1997 Markham Napa Valley Petite Sirah: A Big, Beautiful, Voluptuous Red
Nov 06 '01 (Updated Nov 09 '01)
The Bottom Line 1997 Markham Napa Valley Petite Sirah is a big, beautiful, full-bodied red wine with gobs of fruit and wonderful aromas. Drinks beautifully now; will cellar for another decade.
1997 Markham Petite Sirah offers beautiful, concentrated fruit flavors, alluring aromas and a sensuous, full body. Well integrated tannins will let you enjoy this gorgeous wine now or you can let it age to perfection in your cellar.
It Is Hard To Find, But Well Worth The Search!
Markham Vineyards has produced two wines that are among my absolute favorites from California: 1994 Markham Napa Valley Zinfandel which is among the finest Zinfandel wines I have tried, and the subject 1997 Markham Napa Valley Petite Sirah, which is the best Petite Sirah that I have sampled. In addition, their 1997 Markham Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the better moderately priced California Cabernet Sauvignon wines that you will find.
Markham, though growing, does not produce huge lots of their wines, therefore you might not find them in your local wine shop. However, one can purchase their wines online, directly from the winery in California, if you live in one of the 13 states that allows out-of-state wineries to ship wines directly to consumers. (Their website can be found at: www.markhamvineyards.com ) The rest of us poor unfortunate souls will have to find other online outlets that can ship to us, or convince our local wine shops to get some for us.
Nothing Petite About It!
I am very glad that some California wineries still produce Petite Sirah, because the wines made from the grape are often big, deeply flavored wines with wonderful fruit flavors. They are often laced with tannins that need some time to mellow, but because of these tannins they have the backbone to age especially well. Many Petite Sirah's can age over a decade in your cellar, developing into well-rounded beauties over time. They are wines made for sipping and enjoying by themselves, or as accompaniments to good stews or other hearty fare.
Some of the better Petite Sirah's I have tried lately were 1997 Lolonis Orpheus Petite Sirah and 1997 Stag's Leap Napa Valley Petite Sirah. Both of them were quite good when tried during the past year or two and both will be even better in a few years. But, neither is quite as good as this Markham wine.
Big, Round and Inviting
My wife and I recently tried this wine on two separate occasions. Both bottles were uniformly excellent. Most recently we had a bottle paired with a heartily spiced, braised lamb shank. I make a very rich and spicy, red wine roux gravy with the lamb shank, so that is very much like a lamb stew. This Petite Sirah was a perfect match for the meal.
I opened the bottle and let it breathe for over one hour prior to tasting it. When poured out into the glasses, the wine is very dark purple in color, looking very ink-like in its appearance. Swirling it around in the glass, the wine clings to the sides, covering the glass with a sheet of purple before it slides back down. It looks quite concentrated and it is virtually opaque.
Swirling it around a bit more, there were opulent aromas of blackberries and plums, with a little spice, wafting up from the glasses. The aromas were quite seductive, making one anticipate trying it.
When tasted, the wine lives up to its promise and then goes beyond it. Beautiful, rich fruit flavors akin to blackberries and plums greet you warmly initially as the wine enters your mouth. As the wine continues to travel through the mid-mouth and all the way to the end, the fruit flavors never falter. The wine has a full bodied mouth feel and its finish is perfect. At the end, there are tannins but they integrate smoothly into the wine, making it very enjoyable now. The tannins will mellow even more over time, giving this young beauty a very promising future indeed.
With the meal, the wine was perfect with the rich lamb and gravy. Its flavors were a great match for the meal and it has enough concentrated flavors to stand up to such rich fare. I highly recommend this wine as an accompaniment to such meals as lamb or beef stews, pot roast with gravy, veal or lamb shanks, and various stewed or roasted meat dishes.
What Price Beauty?
If there is a catch here it is in the price, because a bottle of this wine will run you between $23 and $25 per bottle. However, to my mind it is worth every penny of its somewhat high price if you can afford to spring for it.
It is better than the aforementioned Lolonis and Stag's Leap Petite Sirah wines, which go for about $28 and $30 respectively. It is more satisfying in many ways than the 1995 Chateau de Camensac and the 1996 Chateau Potensac Medoc from Bordeaux that I tried recently. They both cost around $25 or more per bottle too. Thus, you are truly getting what you pay for with this Petite Sirah, perhaps a bit more.
Recommendation and Rating
If you are someone that loves big, full-bodied red wines with gobs of fruit flavors and would like to try a bottle now while socking one or two more in the cellar for a special occasion, you cannot go wrong picking up this one. If you can find it and are willing to pay the price, you will not be disappointed.
Because of its wonderful fruit flavors, because it drinks so well now yet has the potential to become even better, I am going to give this hard to find 1997 Markham Napa Valley Petite Sirah FIVE STARS and a big thumbs up recommendation. It is one of my favorite wines of all time. Cheers!
Wine: 1997 Markham Napa Valley Petite Sirah
State: California
Region: Napa Valley
Price: $23 to $25
Rating: A must, sensational
Pete's Star Rating: FIVE STARS
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PeterLRuden
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Member: Peter L. Ruden
Location: Savannah, GA
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Lynch-Bages? We don't need no stinking Lynch-Bages!
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