DESCRIPTION

SCORES AND AWARDS

91 Points - Wine Enthusiast, Editor’s Choice

“Intense black-pepper, singed rosemary and charred beef flavors give this full-bodied wine quite an impact, even without the very firm fine-grained tannins. Adding them in, this wine is dramatic, impressive, mouthfilling but needs aging to grow into itself. Best after 2024.”

- Jim Gordon

94 Points - Grapelive

"The richly flavored and deeply colored estate grown Theopolis Petite Sirah is one of the best examples of this grape in California coming from a unique terroir and steeply terraced vines in the Yorkville Highlands. 2017 was a ripe year and making for a warmly lush textured version with loads of black raspberry, blueberry, plum and dark currant fruits along with light smoky sweet toasty wood notes, crushed acacia flowers, mineral tones and touches of bitter chocolate and black licorice. This purple/black wine is opulent, but still well balanced with 13.9% natural alcohol and an inner brightness of details, so it drinks wonderfully in its youth and has potential to age, its firm well integrated tannins plus the (high elevation climate) acidity giving it a lot of time to evolve. This vintage of Theopolis Petite is certain to one of the best yet for this spectacular vineyard in Mendocino County, and it is a lovely expression of this grape and an interesting counterpoint to the Halcon Petite Sirah from this same site and is done with a more Cornas or Rhone style and is more whole cluster stem influenced, while this wine has a more modern polished presence in the glass.

In 2017 Theopolis and owner Theodora Lee used small bins for fermentation and employed manual gentle punch downs during the primary fermentation and extracted loads of color before racking the wine to French oak barrels where it was aged for 20 months, then it was bottled unfined and unfiltered ending up with about 45% new wood. This round and full bodied Petite Sirah really thrills the senses and fills out every corner of the mouth and it lingers on and on with a creme de cassis note, giving it a big personality and impact, it should impress Petite Sirah fans greatly. This is also a wine with plenty to offer with meals and can be graceful with many cuisine choices, though best with more robust dishes, going great with BBQ, Roast lamb, short ribs and pork dishes as well as hard cheeses and or wild mushrooms. This is a brilliant and poised Petite Sirah that should continue to develop and gain with cellaring, even though it is drinking pretty sexy right now, be sure to keep your eyes out for this one. Theopolis is a list that is well worth joining the prices are fair and the wines deliver quality and distinction, especially their signature estate grown Petite Sirah!"

- Kerry Winslow

90 POINTS - KEN’S WINE REVIEW

“This dark ruby colored opens with a pleasant root beer bouquet with hints of plum, raspberry and tomato leaf. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied and slightly acidic. The flavor profile is a mild cherry, rhubarb and cedar blend with notes stewed red plum and five spice. We also detected hints of chocolate and cashews. The finish is dry and its flavors and mild tannins drift away nicely. The Panel suggested pairing with Petite Sirah with pappardelle pasta smothered with a Bolognese sauce. Enjoy.”

– KWGTP

“I can’t remember what year I tried this, but it remains one I remember … and for a reason. It’s delicious. It’s savory with notes of chocolate, rosemary, raspberry and black pepper. As Theodora put it, ‘this is the wine that references who I am as a human being.’ It’s a perfect descriptor of her — there’s nothing petite about it and its bursting with flavor and personality.”

- MELANIE OFENLOCH