2014 Helix Petit Verdot

Happy Friday!  I spend much of the day working in the yard as it's getting to be the heart of leaf season around my house (that's the price you pay for living in your own private forest).  But at least now it's time for a nice glass of wine with dinner, and tonight it's a recent wine club selection from Reininger, the 2014 Helix Petit Verdot, an extremely limited production available only to wine club members.  This 100% Petit Verdot is made from fruit from the Stone Tree Vineyard in the Wahluke Slope, so let's see how this interesting varietal stacks up!

The wine is a deep, inky color in the glass, somewhat like a nice Cabernet.  The nose is a blast of lovely floral notes, lavender, lilac, and rich black fruit. overlaying the mildest hints of mineral notes.  The taste is a rush of cool ripe fruit, blackberry, cherry, plum, all singing together before rushing into some subdued spice notes of black pepper midpalate.  The tannins are the most beautiful background singers for the star of the show, as this wine just croons with a voluptuous dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, as it's one of my favorite pure examples of this varietal.  This wine would be great with a lot of fall dishes, from hearty stews to chili to Yankee pot roast, but tonight I am enjoying one last blast of summer as I was at the market today and they had spare ribs on sale, so I'm enjoying this wine with barbecued spare ribs, fried sweet potatoes with peppers and some rich baked beans.  This has to be one of the best wines with barbecue I've ever had!  Cheers!