Petit Sirah....the mystery varietal.

What is Petit Sirah? I don't really know, but I had one tonight at a wine bar called "S.N.O.B." (Sonoma, Napa, or Beyond). I went to this bar hoping to capitalize on the "or beyond" part, since I need to expand my knowledge of Old World wines in preparation for my sommelier exams. So the first wine I had was a Spanish Garnacha. It was forgettable, to be honest. Cherry and pepper. That's about it.

Then I had the Spellbound Petit Sirah. Yes, it's from Lodi but at that point, I had abandoned my quest to learn more about the "beyond" and instead learn more about interesting varietals. This wine was really different: bing cherry and black cherry on the nose mixed with really pronounced notes of menthol/spearmint/eucalyptus. The palate carried on the minty notes, with a chalky texture and refreshing herbal mint in the finish. I didn't finish the whole glass, perhaps because I had nothing to pair it with, but it was really enjoyable nonetheless.

So what is Petit Sirah? Well I browsed 2 of my reference books (The Wine Bible, and Wine Encyclopedia) briefly and learned that it does actually have a relationship to Syrah (note the difference in spelling), and while its true origin is somewhat of a mystery, it's most likely the cross between Syrah and Peloursin, what the French call "Durif." Long story short, I still have much to learn about the varietal (or cross/blend?) and what it "should" taste like. But my all in all, i really enjoyed what i tasted of it tonight!