Petite Sirah is Neither Petite Nor Syrah...

And he opens the bottle and then pours it into the decanter.

And first and foremost, holy cow, the color of Petite Syrah.

It's like ink, opaque and rich and very densely colored.

So watching it sort of trickle down the side of the decanter as it was getting aerated was very sexy.

But then the somme said, okay, now I have to spank the petite Syrah.

And we all looked at each other like, what?

And he put his hand over the top opening of the glass decant, and he shook the sh out of the decanter and the wine got all frothy.

And he said, yep, now you can try it.

And we were all like, what did we just witness?

Well, hello, it's Nikki Lamberti coming to you from Sonoma County, California.

Welcome to Sip with Nikki.

I am back after an unplanned bit of a break from the podcast.

I hope I remember how to do this.

Is this thing on?

It's been longer than normal since my last episode because there has been a lot going on here, and it's all good.

Nothing to worry about.

Lots of exciting things happening here, and I just needed to press pause on multiple different things, get my butt in this chair, and sit down and say hello to you.

Because if you're a regular listener.

Hi.

Thank you.

I see you.

I'm sure you've been wondering, where did she go?

Well, first and foremost, we just finished Harvest here in California.

It was actually the earliest harvest in 40 years.

If you didn't listen to the most recent episode where I actually reshared what Harvest sounds like from an audio standpoint, the picking of the grapes early in the morning, the sorting, and the shenanigans that go along with that.

Make sure you check out that episode.

It was crazy, and it kind of took us by surprise.

And then we were in it, and then before, before we knew it, we were done.

There's also been some fun things personally going on that I want to catch you up on.

And then I wanted to highlight a grape, a type of wine that I realized in over 100 episodes.

I've not yet shared with you about the grape that literally lies about its own name.

It is Petite Syrah.

And let me tell you, this Petite Syrah is neither petite nor Syrah discussion.

If you remember, Coffee Talk with Linda Richmond on Saturday Night live in the 90s, one of my favorite characters by Mike Myers, discuss.

The chickpea is neither a chick nor a pea.

Discuss.

The thigh master is neither a thigh nor a master.

Discuss.

But today we're going to talk about one of my favorite types of wine to drink and why the name is so darn confusing.

But spoiler alert, it is not a small Syrah.

In fact, there is nothing small about this wine.

So I'm going to tackle this episode in two segments.

The first segment, I want to catch you up on all of the things that have kept me away from this microphone.

And in the second segment, I'll give you the lowdown on everything you need to know about this grape, the beautiful, inky, rich wine that comes from it, why it's the perfect cozy wine as we go from Fall into the holidays, as the air gets cooler and the food gets richer.

And before we dive in, I actually have two listener shout outs to do.

Hey, remember when we used to do listener questions?

Listener questions.

It's been a while.

And now I have listener shout outs.

So maybe I need to record a new jingle.

I don't know.

Something like listener shout outs.

I'm excited to be back here.

Can you tell?

Hey, two shout outs.

So two weeks ago, I was working at Pride Mountain Vineyards, and I hosted a group of five ladies from Minnesota who were like me, celebrating their 50th birthday.

So they are the ladies of: 1994

I had a blast with them, and it was just fun that we were all celebrating big birthdays this year, and I really enjoyed our time together.

So shout out to the ladies of 94 from Minnesota.

And then also just want to recognize one of our most loyal, longtime listeners, Jeff from Southern California.

As we speak, he just returned back on US soil after a big 60th birthday trip to Africa, where he climbed Kilimanjaro.

They literally summited the mountain 14,000ft.

Amazing.

I'm so impressed, and I'm so thrilled that you are home safe and sound.

Welcome home, guys.

So here we go with this week's episode.

So if you're listening to this in the morning, grab a cup of coffee or tea or whatever it is that you start your day with.

And if it's the end of the day, you better pour yourself some delicious wine.

And if you're driving, which is how I usually listen to my podcasts, don't worry about it.

Keep your eyes on the road.

But I wanted to share a couple quick things that have been keeping me busy for the last few weeks.

So, as I mentioned, harvest.

The reason that harvest was so early in California this year, it was not just about a hot summer.

Actually, the summer was pretty mild.

Yet here we are today on October 3rd, and it's 95 degrees here in Northern California, which is crazy.

So we're having this late heat spike here, but most people have very much already finished picking all of their grapes.

We picked our Sangiovese on August 14, almost a full month earlier than the second earliest time we've ever picked it.

And then we picked grenache twice on August 22nd for the and then we let the grapes hang a little bit longer and went back a week later on 29 August to pick another ton for the red Cranache.

So all three of my babies are resting and in barrel and doing their thing.

nes in progress since back to: 2023

So it's exciting.

If you're not following sollevato wines on Instagram, Solevato is S O L L E V A T O.

Hop over there, give a follow, and you'll actually see some highlight bubbles of harvest and all of the fun things that we're doing.

Also in the last few weeks, it's been a bit of an emotional time as I hit the milestone of one year since completing my breast cancer treatments.

And of course, with it now being October Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I am here to say get your mammogram.

And also want to celebrate the fact that California just passed legislation that scalp cooling, which is what I did during chemo to keep my hair, is now approved to be covered under insurance.

Up until this point, it was out of pocket and it was not cheap.

And I was so lucky to have my hair fairies.

My dear friends, Amy and Brian.

Amy was my college roommate and they actually paid for my Paxman scalp cooling equipment and sessions.

But now, moving forward, and I believe it starts in January, if people don't have their own personal hair fairies like me, it will actually be covered, which is amazing.

Great job, California.

So now that it's been one year since completing surgery, chemo, and radiation, I am feeling good and my health is great.

All clear.

Energy's great.

Hair is growing and crazy thick and curly.

And I just turned 50.

I'm 50.

My name is Sally O' Mell and I can kick and stretch and kick.

Yes, I'm quoting SNL for the second time in an episode.

One of my other most favorite comedic icons, Molly Shannon as Sally O'.

Malley.

But yes, I turned 50 in September and it's crazy.

But you know what?

I'm not stressing about it because I always say, what is the alternative to getting older?

Not right.

So I am happy to be here and feeling really good about it.

But it was also the one year anniversary of my dad passing from his battle with pancreatic cancer last year.

And so all the feels and all the emotions and really been a rollercoaster over the last couple weeks.

And yet a reminder, both with my victory over cancer and us losing him to his reminds me why we decided to partner with the V Foundation for Cancer Research.

That's Jimmy V. Jim Valvano from North Carolina, his foundation.

till have a little bit of our: 2023

And that wine just got a 91 point rating from wine Enthusiast.

So you can Learn more on Solavatowines.com the other thing that I did, and I think this was a little bit of a birthday gift to myself for turning 50.

I did something that I have been thinking about for years.

It's been in my brain, it's been on my heart and I finally said, you know what?

It's time I went back into the ballet studio.

So I grew up dancing pretty seriously classically trained ballet in New Jersey, and I continued that all the way through the first part of college.

I went to the North Carolina School of the Arts for Ballet and was accepted to attend there for high school.

And I danced the Nutcracker every year with the Company of Dance Arts in Red Bank, New Jersey.

So needless to say, if you don't know this about me, ballet was a very big part of my life.

And so even though I didn't pursue it beyond college, it is very much part of the fabric of who I am.

So I found a class here in Santa Rosa, California called Back to Ballet.

I want to give a shout out to Dance Evolution Studio.

I actually saw their Instagram post and it was a picture of some ladies in a ballet studio and it said, did you grow up dancing seriously or even pre professionally but have been away from it for a long time?

We're inviting you to Monday nights back to ballet class and it spoke to me.

And so now I've gone for the last two Mondays a 90 minute class.

And it's amazing and it's for people like me who it's not a beginner class.

We know all the things, we're ready to just get back into it.

But our bodies have other plans, whether it's from age or breast cancer or a little extra weight we've been carrying or arthritic feet because we were dancing when we were teenagers.

It's been fantastic.

So it's bringing me so much joy.

I'm excited to go tomorrow night.

Just being in the studio with the music fills my cup and fills my heart and it's a really good workout.

So it's a new addition to my fitness and wellness and I am back to ballet.

So if there's something that you've been thinking about that's on your heart, something you used to do, a passion you used to have, but maybe feeling a little bit of fear or hesitation at going back to it, I'm here to say just try it.

It's definitely one of those, you know, do something that scares you every day categories.

But now that I've done it, it's not so scary and I love it.

So back to ballet.

And then of course, the other thing taking our attention.

first ever petite Syrah from: 2023

And it's going to be releasing first to Il Circolo, which is our inner circle, our wine club from Solevato over the next couple of weeks.

So excited to get this in people's hands.

And we're also doing our first ever focus on corporate gifting.

We'll be sending out an email to our list this week about Special offers for 1, 2 and 3 bottle special gift boxes.

So if you do gifts for clients or team members and you need lot of, you know, I need 25 single bottle gifts shipped to people directly.

We've got this beautiful gift packaging and you can send us your list and we will take care of it if you're not on the mailing list.

To get these types of updates, visit Solavato wines.com click mailing list and that way you'll know when the Petite Syrah is out.

And also more information on gifting beautiful Napa and Sonoma county wines and supporting a small business that Michael and I have worked really hard to create and grow.

So that's what I've been up to.

Just a few things.

But now, as promised, everything you need to know about Petite Syrah and why you should be drinking it.

So back in: 2012

And two of my classmates who became friends and are still wonderful friends to this day, Wendy and Jamie, the three of us, one night right before our final exam, I think went to one of my favorite restaurants here in the Napa Valley, which is Bottega in Yountville.

And we were ordering their short ribs, which is what that restaurant very much is known for, and still have them on the menu today day.

And they're awesome.

And we chose to order Petite Syrah.

It was actually like the house Petite Syrah, like a private label for Michael Chiarello, who was the celebrity chef owner of Bottega Restaurant.

And we are waiting for the short ribs to come to the table, and the sommelier comes over with this bottle of Chiarello Petite Syrah and a beautiful decanter.

And he opens the bottle and then pours it into the decanter.

And first and foremost, holy cow, the color of Petite Syrah, it's like ink.

It's like liquid velvet ink.

It's opaque and rich and very densely colored.

So watching it sort of trickle down the side of the decanter as it was getting aerated was very sexy.

But then the psalm said, okay, now I have to spank the Petite Syrah.

And we all looked at each other like, what?

And he put his hand over the top opening of the glass decanter, and he shook the shit out of the decanter, and the wine got all frothy.

And he said, yep, now you can try it.

And we were all like, what did we just witness?

And we still talk about it to this day.

What we learned and what we now know is that Petite Syrah is such a bold, rich, tanky, peppery, spicy red wine that it really does well with some intense aeration and oxygen.

And the spanking method is the way to get it done.

So that was one of my first introductions into Petite Syrah.

And since then, love drinking it.

Tresa Bores Winery in St. Helena has one of our favorites, and it's definitely more of a seasonal wine that we tend to drink more of as the weather gets colder and we're doing more stews and stewed meats and braised meats, and it's just the perfect cozy wine for those things.

Pride Mountain Vineyards, where I've been a wine educator for.

I'm celebrating 14 years this month.

Can you believe it?

We have Syrah there.

S Y, R, A H. Beautiful Syrah.

And very often when I pour it, people are like, oh, Syrah.

They're not super familiar with it.

And then I can almost count it down, like, here comes the question in 3, 2, 1.

What's the difference between Syrah and Petite Syrah?

They always ask it.

Well, first of all, the spelling is not even the same.

So Syrah is S y R A H. The grape is from the Rhone region in France, and it's pretty much synonymous with Shiraz, which is from Australia.

If you've had Shiraz, it's the same grape.

It's just that the Aussies call it Shiraz when they come and taste here in California, they say Shiraz, which is super fun.

That's Syrah.

Petite Syrah is S I R A H, so spelling is different.

And it is much richer and darker and intense than a Syrah is.

Without boring you with all of the plant DNA.

All that you need to know is the grapes are somewhat related to each other, but Petite Syrah was essentially known as Durif D U R I F, named after the botanist who discovered it.

After two grapes that he was growing, Syrah and Pellersan, literally cross pollinated and created a new grape variety.

The same thing that happened with Cab Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, cross pollinating to create Cabernet Sauvignon, that happened.

And that's how these offspring grape varieties came to be.

So they are related, but there's actually more Petite Syrah planted in California than in France, where its heritage is from.

And in fact, three quarters of all of this great Petite Syrah that's planted on the planet is in the state of California, and much of it in Sonoma and Napa.

And so why we ordered it the day of the spanking.

Oh, my gosh, should that be the title of this episode, the Day of the Sacred baking?

Why we ordered it was because we knew we were getting these short ribs that were very famous on the Bottega menu that are braised and cooked down in wine and have a beautiful sort of barbecue glaze and fall off the bone and serve with polenta.

And so there's rich fattiness to it.

Right.

So you need a wine that can hold up to that and is a great compliment.

And that absolutely is what we experienced that night and why Michael and I decided we love drinking Petit Syrah so much that in 20 we made our first one, which is going to be releasing in just a few weeks.

So the fruit notes of Petite Syrah, if we think of literally the colors of fruit, we are not talking about red fruits.

That would be like the Grenache, right?

Oh, I'm getting cherry and bright red fruits.

This is like blue and black fruits, like blueberry and blackberries.

And then there's this peppery, spicy overlay to the wine.

Sometimes almost a little bit of a savory or meaty note to it, which is why it pairs so beautifully with savory and meaty things.

But then also, and this is probably what I love about it so much, almost like a coffee or espresso or mocha note to it.

And I think some of that comes from the grape itself, and then some of it comes from the barrels that it generally ages in.

In fact, when we made our 20, 23 seurats, the first time we ever put any of our Sole Watteau wines into a brand new barrel, because the wine is so big and bold that the barrel can complement that and not cover it up.

That's why we don't use new barrels on our Sangiovese and our Grenache, which are lighter reds.

It would just be too overpowering.

But, yeah, we splurged $1,200 to buy our first French oak barrel.

They even laser etched our emblem on the front, no extra charge.

And we had two barrels of Petite Syrah.

So we put half of the wine in the brand new Okie barrel, and then the other half in a very used barrel.

And after 30 months of aging, yes, two and a half years.

We bottled that wine this past spring.

So part of the reason a wine like Petite Syrah, not unlike Cabernet Sauvignon, can do well with and really does need a long amount of barrel aging is the T word, tannin.

So one of the reasons it's called Petite Syrah is because the grape is small.

The wine is not small.

The wine is huge, but the grapes themselves, when you look at Petite Syrah hanging on the vine, the clusters are very small and tightly compacted, and the grapes themselves are small.

When you have a small grape, Vers Sangiovese grape, or a Syrah grape, or a Merlot grape, which are just a little bit bigger, small grape means more skin, less juice, more skin, less grape.

Right.

And what comes from the skin of the grape, color, tannin, and flavor and all that is part of the process during fermentation.

So you're extracting all of that.

So because of the smallness of the grape, Petite Syrah is dark in color and high in tannin.

So that's part of why we aged it for 30 months, because Tannin softens with time.

And the longer you let bone, this type of a wine age both in the barrel and then after you bottle it, the tannin will subside, it will smooth out, it will relax, it will soften.

It's still a chewy wine.

That's what we love about it.

It's never going to not be that but with time, it just makes it more approachable.

And the tannin is why it's so beautiful, with rich cheeses and rich dishes.

Like we talk about, why it's a cozy wine.

In addition to these beautiful, rich, dark flavors and aromas that we get from this wine, probably one of my favorite things about it is the texture, how it sits in your mouth, how it coats your palate.

It is, like I said, liquid velvet.

And it has body, it has weight to it, and it's one of the beautiful and really unique things that drinkers of Petite Syrah love.

By the way, there is an enthusiast group called P.S.

I love you, Petite Sra.

I love you.

And it is a group of enthusiasts who celebrate and drink the heck out of this grape.

So if you've listened to Sip with Nikki for a while, no surprise, you know that I am a little bit nostalgic and sometimes emotion driven in the decisions that I make.

So the really special thing about our Solebato Petite Syrah that's coming out is where these grapes came from.

de the permanent move here in: 2012

I rented a house up on Spring Mountain.

Spring Mountain is the northern end of the Napa Valley above St Helena.

It's actually where Pride Mountain Vineyards is located.

And I found, through a real estate site, this amazing two bedroom cottage in the middle of a 56 acre vineyard.

And I lived there for three years.

And it was very off the beaten path, very remote.

And every morning I looked out my bedroom window at vines, specifically these Petite Syrah vines.

portunity presented itself in: 2023

I looked at them for not only three years, but three really formidable years, three very important years of the start of my journey here after deciding to uproot, change careers, study wine, make wine so it makes it extra special.

And so these grapes are considered from the Spring Mountain, Appalachian or Ava, and they are from a mountaintop.

And that is part of another thing that I love about this grape, and especially if I may be partial to my own, is that, you know, when we talk about the wine being rich and a mouthful and inky and dark and heavy, all that's great, but it needs to have a little bit of freshness, a little bit of punctuation on the end of the sip, or it could be really just kind of big and overwhelming.

And so acidity which you've heard me talk about in past episodes.

Acidity gives that exclamation point on the end of the sip and keeps it feeling bright.

And because this vineyard is from elevation over a thousand feet on Spring Mountain, it's a little bit cooler up there than it is on the Napa Valley.

And when you grow grapes in cooler climates, they tend to hold on to more of their natural acids in there.

And that's what gives that beautiful freshness to it.

So it's really a compliment.

And I think it's one of the things that makes a sip of Petite Syrah have a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Like, there's literally choreography.

Yes, I have ballet on the brain, but it starts like it slides across your palate and it's rich and then it's soft and warm and hugging the sides of your mouth and the tannins are giving you that extra little squeeze.

And then you have that end.

Right.

It's like, ta da.

The finish coming from the acidity and every sip is literally a journey like that.

That's the only way that I can describe it, and I'm so excited for you to try it.

So there you have it.

Petite Syrah.

It's neither petite nor Syrah.

It is a relative of, but a very different wine and a very unique and delicious wine.

Perfect for this time of year.

Okay.

If you want to see a video of a Petite Syrah spanking, go to sipwithnikki.com, the podcast page, and then click on this episode, the show notes that are in there.

I'll drop a link to the video of me pouring this and spanking it, and you can see what it is that I'm talking about.

eks, we will be releasing the: 2023

We made two barrels and that gave us exactly 687 bottles, which will be hand numbered.

And once we satisfy all of our inner circle Wine Club orders, if there's any left, we'll make it available on the website.

We still have some spaces available for members if you'd like to be a part of our inner circle and be able to get your hands on unique offerings like this Petite Syrah.

Before Anybody else, visit Solavatto wines.com and click Wine Club.

Follow us on Instagram to know more about the release.

And if you are placing an order, make sure you use the discount code PODLISTENER for 10% off your order.

We can ship to most states in the US and we do complimentary shipping on a case or more.

Once I finish editing this episode, I will be getting ready to send out an email to our mailing list with our fantastic new holiday gifting options.

So if you're looking for something unique for your team, for your clients, or even for your friends and family, we make it super simple.

Send us a list with addresses and we will send beautifully wrapped gifts and we'll even do a handwritten card and you will win the holidays.

I really enjoyed catching up with you today, sharing all of the crazy things that have been going on, and I cannot wait for you to try the Solevato Petite Syrah, which is neither petite nor Syrah.

Whatever you do between now and our next time together, I hope that you sip well.

Sam.

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