The Story
The Two Angels Petite Sirah 2017 is a wine I found at Costco for $9.99 sourced from vineyards in the Red Hills sub-AVA of the Lake County AVA north of Napa in Northern California.
This is a fairly new wine brand, the 2017 vintage is their third vintage for this label. Red Hills AVA is an interesting growing region. It is located on the southwest corner of Clear Lake with most of the vineyards planted above 2,000 feet in the Mayacamas Mountains.
You have high-altitude growing with intense sunlight, volcanic soils, and a variety of micro-climates caused by the elevation and the lake. Lake County is north of Napa and many wine drinkers forget that it’s there, But Lake County is an important growing region and producer for value-priced, quality wine.
I always maintain that you can successfully choose a wine by its label and the Two Angels Petite Sirah 2017 is a prime example. The label is a drawing from the year 1591 depicting 2 drunken angels. There is a link above from the producer explaining the label.
The 2017 vintage is the current vintage which gives this relatively inexpensive Red a good bit of bottle age. This Petite Sirah was aged in French oak barrels for 9 Months with 20% of the barrels being new oak.
Oak barrel is something of a math problem with this percentage of new oak barrels and this other section using second use barrels and another amount using 3rd use barrels. It is very important to get the flavoring precisely right, along with getting the wine ready for sale in a timely manner.
Petite Sirah is a grape created in the late 1800s by a man named Durif. This was a time when France was having a major problem with disease and pests in the vineyards. Petite Sirah was put together to use in place of Syrah grapes which were having repeated tough vintages.
By the time the grape had successfully stabilized, the issues with the Syrah grape subsided and the need for Petite Sirah disappeared. It would have been forgotten but it somehow made its way to Australia (where it is known and Durif) and to California where the grape has had a recent renaissance. It is very popular in Red blends and often added to Zinfandel wines. The alcohol content is a stout 14.3%.
Two Angles Petite Sirah 2017
The color is a deep, dark, opaque purple. The nose is extracted ripe fruit and spice, there is toasted vanilla, black cherry, a smokey, meaty note, light herbs, and plums.
This Petite Sirah is both silky smooth and bold, rich, and spicy. It starts with blackberry, licorice, and a healthy slap of Altoids spice. The mid-palate adds peppermint, vanilla cream, sour cherry, chocolate powder, and then some more spice. This is a big, bold, tasty wine.
The tannins are sweet, they actually get a little lost with all the flavors popping up in your glass. The acidity does a good job of supporting the multitude of flavors and allowing them to unfold.
The Summary
- The Two Angels Petite Sirah 2017 is a party in your glass. I am drinking it on a hot and humid August night and it seems a little out of place for summer drinking. But just wait until the nights cool down and the Two Angels will be right at home.
- Some times a ten buck wine can have its edges knock-offed, kind of dumbed down to appeal to a wider audience. The Two Angels give you the full experience, this is a wine that does not hold back. It has balance, but it is big and bold.
- This wine sells for $9.99 at Costco, but it is selling on the internet for around $24. So when I say it does not taste like a ten dollar wine that is because except for Costco the Two Angels Petite Sirah 2017 is an upscale wine.
- If you don’t have a Costco membership give your neighbor a twenty and see if they won’t pick up a couple of bottles for you. Promise to share it with them.
