It's October! You know what that means, Halloween is on its way. It is time for pumpkins, creepy decorations, scary movies, costumes, and wine! Yes, wine is jumping on the Halloween bandwagon. At least it seems that way. All of a sudden there are wine labels with names and themes perfect for the occasion everywhere I look. I acknowledge that could just be me noticing them all of a sudden, but just go with it. I thought it would be fun for us to talk about some of these perfect-for-Halloween wines this month. In addition, like any good horror movie this theme will have lots of sequels!
Today's Halloween wine is 2015 Spellbound Petite Sirah from California. I am going for a witch theme here. Get it, like spells and witches. The label has a cool moon thing going on, too. Anyway, it hails from California's Napa Valley on the North Coast. Spellbound is owned by winemaker Robert Mondavi Jr. of the famed Mondavi wine family. This wine is made from Petite Sirah grapes. Also known as Durif in some parts of the world, Petite Sirah is the result of a cross between Syrah and lesser known French grape called Peloursin. The word petite comes from the small size of the grapes in the clusters on the vine, not because it is the "baby" of Syrah or anything cute like that. Typical Petite Sirah is full bodied (sometimes highly acidic) with significant tannins and a dark color. It can often be found in combination with other grapes like Zinfandel.
With that in mind, I was pleasantly surprised by this wine. It is full bodied but not overly acidic, with pleasant but not overpowering tannins. Definitely not the muscular tannins you might expect from a Petite Syrah. Don't you just love the phrase muscular tannins? It is one of my favorites! This wine is fairly fragrant with coffee, vanilla, and fruit on the nose. The coffee carries through on the palette with a touch of vanilla as well. There is a nice ripe plum to round everything out. This wine was surprisingly smooth and easy to drink. It left me wanting to try more Petite Sirah!
Overall, I definitely recommend this wine. It is a great value at $13 and would make a fun bottle to bring to a Halloween party or as companion for a night of watching scary movies.
I would love to hear from you! What are your favorite Halloween-themed wines? Leave a comment below.
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