Home | Food And Drink | Wine And Spirits

Petit Verdot Ages Successfully In Temecula Wineries

By: dgcarticle Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Petit Verdot grown in Temecula Valley Vineyards offers improved characteristics to a Meritage blend.

Petit Verdot (pronounced peh-TEE vehr-DOUGH and means little green) is a red grape classically used in Bordeaux-style red grape and American Cabernets to support the color, tannins, and complexity. The grape is small, very thick skinned, with deep color. Winemakers generally use this temecula grape as cooks would use herbs. It is generally used in very small quantities of 5% or less in wine due to its tendency to cause a puckery taste and have strong vinous green flavors & aromas reminiscent of pencil shavings. However, when allowed to become very ripe in warm climates such as Temecula, the vinous characters are minimized so higher amounts can be used. Propertly matured fruit offers the best of a Big Red Temecula wine with spice, leather, and floral tastes while still keeping the appropriate acidity.

Plantings of Petit Verdot are increasing in California because the climate allows for complete ripening of the grapes, improving flavors. The Petit Verdot varietal is also on the rise in other hot wine growing locations like Australia and South America. In Frances cooler climate, acreage with this grape is declining since the variety generally ripens late which can risk the quality, and crops can be lost to fall inclimate weather. Temeculas hot climate is ideal for the Petit Verdot grape and gives the grape time to reach its fullest potential.

Petit Verdot is one of the recognized varietals (also including, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, Carmenere) from the Bordeaux region in France . Outside of France, wineries making blends with Petit Verdot and the other typical Bordeaux grapes are forbidden to call their blended wines Bordeaux blended wine. In 1988, a group of American winemakers created the term Meritage (a combination of the words Merit and Heritage) to describe Bordeaux-style wine produced in America. According to the Meritage Group, Meritage was designed to identify wines that represent the highest form of the winemakers art, blending, and identify these blended wines from the common moniker red table wine. A Meritage wine contain two or more of the noble Bordeaux varietals with no one variety making up more than 90% of the blend. Also, to insure that the term Meritage is used for the finest blended wines, case production is limited to 25,000 cases per vintage.

Temecula wineries are experimenting in using higher amounts of Petit Verdot in their own Meritage wines. Wiens Family Cellars of Temecula California is a Temecula winery utilizing Temeculas optimal grape growing conditions to grow Petit Verdot grapes. The winery will distribute their 2007 Temecula Valley Meritage to wine club members on August 12, 2009. The blend includes 25% Petit Verdot so the unique characteristics are evident within the wines flavors. In addition to the ideal ripening conditions in Temecula California, 2007 was a very dry year which increased wine intensities in the Temecula Valley. The drought pushed wine flavors more towards jammy with dark berry/plum flavors.

Blended wine with significant percentage of Petit Verdot are best served with foods having an herbal flavor. Foods with very strong flavors like balsamic vinegar also pair nicely, as do robust strong-flavor artisan olive oils and pepper-jack cheese. This varietals level of tannin and acidity make it a perfect wine that is not easily overpowered by the food!

Article Source: ABC Article Directory

About The Author: Wiens Family Cellars, a Temecula winery, is committed to making world class (big red) Temecula wines with fruit produced from the Temecula Valley. One of our most important current goals is to produce a Bordeaux blend that is on par with the best of the Napa/Sonoma regions.