Switchback Ridge’s Petite Sirah began as something deeply personal. Kelly Peterson founded the winery on her family’s Peterson Family Vineyard in Calistoga, and in 1999 produced her first Petite Sirah in honor of her mother, who had dreamed of seeing the variety bottled from the family property. More than two decades later, that connection remains intact: the 2023 comes entirely from Peterson Family Vineyard, combining 67% fruit from a newer block with 33% old-vine Petite Sirah. Only 296 cases were produced, making this a remarkably small expression of a grape that has been woven into the history of the estate from the beginning. Today, the winemaking is in the hands of Thomas Rivers Brown, one of Napa Valley’s most accomplished winemakers, and his approach at Switchback Ridge has moved toward picking with greater freshness and brightness while allowing the vineyard to dictate the wine. The 2023 Petite Sirah was aged for 18 months entirely in French oak, bringing serious élevage to a variety already capable of extraordinary concentration. What emerges is unapologetically powerful: blackberry, blueberry and ripe plum dominate the aromatics, joined by preserved fruit and black pepper. The palate is dense and deeply layered with dark fruit, yet dusty, integrated tannins provide shape rather than brute force, carrying that richness toward a finish the winery describes as remarkably smooth and refined. That balance is what makes the 2023 so compelling. Petite Sirah can easily become a story about sheer size, but Switchback Ridge gives all that natural intensity somewhere to go. Old vines and younger plantings meet in the same bottle; concentrated Calistoga fruit is given 18 months in French oak; formidable tannin is matched by enough freshness to keep the wine moving across the palate. The result is Petite Sirah in full voice, saturated with black and blue fruit, broad and mouth-coating in texture, yet polished enough to finish with finesse. With just 296 cases made from a single family vineyard, the 2023 feels less like another Napa Valley red than a continuation of the Peterson family story, told through the grape Kelly Peterson chose to champion from the very beginning.