Tag Archives: Black Bart

Stags’ Leap Winery Petite Sirah 2020

21 October 2025 By in Red Wine, Wine Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Petite Sirah from Napa Valley, California

Purchase Price: $19.00

James Suckling 94, Gismondi 92, Wine Enthusiast 92, Cellar Tracker 92, Robert Parker 90, Wine and Spirits 89, ElsBob 89

ABV 14.5%

A very dark ruby, purple hue wine with aromas of black fruits. On the palate more of a red fruit, cherry flavor, with a little spice, mainly pepper. High in acidity and tannins, medium-full bodied, with very little balance. Fortunately, the finish is short. To help smooth out the acidity and tannic nature of this wine try it with aged cheeses such as Gouda or tomato-based dishes like pasta or pizza.

A very good fine wine overpriced at $19. If you can find it under $12 give it a try. Current prices range from about $28-65. A decent wine but far below Stags’ Leap quality reputation. I’m surprised they put their label on this one.

Trivia: Stag’s Leap Winery is located along the Silverado Trail in Napa Valley. The trail originally built in 1852, links the cinnabar mines (HgS, mercury sulfide) on Mount St. Helena in the north to San Pablo Bay, the estuarine gateway to San Francisco Bay; natural bookends to the valley. In addition to abundant mercury deposits, the mines also yielded silver, sparking a short-lived silver rush beginning in 1858.

Highwayman Black Bart preyed on stagecoaches along the trail in the 1880s, adding to the outlaw mystique of the region, and inspiring a minor character in The Simpsons. The non-Simpson Bart left rhymed messages at the scene of his robberies earning the moniker ‘The Poet Bandit.’ He was captured in 1883 and served 4 years in San Quentin, regrettably missing Johnny Cash’s concert by about 81 years.

In 1880, Robert Louis Stevenson honeymooned in Napa Valley with his wife Fanny, spending the summer squatting in an abandoned bunkhouse at the Silverado Mine (a spendthrift, to be sure–actually, he was broke, destitute, poor, penniless, and sick), on the slopes of Mount St. Helena. The experience led to his travel memoir The Silverado Squatters, which, while not a blockbuster, did manage to sell enough to justify a second printing. Interestingly, it can still be purchased from independent publishers. It’s a short book of about 100+ pages. Give it a read and compare it with the Bermuda travelogues of his contemporary, Mark Twain.

Highway 12 Highwayman Proprietary Red 2012

6 December 2017 By in Red Wine Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

W Highwayman 2012Other Red Blends from Sonoma County, California

Proprietary red blend:

     cabernet sauvignon

     cabernet franc

     merlot

14.8% alcohol

Opened 2 Dec 2017

els 9.1/10

Highway 12 is a North Coast, Sonoma County winery producing 3 brands of differing quality wines from the vineyards of Sonoma and Carneros regions: Highway 12, Carneros Highway, and their flagship wine: Highwayman.  The Highwayman lineup includes 1 white and 4 reds: Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and 2 red blends.  Their Proprietary Red was the initial wine in this lineup with the blend of grape types and percentages changing from vintage to vintage.  The 2013 vintage is a blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot as opposed to this 2012 vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot.

Highwayman, the wine, commemorates the fabled gentlemen robbers of days gone by, who relieved, accessible and unguarded, or guarded, travelers of their possessions on the desolate stretches of road in many a nation’s country-sides. In California, a highwayman was known as a road agent, the most famous of which was probably Charles “Black Bart” Boles, a bandit with a particular affinity to Wells Fargo Coaches and their money boxes. He plied his trade of questionable legitimacy for 8 years during the late 19th century, along the deserted roads of northern California.  Black Bart, always armed with a shotgun but never fired during any of his roadside capers, acquired his name by leaving snippets of rhyming poetry at the scene of his crimes. Below is a sample of his poetry that he left at a robbery in 1877, with a slight, germane, editorial modification:

I’ve labored long and hard for (wine and) bread,
For honor, and for riches,
But on my corns too long you’ve tread,
You fine-haired sons of bitches.
 
— Black Bart, 1877.

Fortunately for all of us, highway robbery is now practiced by a better class of erudite individuals.

This wine has a black ruby-red hue, aromas of sweet black and blue berries, with whiffs of spicy herbs and earth, producing an enjoyable, full-bodied, long finish. It exhibits a powerful but balanced and delightful taste of chewy tannins and fruit. Perhaps a tad heavy by itself, better if served with a medium rare rib-eye.

An outstanding wine. Decant and aerate for at least one hour.

$19.38  wine-searcher.com