The History of Petite Sirah in California (Part I ~ from the 1870 to 1930) According to Wine Industry Historian Charles Sullivan1
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The History of Petite Sirah in California (Part I ~ From the 1870 to 1930) According to Wine Industry Historian Charles Sullivan1. Historically, the Petite Sirah story is really very complicated by what we know, and by what we Board of Directors don’t know. There are huge gaps when it’s virtually impossible to know what was going on, though we can President: Ken Wilson Vice President: John Monnich make logical inferences. Secretary: Louis Foppiano What we know - Durif is a cross between the mother (Peloursin) and the father (Syrah), as Treasurer: Christine Wells discovered by Dr. Carole Meredith. [According to the late wine reviewer Roy Andries de Groot, “Petite Director: Jeff Cohn Director: Jim Concannon Sirah is also called, along the Rhône and in other parts of France, Schiraz, Sirac, Syrac, Hirnin Noir, 2. Director: Jo Diaz Entournerien, Serine, Serenne.” ] This happened in the late 1870s. Director: Larry Mettler In California vineyards, Petite Sirah is a “Stealth Grape.” From the late 1890s to the 1920s, Petite Sirah had a number of named varieties, and what we called the grape might not have been the actual Dr. Carole Meredith First Charter Member variety. There are many different spelling of “Sirah.” Eugene Hilgard [the first professor of Viticulture and (Honorary) the founding Dean of Agriculture at the University of California, Berkeley] has written Sirah with a “y” (Syrah), double “r”s (Syrrah), an “a” (Sira), and an “ah” (Sirah). Organizational Membership Bogle Vineyard & Winery The varietal Durif got here in the late 1870s, after having been developed by “French amateur 3 Concannon Vineyard botanist, Dr. François Durif” from Isère, France. As early as the late 1870s, some Californians were Heringer Holland Land & Farming experimenting with disease resistant rootstock. Nearly 80 to 85 percent of the vineyards were in the Robert Biale Vineyards coastal regions. Individual Memberships (CA) In the 1880s, Vitis rupestris and Vitis riparia did really well, and some Petite Sirah vineyards Bacigalupi Vineyards survived Phylloxera. [“Foppiano’s survived,” states Louis M. Foppiano.] Barra Family Vineyards Syrah also came into the U.S. in 1870. In the 1880s, James Drummond declared that Syrah was Bella Vista Farming Co. Chateau Le Paws infected by Phylloxera and it completely disappeared. No Syrah survived Phylloxera. There’s no evidence Cilurzo Vineyards & Winery of Syrah after 1890’s. 1920s… none. 1930s… none. Syrah is NOT part of the California wine story Clayton Vinyards before the 1940s and 1950s, but Petite Sirah played a major role. Continental Vineyards David Bruce Winery In 1884, Charles McKeever planted vines in Mission San Jose (the East Bay). He was a dilettante Diablo Vista Vineyards who planted it in Linda Vista as an experiment. We have good reason to believe that it was Durif, based on Ehrhardt Estates everything that was recorded about the varietal planting. He referred to those vines as Petite Sirah, and in a EOS Estate Winery Field Stone Winery few years, people were also calling it Petite Sirah. Foppiano Vineyards Henry W. Crabb, Napa proprietor of To Kalon Vineyards went to the East Bay, looked at Frey Vineyards, Ltd. F. Teldeschi Winery McKeever grapes and said, “This is very good, it’s a heavy yielder, it’s got great color,” and brought it to Girard Winery Napa Valley. Guenoc Winery From 1893 to 1897, the industry over expanded and created a glut, which resulted in: Hidden Cellars Lava Cap Winery · Prices were forced down Lolonis Winery · There was a general economic and industrial depression Marr Cellars simultaneously happening Masset Winery · Phylloxera was spreading McDowell Valley Vineyards Mettler Family Vineyards A replanting of Petite Sirah vineyards began as early as 1895 in Sonoma County, which had Mohr-Fry Ranches many black stump vines left standing from Phylloxera. From 1897 to 1905 – there was also an explosion of Oleta Vineyards plantings in South Santa Clara Valley, the Cucamonga and Lodi areas, and in Mendocino County. Just about Pacific Star Parducci Wine Estates everything was wiped out. Pedroncelli Winery In 1903 to 1905, it was the most popular grape of replanting… Petite Sirah, Durif, Peloursin… Rancho Zabaco First exclaimed in 1920, Professor Bennett declared, “No question about what we’ve got here… rows of R.A. Ripken Grape Nursery Petite Sirah and Durif – the same vine!” Rosenblum Cellars Sereno Vista Vineyards What we don’t know - The press simply stopped talking about Petite Sirah from 1900 to 1930, Shannon Ridge and we can only find 30 articles about Petite for that entire time. Talk just stopped, and by the end of Silkwood Wines depression, there was a rebirth of interest in planting. Trentadue Winery Vina Robles Vincent Arroyo Winery Wilson Farms 1. Twenty-five years ago, Leon Adams, the dean of California wine writers, named Charles L. Sullivan “the modern historian of Associate Organizational wine in California.” Among Sullivan’s books are A Companion to California Wine: An Encyclopedia of Wine and Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Winemaking from Mission Period to the Present, and his newly released Zinfandel, A History of a Grape and its Wine. Commission 2. The Wines of California, The Pacific Northwest and New York, Roy Andries de Groot, page 154. Rhone Rangers 3. Wine Market Council The Wines of California, The Pacific North-west and New York, page 155. Committee Heritage Clone Vineyard Petite Sirah Glass Development P.O. BOX 1505 ~ WINDSOR CA 95452 ~ T:(707) 620-0788 ~ F:(707) 838-9159 [email protected] http://www.psiloveyou.org A Non-Profit Organization, 501 (c) 6 ~ Tax ID # 82-0583174 Charles Sullivan, Wine industry Historian August 5, 2003 Second Annual Petite Sirah Noble Symposium Foppiano Vineyards, Healdsburg, CA.