The Perfect End to a Day of Skiing

After a day of this, nothing beats a glass of red wine!

After a day of this, nothing beats a glass of red wine!

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Lange Twins Winery.

After being out on the slopes all day, I want nothing more than something that will warm me up.  For me, that’s a great big bowl of soup and a big red wine.  Now, the red wine doesn’t always go very well with the soup, but that’s okay, I’m perfectly content to drink it after dinner to continue the warming up process.  As I twittered away the other day, Lange Twins Winery sent me a message offering to send me a bottle of their brand new release: the 2007 Lange Twins Petit Verdot Petite Sirah.  Being that those are two of my favorite reds grapes, blending them could only make an even more awesome wine, so I happily accepted.  The 2007 PV/PS retails directly from the winery for $20, has a screw cap closure, and clocks in at 13.9% alcohol by volume.  The wine is a blend of 66% Petit Verdot and 34% Petite Sirah.

Serve in proper PSILY glasses.

Serve in proper PSILY glasses.

I first noted how incredibly dark the wine showed in my glass.  No light got through this wine!  On the nose I found blueberries, blueberry crumble, vanilla cream, black cherry, chocolate syrup, baking chocolate, raspberry, cracked black pepper, and a little eucalyptus.  In the mouth, the fruit seemed tart and juicy.  I got flavors of raspberry, tart black cherry, earth, anise, black plums, cranberry, espresso, and blueberries.  The blueberries hid for a quite a while before they finally came out after a few hours in the glass.

This wine is a baby.  Especially with the giant tannic beast of Petite Sirah in it, it needs some time and/or vigorous decanting.  You won’t be sorry though.  After I let it sit out for a few hours, I got a treat in a $20 bottle of wine.  A complex nose, great structure and acidity, and tannins to spare.  Clean fruits, and interesting coffee and chocolate notes make this an incredible bargain at the price point.