WTN/Winery visit: Quixote Petit Sirah

Quixote Winery was established by the original founder of Stag's Leap Winery (not the Winiarski one) and is located in a stunning hidden valley off Silverado Trail (near Shafer). The bicycle ride up the private road into the valley was worth the tasting fee in itself! They are a small production winery...typical story, the owner sells his successful commercial level winery to a corporation and keeps some acreage and a small production facility for himself.

What a winery, too. Designed by enfant terrible Austrian architect Hundterwasser http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedensre ... dertwasser it looks like the work of a particularly clever eight year old who had been raised on Maurice Sendak books...in a good way.

Anyway, the Panza line of reds (Grenache/Mouvedre, Claret, and Cabernet Sauvignon) were quite fine-unobtrusive oak and bright acid...the cab was actually pretty light and bright and slurpable for a 2004. But, the tasting manager had noted that they were contradicting conventional wisdom in Stag's Leap by focusing on their Petit Sirah. And, this wine (the Quixote 2005 Napa Valley Petit Sirah) was the bomb. Explosive nose of berry, blueberry, and black pepper. This is a wine one would do well just to swirl and smell for quite awhile. Tons of spice and berry fruit on the palate as well. Didn't note the alcohol, but it was unobtrusive, and the wine felt light as a feather and elegant, despite the powerful flavors and nose. This may be one of the best Petit Sirah's I've ever had. 95 points?