Syrah (father) + Peloursin (mother) = Petite Sirah (offspring)

Posted on Nov 7, 2011 | 1 comment

Syrah (father) + Peloursin (mother) = Petite Sirah (offspring)

Your father + Your mother = You (Yeah, it’s that different, and yet has DNA similarities)

While tasting one of Bill Nachbaur’s wines (Acorn Winery ), I noticed that Peloursin was one of the wine’s varieties. I asked his wife Betsy if it would be possible to taste and/or see Peloursin on the vine. Betsy called Bill, he came to the tasting room and said that the vines had just been harvested. I told him, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll be back next spring… I live so close… Don’t worry about it.”

Bill quietly disappeared, and about five minutes later emerged with three leaves per each of both Peloursin and Petite Sirah. With each meticulous grouping of small, medium, and large, Bill also had collected a small cluster of grapes for each one.

The grapes were part of the second crop that a vine puts out. Artisan winemakers leave these clusters behind, because the brix level isn’t as high as the first crop’s levels. To harvest these grapes will throw off a good brix level.

I immediately began to see what Peloursin has given to Petite Sirah.

The grapes of Peloursin are very tiny, the skins are dark and inky, the juice is quite tannic and has a bit of spice… Peloursin, the mother, adds a lot of character to this most mysterious of all grapes. As dark and brooding as the juice is visually, I then also knew what Syrah has given to Petite… it’s funky, saddle leather, tobacco character.

While I was ogling over my discovery, Bill quietly slipped away again, this time to emerge with three leaves of Syrah and a cluster of that variety as well. This cluster was from a primary growth, but it just didn’t meet Bill’s standards during picking and was left behind. However, it was a great example of what the grapes look like on the rachis (skeleton of the cluster). This one, because it was such a loose berry cluster, showed me that Petite Sirah also got it’s tight bunch cluster from Peloursin.

Syrah’s leaves are much larger then Petite’s, with Peloursin’s leaves being much smaller. Petite Sirah settled somewhere in the middle; not only in size, but also in texture. The leaves of Peloursin are the most hardy. Petite’s are somewhere in the middle, and the leaves of Syrah’s feel much more delicate by comparison to either Peloursin or Petite, with both Peloursin and Petite having a much more complex veinous structure as well.

Looking at these examples, it was easy for me to see how much more Peloursin has added to Petite Sirah’s character, and why – if anything – Petite Sirah is better compared with Peloursin than Syrah.

You know how we look at children and say, “She looks so much like her mother.” Well, this is definitely one of those instances. Look at all three varieties, one can easily imagine the union; and what went through François Durif’s head in 1880, when he crossed Syrah with Peloursin…

While tasting one of Bill’s wines, I noticed that Peloursin was one of the wine’s varieties. I asked Betsy if it would be possible to taste and/or see Peloursin on the vine. Betsy called Bill, he came to the tasting room and said that the vines had just been harvested. I told him, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll be back next spring… I live so close… Don’t worry about it.”

Bill quietly disappeared, and about five minutes later emerged with three leaves per each of both Peloursin and Petite Sirah. With each meticulous grouping of small, medium, and large, Bill also had collected a small cluster of grapes for each one.

The grapes were part of the second crop that a vine puts out. Artisan winemakers leave these clusters behind, because the brix level isn’t as high as the first crop’s levels. To harvest these grapes will throw off a good brix level.

I immediately began to see what Peloursin has given to Petite Sirah.

The grapes of Peloursin are very tiny, the skins are dark and inky, the juice is quite tannic and has a bit of spice… Peloursin, the mother, adds a lot of character to this most mysterious of all grapes. As dark and brooding as the juice is visually, I then also knew what Syrah has given to Petite… it’s funky, saddle leather, tobacco character.

While I was ogling over my discovery, Bill quietly slipped away again, this time to emerge with three leaves of Syrah and a cluster of that variety as well. This cluster was from a  primary growth, but it just didn’t meet Bill’s standards during picking and was left behind. However, it was a great example of what the grapes look like on the rachis (skeleton of the cluster). This one, because it was such a loose berry cluster, showed me that Petite Sirah also got it’s tight bunch cluster from Peloursin.

Syrah’s leaves are much larger then Petite’s, with Peloursin’s leaves being much smaller. Petite Sirah settled somewhere in the middle; not only in size, but also in texture. The leaves of Peloursin are the most hardy. Petite’s are somewhere in the middle, and the leaves of Syrah’s feel much more delicate by comparison to either Peloursin or Petite, with both Peloursin and Petite having a much more complex veinous structure as well.

Looking at these examples, it was easy for me to see how much more Peloursin has added to Petite Sirah’s character, and why – if anything – Petite Sirah is better compared with Peloursin than Syrah.

You know how we look at children and say, “She looks so much like her mother.” Well, this is definitely one of those instances. Look at all three varieties, one can easily imagine the union; and what went through François Durif’s head in 1880, when he crossed Syrah with Peloursin…