Willy and I opened our first bottle of the '97 Petite Sirah for dinner last night.  After drinking the '96 I had wanted to let the '97 stay in bottle longer before sampling.  I hadn't tasted any of the '97 since the barrel tasting at the winery in early 1998.

The color is dense, inky dark plumb.  And the body is wonderfully full, yet not chewy!  I found the bouquet to say "WINE!", unique with fruite, yet without the separate fruits presentation I normally expect with most of David's wines.  The bouquet has blended along with the body balance of the wine.

The tannins have already been been pretty much processed, and the wine is approaching a fine balance.  I found that this wine has blended so completely that I had difficulty separately detecting any of the three other varieties (Cab, Carignane, Zin) that the label says were blended with the Petite Sirah.  The acidity is slightly higher than I had expected, but not overbearing; another six months or so in the bottle and I think this wine will be fantastic!

While not yet showing any significant sediment, I think that it might produce some in the future; so if you have any in your cellar you might want to give some consideration to how it's stored (I prefer to store on its side, and let stand upright for a few hours before serving).

I don't know how you do it, David, but again... KUDOS!!!