Petite Sirah, Ovis

inky │ plush │ cocoa

A brooding, blue-black wine that practically walks in wearing leather boots. Blackberry reduction, blueberry skin, cocoa nib, licorice root, charred herbs, and a deep mineral undertow. Despite all that intensity, the 2017 vintage has settled beautifully: the tannins have relaxed, the fruit has turned plush, and the finish rolls out in long, dark, velvety layers.

Harvested from biodynamically farmed vineyards, fermented in small lots, and aged in a mix of French and American oak that gives structure without burying the fruit. Petite Sirah is famously tannic, but with bottle age it becomes this gorgeous, muscular, shadowy thing — still powerful, just less shouty.

Ovis is a project from Peter Heitz [of Turnbull fame], created to highlight small, thoughtfully farmed parcels in Napa with a wild edge. Everything here is hands-on, low-intervention, and geared toward long-lived reds with unmistakable presence.

If Cabernet is the polished CEO of Napa, Petite Sirah is the artist who shows up late wearing dark denim and somehow still steals the room.