2009 Petite Sirah, Todd Brothers Ranch, Alexander Valley

History
Clearly, the vineyard at the Todd Brothers Ranch in Alexander Valley—with its steep slopes, bright red soil, and rocky terrain—is one of the most consistent vineyards in all of Sonoma County for the production of intense, lovely, characteristic Petite Sirah. It reliably produces one of our favorite Petite Sirahs in the entire region. Located in Geyserville, at the northern tip of the Alexander Valley, this west-facing site seems ideal for producing balanced, yet substantial, wines that are capable of very long-aging.

Production
This year, we harvested the Todd Brothers Ranch Petite Sirah along with the zinfandel grapes at the ranch. The grapes were trucked to the winery in ½ ton picking bins and then carefully sorted on a conveyor belt to pick out any less-than-perfect clusters on their way to the crusher.  At the fermenter, we pitchforked whole clusters into the tank (about 5% of the total volume) to help moderate the tannins and help produce lovely perfumed aromas of carbonic macerated grapes. 

We fermented the grapes using our traditional method of native yeast fermentation, using the yeasts on the surface of the grapes to ferment the grape must. This native yeast method maximizes flavor, color, and complexity from the grapes. At dryness, the wine was gently pressed in a membrane press and pumped to traditional 60-gallon older French oak barrels. 

The wine was aged for 14 months in barrels—we prefer the flavor of the fruit to not be overpowered by too much oak flavor, hence the older age of oak—so 95% of the barrels were three years old (or older).  This wine is 100% from the Todd Brothers Ranch, and is 100% Petite Sirah. We feel this wine should easily improve with ten or more years of bottle age.