We recently opened up a bottle of 2016 Merryvale Petite Sirah from Juliana Vineyard of Pope Valley. Did you know that Pope Valley is the largest producer of grapes for Napa Valley wines? It is not a separate AVA, it is considered Napa Valley. So wine growers can source their grapes from Pope Valley vineyards and call it Napa Valley. The grapes coming from Pope Valley make some great wines!
After decanting for a couple of hours, we were treated to a wonderful wine with aromas of blackberries, blueberries and cherries and very jammy! The Petite Sirah was just getting started, the jammy aromas turned into jammy fruit forward but not overwhelming but the velvety softness of the wine as it rolled across the palate was just awesome! It had a really nice finish! Thank goodness we only had one bottle of this wine or the second one would have been gone too! I give this 4 glasses! 
About myredwineguys
My red wine guys, Jim and Rich, have been drinking and comparing red wines together for the last 10 years. We drink reds exclusively (except for champagne during New Year’s Eve celebration's or special occasions). In our search to find the best red wine for the buck, we are constantly buying and drinking a variety of reds. Frequently, we see many of our favorite reds increase in price (making them impractical to buy and consume with the dismal economy). This motivates us to try and compare lesser known reds from a variety of wineries. We are constantly telling our friends where to buy and save on these great reds. One weekend over a bottle of red wine (of course), we decided to share our recommendations with the world via a blog (with the support of our wives who really think this is another way for us to drink more red wine). We are going to be making road trips up the coast and sharing our opinions on some great California Reds.
Jim is a retired Navy Senior Chief now working as a Navy Technical Rep. His world travels have given him the opportunity to taste wines on different continents. He finds himself often comparing them to his favorite region – Napa Valley’s Oakville/Rutherford districts that produce some of the world’s best Cabernet Sauvignon's.
Richard is a musician who grew up in Santa Maria with a family rich with red wine tradition. According to the family legends, his grandfather used to make wine out of grapefruit when grapes were not available. He grew up drinking and making wine with his father and other Italian families in the central coast, long before there were grape vines in the area. In fact, the reason his family located to California was to make wine!
Thank you for visiting our site! We hope you enjoy a glass of exceptional red wine soon!
