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Faster than you can say ‘Prisoner Wine Company,’ we have the Caymus entry into the ‘luscious and lovely’ category, the wine they are calling The Walking Fool. Named after Jenny Wagner’s great-great grandfather, Johannes Glos (as in Belle Glos) who, it is said, preferred traveling by foot, the wine itself, like ‘’The Priz,’ is built on delicious Zinfandel, in this case with the addition of sturdy Petite Sirah, a sort of secret weapon at Caymus. Petite Sirah is notable because, despite its name, it is neither Syrah nor particularly petite in nature. A hybrid grape codified by a Dr. Francoise Durif in the 1860s, the grape, then called (not surprisingly) Durif flopped in its native Rhône Valley, but cuttings found their way aboard ships to the New World in the 1880s and 1890s where they soon became prized by the local farmers for their ability to thrive in warmer climates and reliably produce copious amounts of very dark, immensely tannic wine. In California, the grape became anomalously known as Petit(e) Sirah and became widely planted in vineyards as far south as the Santa Cruz Mountains and all through the Napa, Sonoma, Livermore, Eastern Contra Costa, Lodi and Suisun valleys. While on its own, with several very notable exceptions, Petite Sirah’s searing tannins never allowed it to make a particularly distinguished wine, it found its place in the world by adding stuffing and backbone to fruitier wines like Zinfandel.

Since Caymus’ new winery in Suisun is surrounded by old Petite vines, that became the theory here behind The Walking Fool. It captures the intense fruitiness and effusive fun of a great Zin but with Petite’s juicy, dark boysenberry-blueberry fruit on vivid display too. The tannins are soft and round and do nothing more than work with the acidity to create the kind of juiciness that makes you crave a large platter of barbecue. Phew! It’s big, bold and a ton of fun to drink. Not shy and not retiring, this is an enormous mouthful of delicious wine- something that would make ol’ Dr. Durif shake his head in wonder and folks at Prisoner Wine Company headquarters to quake in their boots a little. It’s a more than worthy competitor in that drink-me-now-and-ask-no-questions category.