Petit Sirah & Sangiovese

There is a litter of Gordon Setter puppies only a few miles from me and it was time to visit them.  My visit had an additional purpose -- there was wine involved.   One of the owners of the litter makes a number of small batch wines each year and several folks had said that he does a good job.  It was time to find out.

The wines are made from purchased grape juice shipped in from areas more hospitable to growing grapes, though there is a just planted small vineyard on the property.  The wines I tasted were surprisingly good for the most part, though there was one that didn't work for me.  The two best were a petit sirah from 2012 juice and a sangiovese from 2011 juice.  Both tasted true to their varieties.  The sangiovese had the bright, tart dry cherry flavors that I love so much in a Chianti and the petit sirah had the brambly blackberry flavors and grape tannin that go along with the grape.  Both are young but these are wines to drink fresh and that's just what I did.  I brought a couple of bottles home with me as well.

The puppies?  Absolutely delightful of course.  It had been a long time since I sat down and played with nine, eight week old youngsters and they were in full play and attack mode.  My only mistake was wearing shoes with laces.  I picked up some new show laces yesterday after writing the original pair off to the experience.