Technical Data

Grape Source: Lucky 8 Vineyard
Appellation: Livermore Valley
Varietal Content: Petit Verdot

Vintage Notes

The 2022 growing season in Livermore Valley was warm, concentrated, and structured. A wet winter was followed by a steady spring and early summer, giving the vines a strong start. As the season progressed, several heat events pushed ripeness and concentration, while cool Livermore evenings helped preserve acidity. For Petit Verdot, a naturally bold and deeply colored variety, this vintage delivered intensity, structure, dark fruit concentration, and a savory depth that gives the wine its dramatic personality.

Vineyard Notes

The 2022 Petit Verdot is sourced from Lucky 8 Vineyard on Tesla Road. Petit Verdot is known for producing wines with deep color, firm structure, and concentrated dark fruit character. At Lucky 8, warm days help fully ripen the variety’s naturally bold tannins, while cool nights preserve balance and freshness. The result is a wine with both power and lift, deeply fruited, savory, and layered with spice.

Winemaker Notes

Petit Verdot is one of the boldest and most structured wines in the McGrail portfolio. The winemaking approach highlights its depth, color, tannin, and dark fruit intensity while allowing oak aging to bring polish, spice, and complexity. This wine leans into Petit Verdot’s naturally brooding character, showing leather, black fruit, dried herbs, pepper, wood spice, and a long savory finish.

The Wine

The 2022 Petit Verdot immediately transports you into an old Italian leather shop: rich, dark, polished, and unforgettable. At first, the wine leads with deep leather and heavy wood notes, giving it a bold, almost dramatic presence. As it opens, layers of boysenberry, black cherry, blackberry, and plum begin to unfold, softening the wine’s powerful structure with dark, ripe fruit.

Aromas of violets, lilacs, lavender, cinnamon, vanilla, thyme, sage, and dried herbs build around the fruit, followed by chocolate, white pepper, anise, earthy notes, balsamic richness, smoked meats, and a spicy, meaty edge. On the palate, this wine is dark, intense, and full bodied, with black fruit, boysenberry, dried herbs, leather, and wood spice carrying through each sip. The finish is long, savory, meaty, and powerful, driven by dark fruit, acidity, and a lingering warmth that makes this Petit Verdot feel like a true powerhouse.

This is not a shy wine. It is bold, brooding, deeply textured, and deliciously dramatic. It is the kind of wine that asks for a slow meal, a hearty dish, and a little time in the glass.

Food Pairing

Beef and bean chili, braised short ribs, grilled lamb chops, smoked brisket, or a pepper crusted ribeye.