Lot 34 2024 Oakville District Petite Sirah

WINE FUTURE

PROJECTED BOTTLING JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

Well, this one's a mystery folks.

When this sample came across my desk, the first thought that popped into my head is "what in the world are they doing with this???".

An Oakville Petite Sirah produced by one of Napa Valley's most pedigreed Cabernet Sauvignon producers isn't all that odd, I guess, but given they have no program into which to deploy this wine leaves me scratching my head. I have scoured the internet and can find nothing that would explain it - it certainly isn't listed in any of their wines either as a stand-alone or as a blender. Other than providing a few production details during pricing negotiations like 100% new French oak and "we have over 80 bucks a gallon into this wine", the head of winemaking was no help either, just sent over the NDA after we agreed to a price and said, "please sign this".

Oh well, for you guys virtually every offering from CAM X is a bit of a mystery so I guess you are used to it :-). I am not!

Regardless, while this wine maybe a bit of a mystery, in the glass it is utterly beguiling, without a doubt the sexiest Petite Sirah I have ever come across in any region of California. Structurally and even aromatically, it is built like a Cabernet Sauvignon, in fact, if I didn't know any better, I would have pegged it as such!

But here's the best part: Lot 34 2024 Oakville Petite Sirah is ridiculously priced at $129/case DELIVERED. I am honestly giddy at the prospect of your face when you taste this and say to yourself "my God, I paid how much for this??"

So, how can that be? The per bottle prices at this Oakville estate start in the mid-triple digits and go up from there. Here's the thing, though, the bulk business ain't their game, they have an enviable (to say the least) balance sheet, and they just wanted it out of the winery. Hence, it's yours for the taking!

Trust me on this one folks, this is not your average Oakville Petite Sirah. Exquisitely crafted with an elegance and finesse I have never experienced in this varietal, this is simply mind-blowing on so many levels.

This Lot is certain to go down as Legend!

Back up the truck time? Hell, yeah. Get after it...only about 250 cases of this to go around!

Inky and nearly opaque in the glass but with a vibrant purple rim. Blueberry pie and cherry kirsch swirl with gobs of nicely integrated toasty French oak, powdery pink flowers and a river gravel underpinning. Blackcurrant, blackberry compote and graham cracker complex with air. Supple on entry with ample fruit welded to a robust yet supremely well-integrated structure that unfurls majestically and elegantly in a huge 90-second finish. I cannot stress enough the perfect, seamless integration of fruit, oak and tannin here...this is an exquisitely and precisely made wine and the best damn Petite Sirah I have ever come across. Still a baby, so we'll leave it in barrel through the end of the year but I wouldn't be surprised if we bottled this at the end of January.

PS: A note on the 2024 vintage. The dynamic between 2023 and 2024 will be similar to 2018 and 2019...2018 was a long cool vintage with the resulting wines having robust, ageworthy structures that will require patience to showcase their complexity. 2023 is much the same but perhaps a but more fruit forward than 2018. 2019 was a warmer vintage with some solid heat spikes but the resulting wines were sexy and open knit from the get go. 2024 will be much the same...we had a lot of hot days and earlier ripening resulting in, again like 2019, more sexy, fruit-driven wines that will show better in their youth. My plan right now is to leave the PS in barrel and bottle this in January. It really doesn't need any more time in barrel. I can see bottling many of the 2024 Napa Cabernet's I am tasting now starting early next year as well.

100% Petite Sirah
100% Oakville District
14.5% alc.
~250 cases available