2019 J. Lohr Tower Road Petite Sirah
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2022 California State Fair
The 2019 J. Lohr Tower Road Petite Sirah is bright and energetic, with aromas of cranberry and olallieberry and subtle floral accents. Delightful, with tart red and blue fruit on the palate, followed by exquisite length, concentration, and structure.
— Brenden Wood, red winemaker
Wine Details
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Composition Blend
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94%
Petite Sirah
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3%
Grenache Noir
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1%
Grenache Blanc
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1%
Roussanne
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1%
Viognier
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Origin
Paso Robles AVA, CA
Vineyards
In the vineyards surrounding Tower Road, in the Estrella District of Paso Robles, our Petite Sirah thrives on the well-drained yet heavier clay soils of the area. The rarity of autumn rains in Paso Robles allows this tight-clustered variety to reach full maturity almost every year. Our ripening program requires that we apply netting to the vines in August to assure that birds don’t overfeed on this especially flavorful grape before harvest.
Vintage
Preseason rainfall was higher than normal in 2019. Total degree growing days were comparable to the past several vintages. We normally see slightly later budbreak in wet years, as was the case in 2019. This delays the phenological stages for the entire vintage, including bloom, veraison, and harvest, which worked to our advantage in 2019. A large canopy developed during the spring, providing shading and relief for the sun-sensitive Petite Sirah grapes through the late summer heat spikes. We harvested Petite Sirah in mid-October with good uniform ripeness and unprecedented levels of anthocyanin pigments in the young wines. We employed Grenache Noir in the blending stage, as it intensifies the beautiful red fruit aromas and gives length to the mid-palate. We also added 1% each of Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, and Viognier, which lend subtle floral notes.
