Sundried Tomato & Olive Tapenade

We love how the concentrated flavors from the sundried tomatoes bring out the dark fruit notes in 2019 Cellar No. 254 Petite Sirah. The added salinity of the tapenade helps balance out the seamless acidity in the wine.

SERVINGS: 1 Pint

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cup Mixed Pitted Olives
• 4 ea Cloves of Garlic, Roasted in Olive Oil
• 1/2 cup Dry-packed Sundried Tomatoes (Not packed in oil)
• 1/2 cup Fresh Basil Leaves
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar

DIRECTIONS:

Place ingredients in a food processor and mix until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Taste and adjust seasonings if desired.

Pairs Well With

2018 Cellar No. 254 Petite Sirah

Thomann Station Vineyard benefits from the warmth of the St. Helena sun, yielding ripe, round flavors. Ideal for growing Petite Sirah, the grapes thrive in the deep, gravelly loam soils of the Napa Valley floor. The 2018 growing season began with plentiful winter rains that gave to a consistently warm and steady that eased into a mild fall, resulting in a slightly later harvest that delivered beautifully developed fruit with marked complexity. Because this fruit is literally in our backyard, it was delivered by tractor and immediately hand-sorted and destemmed. A three-day cold soak allowed for gentle extraction of flavor and color. We then used a careful combination of punch-downs and rack-and-returns during fermentation, which helped to tame the varietal’s burly tannins and build a balanced, beautifully finessed Petite Sirah. Total aging was 15 months in a combination of French and American oak, the latter imparting a sweet bacon spice note to this remarkably rich wine (74% new oak, 48% French, 26% American).

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