I recently watched John Huston directed “Treasure of the Sierra Madre”. The 1947 film centres on the hunt for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountain range in Mexico. Bogart is a sociopath and Walter Huston an entertaining and honest old coot. Is there treasure in this L.A. Cetto Petite Sirah from Mexico? I saw a customer at a local Liquor Control Board of Ontario clean out 8 of the last 9 bottles and he waxed on about it like it was gold! It was certainly inexpensive and a long time import into Ontario. There are an increasing number of wineries in Mexico but all we get here in Ontario are the Syrah and Petite Syrah from L.A. Cetto.
Aroma: Black cherry, cactus pear, cranberry and root beer.
Palate: Really no nuggets worth staking a claim for. A strange bit of salinity gives it an odd character not entirely unpleasant. Anything else? Some black cherry and a tad of prunes. I recall on my last visit to Mexico at some all inclusive on the Mayan Riviera the wine at the buffet was Carlo Rossi jug wine from California. Why not Mexican wine? Given the huge tax on Mexican wine perhaps the Cali plonk was cheaper? At 12 grams of residual sugar per litre it might have been the pride of Mexican dentists.
Personality: About as charming as the Mexican banditos in “Treasure of the Sierra Madre”!
Cellarbility: To cellar would be fool’s gold!
Food match: In Mexico I live off red snapper so it might, just might, suit red snapper Vera Cruz? In code I say like the LCBO that this is a Friday night wine suited for “casual fare”.
Price: $13.95 (Ontario).
RKS 2023 Wine Rating: 77/100.
(L.A. Cetto 2020 Petite Sirah, Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California, Mexico, LA. Cetto, 750 mL, 13.5%, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 983742).
Walter Huston won an Academy Award for best supporting actor and his son for best director. Who knows about what awards this wine might win? Pay an entry fee to any number of wine “competitions” or pay to play rating agencies and it just might win a gold or two! Banditos can do more than rob trains.
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