Christopher Creek Russian River Valley Estate Petite Sirah 1999
Region: Russian River Valley, California
Winery: Christopher Creek Winery
Variety: Petite Sirah

Color: Black, with some browning on the edges

Nose: A little plummy, but then the dark black fruit comes in, with a hint of integrated oak.

Palate: Same as nose, but filled with beautiful structure of silky tannins that have softened and integrated. Wonderful.

Posted by drxeno on December 10th, 2007 at 1:45am | report comment

Christopher Creek Russian River Valley Estate Petite Sirah 1999
Region: Russian River Valley, California
Winery: Christopher Creek Winery
Variety: Petite Sirah

Color: Had another bottle, this time it was decanted. Still has that inkiness and browning.

Nose: OMG, this truly opened up with decanting. Much more blackberry and blueberry coming out, with that same backbone of integrated oak. Fantastic!

Palate: This was still so juicy and wonderful for an 8 year-old Pet. Wow, I loved the structure that came along with it. Tannins are round and nicely-aged, the acidity is there from this appellation and the fruit is just amazing and so mouth-watering. I had the '95 of this wine a few months back and it was on its way out, but this is perfect right now!

Posted by drxeno on December 23rd, 2007 at 1:33pm | report comment