Beaver Creek’s 2015 Petite Sirah was born into a chaotic world and barely survived.
Winemaker Martin Pohl and crew began harvest on Sept. 12 of that year. In the afternoon, a plume of smoke an the hum of aerial tankers paced their work on the crush pad as the Valley Fire coiled and prepared to pounce.
“We were done with crush at 7 p.m.” Pohl recalled. “We were evacuated at 9 p.m.”
They hurried to safety, leaving the petite sirah in barrels on the property. The fire lapped at the edges of Pohl’s vineyard, claiming 10 acres before turning its temper elsewhere. Meanwhile, the wine sat unattended, until law enforcement escorted Pohl in for punchdown, five days later.
This hopeful, erratic procedure occurred at wineries all over the evacuation zone. Allowed a quick passage in they would check on progress and then leave the area.
When the situation finally settled, Pohl again visited his wine and dipped into a barrel.
“It was delicious,” he said, beaming.
The Beaver Creek 2015 petite sirah may have been left alone to fend for itself amid smoke and sirens, but it shows little sign of a stressful rearing. On the nose it engages you with an intriguing swirl of baked blueberry and candied plum, offered alongside a tray of green tea and chocolate — this last an elusive note, as if the server had steadied the plate just beyond reach.
Yet there are also indications surprising in a petite sirah, from a vague scent of worn cedar to a fundament of pomace and crumbling stone.
Perhaps the latter results from the shortened term it spent in oak. For a normal vintage Pohl allows the wine to hibernate for 18 to 24 months. He bottled the 2015 after just 10 months — in part to help recoup losses from the charred portion of his vineyard, in part because the brief schooling in wood had already molded a fresh, enjoyable wine.
It splashes happily on the palate, with ripe blueberry sharpened by blackberry, both breaking away from a more reserved note of plum. The fruits are playful when unleashed from the rim, traipsing over more composed impressions of earthy spice, cured tea leaves and weathered minerals.
Instead of the deep, tannic structure found in many petite sirahs, Beaver Creek’s 2015 shows a welcome zest. It is bright, with enough acidity to hint at a little citrus around the edges.
Still, it remains true to the varietal. Distant, whispering fronds of green leaves usher out the finish.
“It’s a young wine, but it does really well,” Pohl observed. “We got lucky.”
The Beaver Creek winemaker credits the petite sirah’s survival to terroir and philosophy. Pohl is committed to organic and biodynamic farming. He refrains from the addition of anything other than yeast.
Pohl is in the process of replanting seven of the acres he lost to the fire. In the future he plans to reserve some of the wine for extended aging, looking to produce more collectable bottles.
One thing, however, will not change.
“I only want to do organic wines,” he said.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
