2020 - Ridge Lytton Estate Petite Sirah, Dry Creek Valley

The 2020 Petite Sirah Lytton Estate is superb, and also the highlight of the 2020s at Ridge. Deep and resonant in the glass, the 2020 impresses with its balance, something that was very hard to achieve in 2020. Scents of blackberry, grilled herbs, menthol, lavender and mocha are immediately alluring. There is maybe a bit of graininess in the tannin, but that is a pretty small critique within the context of the year.

The 2020 Petite Sirah Lytton Estate is bursting with blueberry, boysenberry, violet, woodsmoke and cast-iron aromas. The full-bodied palate is dense and broody, its powerful, blue fruit structured by clay-textured tannins and rounded acidity, and it has a long, perfumed finish. It’s showing very well despite the challenges of the vintage, but it may be best enjoyed on the earlier side.

Full bottle 1,333g. From the wonderfully detailed label: 'Bottled May 2022. Petite Sirah is most frequently a complementary variety to Zinfandel in traditional field blends. At Lytton Estate, since 2002, we have made it as a standalone wine. Here, in the loamy-clay soils, it thrives, producing compact clusters of very small, concentrated berries. True to the nature of this grape, the 2020 is deeply coloured, rustic and capable of aging for at least ten years ... Ingredients: hand-harvested organic estate grapes, indigenous yeast, naturally occurring malolactic bacteria, oak from barrel-ageing, minimum effective SO2.' Inky purple. Dense, brooding, and very leathery. Gum-climbing tannin, mouth-watering acidity, and loads of spice. Very chewy. The complexity is excellent but this wine absolutely demands food. (SCJ)