Maggio Old Vines Petite Sirah, 2017

This richly coloured wine offers opulent notes of ripe dark berried fruit and blueberry, with black pepper, herbs, cocoa and vanilla. Lovely balance, the ripe fruit is enveloped in elegant tannins. Juicy and inviting. 

Meet the maker: Oak Ridge

Region: California – USA

Grape(s): Petite Sirah (76%), Zinfandel (13%), Rubired (10%), Other Varieties (1%)

13.5% ABV / 750ml / Vegetarian / Vegan

Viticulture:

The winemaking philosophy at Oak Ridge honours the importance of finding balance between the land and the makers, beginning first with growing quality grapes. 

Maggio has become part of the Lodi Rules initiative, which guides sustainable farming practices. Created by farmers it was initially launched as a grassroots educational integrated pest management programme in 1992.

Recognising the importance of the ecosystem and biodiversity in the vineyard, it includes pest management initiatives, such as introducing natural predators, which minimises the risks to birds, bees, water and people.

Water is carefully managed to ensure efficiency and waste is limited.

The soils are treated with organic matter and are cultivated to maximise water penetration to sustain the vine’s roots.  As a result the grapes are concentrated with flavour, which translates into fruit forward, expressive wines.

Winemaking:

Each variety was vinified separately to bring out the potential of each lot.

The Petite Sirah (aka Durif) grapes underwent a pre-fermentation cold soak for 48 hours.

Fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks with a specially selected yeast and took place at controlled temperatures of 21-26°C, during which the wine underwent twice daily pump overs, reducing to one pump-over as the Brix level lowered. 

The wine was pressed and racked off its lees before undergoing malolactic conversion.

The wine was matured with oak influence for 10 months adding complexity to the resulting blend.