This robust California ‘petite petit’ boasts big flavor

The names given to grape varieties can have all sorts of derivations, including place names or family names. But many are simply nicknames bestowed by a past generation of farmers that center on what distinguishes one vine from another in the vineyard. Purple-skinned pinot noir’s name is an archaic term for a black pinecone, for example, since that’s what it resembles on the vine. Merlot translates loosely as little blackbird, though it’s unclear whether the name refers to how the clusters look on the vine or the bird’s fondness for stealing ripe grapes.

Today’s wine is named Petite Petit for the two grapes in its blend, which is dominated by petite sirah and accented with a smaller proportion of petit verdot. These soundalike grapes are unrelated and hail from different parts of France. Petite sirah, or little sirah is a direct descendant of the Rhône Valley’s famed syrah grape, while petit verdot is a grape native to Bordeaux that appears in some of the region’s cabernet sauvignon blends. Both grapes are used in similar roles in winemaking and rarely appear as pure varietal wines. They are more often used in small proportions to deepen the color and intensify the flavor of a blended wine. The reason why is hinted at in their similar names, where the French word petit refers to their small berry size. In red grapes, small berries yield big flavor and dark color by increasing the proportion of dark grape skins to pale grape flesh. That’s why this robust California wine looks like ink in the glass and delivers such a massive flavor impact that the vintner chose to illustrate the label with cartoon elephants. There’s nothing petite about how this hyper-concentrated red tastes, as dark, rich, and intense as a bite of blueberry pie still warm from the oven.

$15.99; 14.5% alcohol

PLCB Item #13360

Sale price through Oct. 2, regularly $18.99.

Also available at Kreston Wine & Spirits in Wilmington, $14.86, krestonwines.com; Total Wine & More in Claymont, Del., and Wilmington, $14.97, totalwine.com; and Canal’s in Mount Ephraim, $14.99, mycanals.com.