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Antonio Galloni succeeds Robert Parker at The Wine Advocate as principle reviewer
and critic of California wines; our 2008 vintage is celebrated.
As we recently mentioned here, Robert Parker retired from his traditional role at The Wine Advocate as primary reviewer and wine critic, and his place was taken by one of his long standing proteges, Antonio Galloni. Naturally, such an important succession left questions as to how our wine would be reviewed. Little doubt is now left:
Denis Sutro left a successful career as a First Amendment trial lawyer to focus on wine. Sutro and his wife, Anne Carver, make some of the most unique Petite Sirahs in California. The estate's Palisades Vineyard is located in northeast Calistoga. The blocks used for the Petite Sirah were planted in 1968 and 1977, very old by Napa Valley standards. These wines are long on class and personality. Even better, they remain exceptionally well priced considering the quality of what is in the bottle. The 2008 Petite Sirahy is one of the most elegant, refined and utterly impeccable Petite Sirahs I have ever tasted. Blackberries, white flowers, licorice, and tar are some of the many nuances that flow from this fabulous wine. There is plenty of fruit here, yet the 2008 impresses for its impeccable balance and fabulous sense of harmony. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2023.
Score: 93+
In The Vineyard: Snakes and Rain
We have always kept cats. Until recently, we've had 5 battle-worn, tough cats who patrol the vineyard and keep down the gophers, mice and moles. Without the little rodents, the rattlesnakes have little to hunt and tend not to hang around. But, in the last couple of years the coyotes have taken 4 of our cats. Not coincidentally, we've seen more snakes. In fact, when a crew was thinning the fruit in our head-trained vines, twice on the same day they pushed their arms into a vine where a rattlesnake was hunting for birds' nests. Imagine the shock! We're in the market for more cats...
2011 has been an unusually challenging year in the vineyard. Cold and late rain persisted through the first week in June. Typically, the clusters bloom just about that time. And, each delicate flower requires about 10 days of gentle conditions to move from a flower to a self-pollinated, tiny grape. Many of the Cabernet vineyards in the valley had moved to bloom the previous week, and many of those vineyards experienced strong "shatter" (failure of the flower to "set" a grape). Friends are bemoaning losses of 20 - 50% of their crops. In this respect, we at Palisades Vineyard were very fortunate... our bloom took place literally starting the day after the last rain.
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