet, rich mouthfeel on the finish. We aged the wine for 22 months in these barrels before final blending, filtering, and bottling took place in mid-August 2024. We bottled a grand total of just 465 cases, and this wine is set to be released at the end of 202
| Download Wine Notes |
| Vintage | 2022 |
| Varietal | 100% Peite Sirah |
| Varietal Composition | 100% Petite Sirah |
| Appellation | Paso Robles |
| Vineyard | Frankel Family Estate |
| Acid | 0.66 g/100 ml |
| PH | 3.55 |
| Residual Sugar | 0.10 g/100 ml |
| Alcohol | 15.00% |
| Volume | 750 ml |
| Bottling Date | 08/15/2024 |
| Cases Produced | 465 |
Paso Robles is known to be the best Petite Sirah growing region in the world! Our 2019 Petite Sirah won best Petite Sirah in the Central Coast Wine Competition, competing against the very best Petite Sirahs in the area. This means we have one of the best Petite Sirahs available…anywhere! Sculpterra’s 2022 Petite Sirah is a wine for the long haul. It’s wonderfully dark and packed with tannins. This wine is super ageable, probably reaching its peak flavors by 2030. The 2022 vintage is a wonderful blend of two very different vineyards: our very own Frankel Family Estate and Rafael Jimenez’s San Miguel Vineyard. The differences are sticking in these two vineyards. While Frankel vineyards produce big berries and tight clusters, Rafael’s fruit is tiny and features loose, sparse clusters. The scorching summer of 2022 was a GOOD THING for Petite, making it very easy to produce high sugar in the grapes. Frankel Vineyard Petite ripened early and was harvested on September 15th 2022. Rafael’s fruit ripened late in the growing season and finally came in on October 14th 2022. Both vineyards are meticulously hand manicured, from pruning, leaf pulling, and cluster thinning to the final touch with hand harvesting.
