Bogle Petite Sirah Port 2008

If you haven’t come to this conclusion yet, I’m a bit of an oddball. I suppose I’m not special holding that title but I don’t like mainstream things all that much. I like 1950’s jazz on LP, goth women, expensive rum, fart jokes, and wines that not many people have heard of. While I was snooping through my supplier’s website, I happened upon a wine that was a new style from an old favorite. Bogle vineyards makes great affordable wines, Cab, Chard, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sauv Blanc, Riesling, Petite Sirah, Old Vine Zinfandel, Essential Red, and the seasonal favorite Phantom. They’re all good. I know because I’ve tried them all. The one that caught me off guard was their Petite Sirah Port. I saw it and said out loud to no one, “I kinda need to get one of those…for research.”

I’ve consumed a lot of Port wine. Most of it has been from Portugal and made with grapes that I’ll never be able to pronounce. There are about 80 different grapes that Portuguese winemakers can use in any one vintage of Port. They don’t use that many, but they can if they wanted to. There are an ever increasing number of wineries from all over the globe that are making Port from grapes that grow in their area like Cabernet, Syrah, and Petite Sirah. Those bolder wines tend to hold up to the process of turning good wine into great Port. Geyser Peak has a fantastic Shiraz Tawny and Elyse has an equally brilliant Cabernet Port. One that can easily keep up with those dessert wines is Bogle’s Petite Syrah Port which is a ruby style Port as opposed to a tawny style. Ruby is young and fresh, tawny is older, tanner, and more complex. (That’s the way too overly simple explanation of Port.)

I received the wine on a Thursday, took it home to my wine cabinet and let it settle down for a few days. I’ve ridden on delivery trucks so I know some of the things that drivers can do while on the road. Shaking up good wine is one of them. Not on purpose, of course, but it happens. I let the bottle rest on its side in the dark cabinet that used to be my grandfather’s 1950’s television cabinet. The black and white TV was removed and wine racks were installed. It is my favorite piece of furniture. It was Sunday night before I opened it and the aroma of old juice from fat grapes smelled quite nice. Petite Sirah, or Durif as it is also known, has a plummy taste with heavy tannins and some black pepper and spice notes to top it off. During the fermentation process, brandy is added to halt the yeast from fully making it table wine. This jacks up the alcohol while maintaining the wine’s young fresh taste profile. This particular wine was the 2008 vintage that they released in 2011. It sat in a barrel for that long breathing the winery air in and out of the American oak barrels. This let the characteristics of the wood blend with the wine as it mellowed. The overall taste was truly enjoyable. The rich plum notes found in Petite Sirah transformed into a black cherry, dark chocolate, and elderberry heaven elixir. It had the faintest of spice notes, but the oak must have sucked the spice out and replaced it with a hint of blonde tobacco. It might sound like a weird combination to some, but I assure you that it made up a wonderful dessert wine. Their website stated that this port could easily be cellared for up to 20 years. I totally believe that. I think I’ll buy another bottle or two and rest them in granddad's old TV cabinet for a decade or two. You can be sure I’ll review this wine again when I pop each one open. Cheers.

See more of their wines at http://boglewinery.com/

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It's a 500ml Bottle!