2006 Peachy Canyon PETITE SIRAH (Paso Robles, Cal.)

Very approachable for a Petite Sirah, a varietal which usually is darkly-unfriendly until well-aged.

Impenetrable black plasma color (classic!). Rich, earthy nose, filled with liquefied graphite, sweet, caramelly oak, and sweet cassis. Dark, low-toned flavors of smoky embers, inky cassis extract, and black pepper. Copious amounts of soft tannin, very full body, and a long, minerally, peppery finish. Good value for a P.S., the good examples of which usually end up around $25/$30. 88. Was $18 at Spec's on Smith.

2006 Bogle PETITE SIRAH (California)

This is a very good buy in a flavorful, soft red.

Deep color, but not nearly as deep as those $30 blockbuster Petite Sirah's that dominate the wine shop shelves. However, the upside of this limited extraction is that this wine is 1/10 as tannic as those wines, and is very drinkable. The nose and taste are very ripe and loaded with straightforward, deep-toned blackberryish fruit. Good length, balance, and texture. Not even close to complex, but lots of fun to drink. 87. This was $9.99 at Whole Foods on Bellaire.

Vacation wines -- Day 3

2005 Vincent Arroyo Napa Valley Petite Sirah -- This is a small Calistoga winery that Liz and I visited in 1993, and that my brother and his wife visited last year. Usually the wines he makes are very soft, ripe, balanced, and drinkable upon release. This one was just bizarre. Everyone agreed it smelled like lemon-lime Gatorade powder.

2006 Edmeades Mendocino County Zinfandel -- Atypical, but very nice. Soft, berryish fruit, very fleshy and ripe. Won't age well, but nice for current drinking.

2006 Jean Albrecht Pinot Blanc (Alsace) -- This was very clean and fresh, with nice peachy fruit. Not complex or distinguished, but fun to drink.

2002 Pierre Sparr Gewurztraminer "Vendages Tardives" (Alsace) -- This late harvest Gewurz was really nice. Lots of apricot and lychee nut fruit, long fresh finish. Not cloyingly sweet.

Dinner: Pasta with meat sauce; pasta with garlic, oil, and broccoli.

2004 Trentadue PETITE SIRAH "North Coast" (California)

A nice, relatively accessible Petite Sirah. Dense black ruby, saturated to the rim, with purple highlights. Rich, sweet, earthy blackberry and cassis nose, with pencil lead notes . . . smelled almost like a densely-extracted Cabernet. Medium to full-bodied, with lots of ripe tannin. Concentrated, focused flavors of cassis, pencil lead, and charcoal (again with the Cabernet-like thing going on!). Fairly long finish. Will certainly keep and improve in a cool cellar over the next five years.

Although Petite Sirahs can be overly tannic and require lots of time in the bottle to drop that tannin, this one was clearly made to be friendly right away. Back label says the fruit was from Mendocino and Lake counties. 88+. Was $17.99 at Cova, on Kirby (which, by the way, looks to be an interesting wine bar/tapas joint/wine shop -- I'll have to eat there soon).

2005 Verget du Sud PETITE SYRAH "Endes" (Rhone, France)

This was disappointing. It's actually been quite a while since I LIKED a red wine by this producer (who makes good, albeit minerally & austere, white burgundies as well.

Dark black ruby-purple color. Somewhat funky, stinky notes (burnt rubber & acetate) pervade the nose when first opened. With air, these off-notes dissipate somewhat, and some blackberry scents emerge. Rather bony in the mouth, however, with tannin and acid taking the lead, but a little flesh and fruit in the form a tart black cherries, and some chalky minerals. 73. Was $11.25 at Spec's on Smith.

No more Verget reds for me (except I have one more in the closet to try soon).

2004 Concannon PETITE SIRAH "Limited Release" (Central Coast, Cal.)

Didn't like this one. Saturated black ruby-purple. Medium intensity nose of scorched earth, creosote, lemons, and blackberry extract (in descending order of magnitude). All structure and no flavor on the palate. Like drinking a wine skeleton. Some minimal tart blackberry fruit is discernable, but other than that, it's just tannin, acid, and alcohol. 69. Was $6.99 at Kroger's on sale, but even if free it wasn't really worth the effort of popping the cork.