2005 Trentadue Winery La Storia Petite Sirah
Mission Codename: History Repeats Itself
Operative: Agent Red
Objective: Return to Trentadue Winery in Sonoma County’s pristine Alexander Valley, secure another exclusive wine for our Operatives.
Mission Status: Accomplished!
Current Winery: Trentadue Winery
Wine Subject: 2005 La Storia Petite Sirah
Winemaker: Miro Tcholakov
Backgrounder: Alexander Valley in northeast Sonoma County is located on the western side of the Mayacamas range and extends westward to the edge of the Russian River Valley. This appellation was formerly considered a part of Dry Creek Valley but became its own appellation in November 1984. The region is best known for exceptional Bordeaux Varietals. Read Agent Red’s detailed tasting notes and winemaker interview, below.
Wine Spies Tasting Profile:
Look – Inky dark purple, with a slightly opaque heart. At its edges, a thick band of pure lavender rings the glass. After swirling the wine, thick, wine-stained legs crawl slowly down the glass.
Smell – Lush and large, with sweet blackberry, blueberry, plum and cassis – with secondary aromatic cedar, dark strawberry and black pepper.
Feel – Balanced on entry, riding a fine line between soft and round and softly dry. The wine hovers easily between these two states for several moments, before a more serious dryness spreads slowly backward from the tip of the tongue.
Taste – Intense dark blackberry and blueberry give way to dark cherry, plum, black pepper and an intriguing dark nectarine.
Finish – Mouthwatering and delicious, with dark flavors that go on and on for a very long time. Eventually, these flavors end with a soft blackberry and black pepper.
Overall – Lovers of Petite Sirah, rejoice! This is a big, delicious and wonderfully balanced treat. Too many California Petites are brash examples that knock you around with huge oak and flavors that are out of control. Today’s wine holds everything in perfect harmony, with just the right amount of intensity – and softness. Flavors are authentic and delicious, and the aromas practically leap from the glass. The more you swirl, the better the fruit aromas – and the softer the feel becomes. Winemaker, Miro Tcholakov, is a master of Sonoma County Petite Sirah and we continue to be huge fans of all of his delicious wines.
Mission Report:
MIRO INTEL BRIEFING DOSSIER
SUBJECT: Miro Tcholakov
DATE OF BIRTH: 02.04.1966
PLACE OF BIRTH: Trojan, Bulgaria
WINE EDUCATION: Higher Institute of Agriculture, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, UC Davis, SRJC
CALIFORNIA WINE JOB BRIEF: Dry Creek Vineyards-1990-1999 as Assistant Winemaker/Cellar Master, Trentadue Winery-1999-present-Winemaker/VP of Production, Miro Cellars-2001-present. Also consulted and continue to consult for a few other small projects domestically and abroad. Currently serving on the Board of Directors for ZAP and “PS I Love you” organizations
WINEMAKING PHILOSOPHY: “Freedom of Expression”- meaning for Miro wines I source only vineyards that are interesting to me in regard of geology, soil types, location, grape growing styles, grape grower…etc. Not being confined to an “Estate” vineyard gives me the freedom of choice. If the vineyard does not deliver I move on. Great wines can be made without blue blooded heritage and a Chateau in the foreground.
CAREER HIGHLIGHT: Well I’m not sure what do you consider Highlight but if you mean wine scores I have a few 90 points and above from Wine Enthusiast, Parker, Wine Spectator, Connoisseur Guide, California Grapevine, top picks in New York Times, USA Today, and hundreds of Gold medals and Best of Class and a few Sweepstakes from wine competitions that matter.
I have met and tasted my wines one on one with Michelle Rolland (without paying for it) if that is considered an event but I found that to be very interesting. I have been on the pages of few wine publications. Once Dan Burger put me on the top 20 winemakers in the country… There is probably more that I don’t remember…
MIRO QUOTE: Just drink it-it is only wine!
AGENT RED: Please tell me a little bit about the wine we are featuring today.
MIRO: Trentadue has been known as a great Petite producer for the last 40 years. The La Storia wines are our reserve wines, our best effort. The grapes are exclusively grown on our Geyserville Estate-from Blocks 402 and 400.
RED: What is your favorite pairing with today’s wine?
MIRO: Petite Sirah can be easily used instead of Cabernet in most recipes. Many meat dishes-most obviously stakes will be greatly complimented by the exuberant abundance of tannin, fruit and flavor of the mighty Petite. For the vegetarians try it with spicy eggplant, roasted Portobello, and many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes.
RED: In your opinion, what makes the Alexander Valley so special?
WINEMAKER: Geyserville area is in the middle of the Alexander Valley where grape growing dates back more than a century. Some of our blocks are still the original vineyards planted back in 1896. Petite Sirah is planted and mixed in all of those block- a testimony to the importance of that variety back than as well as today. The climate and soils around the banks of the Russian River are perfect for any red varieties-deep, gravely, well drained soils that provide the building blocks for great color and depth in our Petite. The fruit profile is always in the deep dark and red stone fruits with considerable body.
RED: What is occupying your time at the winery these days?
MIRO: We are doing a lot of final prep for bottling-fine tuning the blends, racking and blending, fining and filtration. The fun never stops specially during bottling (I’m being sarcastic).
RED: Thank you so much for your time. We learned a lot about you and your wine. Keep up the great work, we are big fans!
Wine Spies Vineyard Check:
The location of the Trentadue Winery can be seen in this satellite photo.
