Dustin Fults offers the lot of his petite sirah to members of the Fults Family Vineyards wine club. That’s right — every case, every bottle.
It’s a sound business decision, certainly. He tends only a small plot of the varietal, producing just two barrels of wine each year. To send it out to the market would merely tease consumers. After all, he released the 2014 Fults Family petite sirah just four months ago and only a few cases remain.
One may applaud the winemaker’s prudence, but that still leaves a doleful reality. The tasting room shelves will empty of this vintage far too quickly.
You see, for a wine born into narrow quarters, with a future determined by boardroom acumen, it manages a bright, cheerful face. It reaches out to you with eager fruit aromas — ripe blueberries splitting under the sun, weighty plums tugging on the branch and blackberries bustling in the breeze. Yes, hints of dark chocolate, crushed peppercorns and cool vanilla flecked with dry herbs offer a counterpoint, but the bouquet prefers to boast of its freshness.
That pride continues on the palate. Blueberries spill in joyous revelry, plums strut in the background and the bright burst of blackberries make a surprise appearance, almost stealing the spotlight.
“You get a lot of dark fruit, lots of blackberry from that particular vineyard,” Fults observed.
He credits some sort of kinship between the petite sirah vines and wild blackberry bushes growing nearby. More likely the touch of malbec, petit verdot and grenache he added to round out the wine boosted the keen berry note.
A hint of cured tea tugs at the fruit, providing a little tannic structure to the festival. Traces of chocolate and black pepper provide a foundation. But there is another surprise waiting.
As the carousing begins to wind down, a genteel character begins to emerge. From the richer undertones comes a promenade of vanilla and soothing caramel that linger on the finish.
This time Fults credits the barrels — staves of oak cut and coopered in Kentucky and toasted to a point between fine and acrid.
“We really like the finish they give to the wine,” he said of the wood.
The petite sirah reclines in these barrels — just the pair — for almost two years, picking up traces of civility. But Fults contends his small parcel dedicated to the varietal favors the wine, blackberries and all. Year after year the grapes pucker into compact clusters, developing a balance of sugars and acidity under the sun.
“It’s well suited to Lake County,” he said of petite sirah. “It likes our dry heat.”
And clearly the Fults wine club members, as well as the lucky few who secure what is left, like the results. Perhaps he should consider planting a few more rows.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
