THE STORY
We gathered the Decanting Monterey Wine Pod on our new, heated front porch in May and, as is tradition we played Mystery Wine. This is a game in which we try to deduce what wine is in the decanter and in our glasses. There is an order to things: Is it Old World or New World? What country or state is it from? What region? What varietal? Which vintage? Can anyone guess the winery? But I blurted out: “It’s a Rombi Petite Sirah.” My husband firmly asked, “Am I doing this wrong?” and made us play the game in the proper order. I was correct.
You can read my last post about Rombi Wines here: The Newly-Released 2022 Rombi Merlot is a Beauty! I’ve written about them many times – you can search on my websitefor Rombi in the search bar.
THE WINE
Today I’m presenting just this one wine. Any mistakes are mine and mine alone.
2017 Rombi Petite Sirah, Carmel Valley AVA, Monterey County, 14.6% ABV, $75 (#331)
This fruit comes from the former Galante vineyards (now Tira Nanza), supplemented with some of Sal’s own grapes. We have been tasting this wine from pre-release to now. Our first two, pre-release tastes of it in 2021 deemed it unapproachable and we set it aside. By 2023, it had evolved into the beautiful wine we enjoyed once again this past spring. And we always decant or double-decant his wines.
My Review: A rich, bright garnet in the glass. Dried cherry, berry and tobacco leaf on the nose. Thick on the palate with cherry and berry flavors and a slightly tannic finish. This is a “wow” wine. This wine has improved over the years and is very drinkable right now. April 2023/May 2026
© Decanting Monterey 2026
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