Petite Sirah Update

Here is a rundown of some I've tried lately: EOS - The Reserve is great, dense and about $25/bottle. One of the best ones I've had. They have another more expensive one aged in some special French oak that was one of the most interesting wines I've ever tasted but was almost $50. I think it may need a couple years to soften and I may need a couple years to save up. Bogle - Great Value, $8 if you hunt around, kind of grapey Concannon - Supposed to be good ("first producer of Petite Sirah") but the bottle I had was harsh without much character. Maybe it was a bad year ($14). Guenoc - like Bogle but a couple bucks more Turley - I had one at their semi-annual event and it was fantastic but not worth the $125 they were asking. What wine is worth that much anyway? Castoro - decent, nice and dry but not that much going on ($15) Peachy Canyon - hopefully they'll do another like the last one (which is long gone) because it was great ($21). Tobin James - solid, decent body and not too fruity. Worth the $18. Wolff - you'll probably never find this probably but it's nice and under $20. Full and dry. Victor Hugo - about as good as the winery's silly name although some people I know swear by it. I'll have to give it another try.

Penman Springs - a small, Paso Robles producer. Similar to Wolff, this was good and around $16. Current release just about gone.

Malloy O'Neil - Another Paso Robles winery and this was very good. We tasted a bunch of their wines and they were all outstanding. The PS is about $25, which was about the average price for all their wines. They make a bunch of intense, high-alcohol reds so either you like that or you don't. The tasting room opened in mid-November 2005.

David Bruce - Supposed to be really good but only okay. I got it for about $13 at Costco and wouldn't buy it again. In the queue: Fife, Vinum, Rosenblum, Nadieu and Stag's Leap (if I can find it at a decent price)