Michael David Earthquake Petite Sirah 2013: Very dark purple, opaque color; blueberry nose; flamboyantly rich fruit flavors—blackberry, blueberry, fig, boysenberry, sweet plum on the palate;
polished tannins, superb acidity (3.59), sweet French oak, vanilla. Michael David is vintner that performs magic in Lodi; over-the-top typically is their bottom line in a wine profile, and this accomplishes that. With its massive fruitiness and flavor, this is not for a faint-of-palate, red wine dilettante, but big wine lovers will love the blend of power and smoothness—think bearded biker with tattoos who speaks with eloquence and depth thanks to the PhD earned at a nationally competitive research university. Loyal readers know of my admiration for what Michael David pull off in Lodi (Robert Parkers feels the same way, btw). The Earthquake name comes from the original zin vineyard acquired by MD; it was planted about the same time as the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. MD thought “earthquake” captured their goal for wines from this part of their holdings—dark, powerful, wake-up wines that would leave taste buds and senses trembling. Michael and David Phillips trace their fruit-farming roots back to the 1850s and their grape-growing roots a century; a sixth generation has begun to assert itself, to the joy of big wine drinkers everywhere. All 750 acres of the family vineyards are third-party certified as sustainable. $24-26
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