2018 is a particularly sweet success of a vintage for this wine - perhaps our favorite of all of our vintages since 2009. It is a fitting homage to Alfred Frediani’s last year with us. Al was a legend and lived a long, fruitful life on this incredibly special pocket of land at the end of Pickett Road for almost 97 years. Al planted these vines himself in 1939 at the age of 18. We honor Al with this wine. The color is a striking magenta-purple with a black core. The wine is especially aromatic in this cool, temperate year with oodles of plum, fig, blackberry coulis, anise, cracked pepper and clove notes. These scents are echoed on the palate with intensity and depth, offering layers of flavor and very lithe tannins for Petite Sirah, creating an elegant, yet powerful finish with notes of purple fruit and dark chocolate.
Made from 100% Petite Sirah coming from Calistoga, the 2018 Petite Sirah Alfred Frediani Old Vines is deep garnet-purple in color. It rocks up with decadent black fruit notions of baked plums, blackberry pie and Black Forest cake plus suggestions of licorice, charcoal, tree bark and tilled earth. The full-bodied palate is chock-full of black fruit preserves, framed by firm, rugged tannins and great freshness, finishing long and earthy.
There are 200 cases of the 2018 Petite Sirah Alfred Frediani Vineyard Old Vines, which comes from vines planted in 1939 and spent 19 months in 37% new oak. Violet-tinged blue fruits, bouquet garni, and some rocky, earthy mineral-notes emerge from this medium to full-bodied red, which has building tannins, a good spine of acidity, and outstanding length. It’s going to evolve positively for 3-5 years and then drink nicely for at least a decade.
