Varietal
Port is a fortified wine – either red or white – that is created by adding brandy during fermentation to kill the yeasts, which arrests the fermentation and produces a very sweet wine that is high in alcohol. Discovery of Port is cr3edited to an Englishman from Liverpool who sent his sons to Portugal in search of wine after King William had effectively halted French imports to England with the levy of high taxes. The sons happened upon a monastery where they discovered the abbot adding brandy during rather than after fermentation. The resulting sweet, alcoholic wines were immediately popular in parched England. We have made this port using primarily Petite Sirah, an intensely flavored red varietal noted for its strong tannic structure and inky color. We’ve added Primitivo (also known as Zinfandel) for spice.

Vinification
Strict tannin management is a must with Petite Sirah. The lots for this wine fermented for five days before being arrested by brandy fortification. The wine was pressed to tank for four days of settling before transfer to American oak barrels to age for 15 months. The wine was bottled, unfiltered in January 2002. Alcohol 19.0%, Total acidity .53, pH 3.59, Residual sugar 7.8%.

Tasting Notes
This is a huge and complex wine showing chocolate, blackberry, plum, bramble and spice aromas and flavors tinged with the mellow vanillin notes from barrel aging. Reminiscent of vintage ports, ours gets its strong tannic backbone from the Petite Sirah and is a wonderful complement to full flavored cheeses and fine dark chocolate.

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