DOMAINE BESSA VALLEY | Petite Syrah | 2018
petite sirah

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Today we are are going to review a very rare, single-varietal petite sirah wine from Bulgaria – Petite Syrah 2018 by Domaine Bessa Valley. Petite Sirah (also known as Durif or Petite Syrah in France) was created by botanist Francois Durif in Montpellier (France) around 1880, but is now very rare found outside of California. This grape variety can produce very deep colored and full-bodied wines, with rich black fruit flavors and bold tannins. Despite its popularity, petite sirah is an exceptionally rare grape variety, with less than 10 000 planted acres worldwide. DNA tests shows that petite sirah is a cross between syrah and peloursin (a very rare french grape variety, found only in a few places in the French Alps). It was imported to America by Charles McIver in the mid-1880’s, where it got its new name – ‘Petite Sirah‘. Contrary to what its name suggests, petite sirah is not just a lesser (more ‘petite’) version of syrah but a totally distinct grape variety. Petite Sirah produces some of the deepest colored and most opaque red wines, with very high levels of anthocyanin, similar to tannat and sagrantino grape varieties. The grapes for this wine have been sourced from the Thracian Lowlands vineyards, planted on clay and limestone soils and in order to soften the tannins and add extra complexity to the final wine, it has been aged for 12 months in french oak barrels and produced in a limited edition of 5560 bottles. But enough with all that theory, that said and without further ado, let’s take a look at the wine tasting results.
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

//Visual
colour: medium ruby color
clarity: hazy garnet shades

//Olfactory
intensity: pronounced & vegetal
fruit profile: red fruits | black fruits
__red fruits: sour cherry | red plum | cranberry | redcurrant
__black fruits: blackberry | aronia berry
fruit character: underripe

//Flavor
non fruit: vegetal | oak | earth | other
__vegetal: wormwood | sage | coriander
__oak: sun-dried oak | fresh-cut oakwood
__earth: slate | dust | clay
__other: dried tomato | salt | cherry seeds | salted brown olive
primary layer: vegetal

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: high
alcohol: high
tannin: medium-
__grip: green
balance: fair
__dominant: acidity
body: austere | medium

//Taste
fruit profile: red fruits
fruit character: underripe
non fruit: vegetal & earthy
finish: medium-
aftertaste: tart & seedy

//Scoring
DOMAINE BESSA VALLEY | Petite Syrah | 2018
variety: petite sirah
country: Bulgaria
region: Thracian Lowlands
rating: 91.2

//Conclusion
maturity: developing | age for 2 or 3 more years
verdict: fine | highly recommended
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This is definitely a fine wine of Bulgaria and, with a total of 91.2 points scored, this wine is right there, among the best wines we’ve rated so far. Check our complete database on the wine rating page, where you can find all the wines that we have tasted and reviewed or go to the about us page and find out more about our exquisite rating system.

Verdict: this is a youthful, tart and slightly green petite sirah wine that feels crisp, seedy and unpolished, with a fruity-vegetal accent on the nose and an austere palate. The wine is still in its development phase, therefore we would recommend to give it 2 or 3 more years of bottle ageing, so that the wine gets enough time to settle down and round up its sharp edges. On the nose the wine displays underripe red and black fruit mixed with some very nuanced vegetal notes in the foreground, supported by an earthy-mineral background. On the palate the wine delivers overwhelming acidity, green tannins and a touch of alcoholic warmth that is showing through on the mouthfeel, which leads to a tart and seedy aftertaste. All in all this is a quite angular and slightly off-balanced wine that in its current state lacks harmony and finesse on the palate – a wine that definitely needs time in order to get closer to its true potential. We believe it will pair nicely with fat-rich meat cuts, like for example a black angus filet mignon or a grilled T-bone steak with herb butter. Cheers!

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