One afternoon last week, I was sorting through a stack of mail, consisting mostly of donation requests and bills, when a letter caught my eye. It was the wine judging results from the Orange County Fair’s Commercial Wine Competition. The letter was carrying some fantastic news; our Petite Sirah had struck GOLD!!! For those of you who don’t already know, the Orange County Fair is a highly known wine competition in our industry and a gold medal coming from them is exceptionally good news.

Even though we’ve been growing this varietal for many years, in 2009 we finally decided to produce it for our tasting room visitors. Many growers and vintners in Suisun Valley believe that Petite Sirah is emerging as our “signature” grape. I guess you could say that this award adds credibility to their claim.

This photo of our Lambert Ranch Petite Sirah was taken about two weeks before harvest. As I look back on this photo, taken almost two years ago in October 2009, I’m still amazed at how nice the fruit looked. I realize that my, vineyard manager, brothers Larry and Ken made my, wine-making, brother Rick’s job a lot easier. The next time you’re visiting Suisun Valley, stop by the tasting room and taste the gold medal Petite Sirah for yourself.

Salute’