Another fine, lush and ageable Petite Sirah from Retro. You can drink it now because it’s so sweet and accessible in cherry pie filling, roasted meat and smoky oak flavors. But with a firm tannin structure, it will gain all kinds of bottle complexities over the next eight years. ——S.H.(12/31/2011)—— 92

Classic mountain Petite Sirah. Bone-dry, full-bodied, tannic and basically undrinkable without time in the cellar. Shows a deep core of blackberries and black currants, with notes of pepper and dark chocolate. Despite the size, it’s elegant. Hold until after 2012.——S.H.(12/1/2009)—— 92

Tannin alert! This is old-fashionedly rustic, a wine for the cellar. Give it 6 to 8 years to begin to unlock the blackberries; it could live longer that that.——S.H.(12/1/2007)—— 92

The vineyard is 1,800 feet up the mountain and the wine was made by Randy Dunn’s (Dunn Vineyards) son, Mike. Howell Mountain produces some of California’s densest, most ageworthy red wines, and this big, dry, tannic Pet is a sure cellar candidate. Packed with blackberry, coffee, plum, leather and spice flavors, it should start to open up by 2009 and improve for several years after. ——S.H.(11/15/2006)—— 92