ON THE NOSE:
In a word: yummy! This Petite Sirah owns a great nose even just after popping, as long as you like a fruitbomb. This smells of very concentrated secondary fruit galore: predominantly blackberry (truly, so very like a blackberry cobbler), but also black currants and concentrated raspberry. There is mocha here, without a doubt. Sweet cream emanates from the top of the bottle in a luscious fashion and is present in the glass as well. This is “baked-in-a-pie” fruit, folks: big, rich, luscious, and over-the-top. Toast and jam. Wham bam, here I am! That being said I have to admit that the nose does keep me coming back BECAUSE of its supreme audacity. The bottle says “creamy orange zest,” and after being given that suggestion I can sense it there, sure.
ON THE PALATE:
Uh, YEAH! Can you say F R U I T B O M B ? If you haven’t yet actually consumed a wine that is one, here’s your chance. This is sweet as all get-out (um, I don’t really know exactly how sweet “all get-out” is, but it is probably quite so)! After such a dense bouquet the attack is quite promising, with an immediate plush, round mouthfeel, followed by a small but extant explosion containing a small splash of acidity as the elixir hits your upper palate, and a moderate tannic propulsion to the gums, yet much of it stays in the front of the mouth. The structure is definitely shy for such a bold wine. The acidity wanes into the back of the throat, the tannins dissolve sooner than one would like, and the finish is actually a little watery, with a hint of chocolate, but watery, “like a YooHoo, a watery chocolate drink” says Darcey, “it’s like drinking juice, in that way.”
After our palates get used to this wine, and after several hours of life in the decanter, we notice another taste filling in where the mid-palate was: ashes. Wood ashes. Something here that is not sweet! All in all this is a decent wine, but definitely too sweet, even after many hours. The finish, as mentioned, lacks, as does the overall structure. I would give this wine a pass, but I know that many out there would be able to look past these inequities and end up liking this wine. For us, it’s just too damned sweet.
(Click here for an explanation of our ratings ...)
Our Rating: 87
Would we drink it again? 
Yes, though it has some problems, and is yes yes yes too sweet yes, we would drink it again if it was put in front of us. It was indeed somewhat yummy.
Would we buy it again? 
Though we would drink it again, we both agreed that we would never buy this wine again.