Kosher Food and Drink

Ever since tasting Michael Kaye’s first super-limited release of Petite Sirah in 2015, I had hoped he would produce another vintage. As it happens, that initial 2015 release had handwritten notes on the label and of only 24 bottles released, I owned bottles 13 and 14! This wine was so super-limited, there wasn’t even a back label!

Memorably, I enjoyed my last bottle late in 2021, which only led to my anticipation for the new Invei, Clarksburg, Petite Sirah, 2022. While that 2015 vintage just had a simple Hebrew “Kuf” on the front label, the new Petite Sirah is named Invei. Since 2020, Kaye and Rabbi Dovber Berkowitz, partners since 2013, received a commercial license, but between covid and Ukraine’s bottle shortage, the brand officially launched in 2023. Collectors will also note a few vintages when the label said “Kaye/Invei.” Kaye also produced a Petit Verdot/Petite Sirah blend in 2019. My notes, and a longer biography on Kaye is here or here.

I spoke to Kaye about the new Petite Sirah and he relayed a remarkable story, one which fit neatly into his career of accident-turned-serendipitous destiny.

“We had been crushing Gewurztraminer all day in some serious heat.  About 7 pm, we took a break for dinner, davening, and the washing of the equipment. The crew was already exhausted, but determined to get the job done.  At 9 pm, we began crushing the Petite Sirah.

“Now Petite Sirah, as you may know, is rich with tannins, partly due to its thick skin. In addition, the clusters are particularly tight.  This means the crusher/destemmer has to run hard to get through the crush. Things were going smoothly the first hour and a half, but around 1030 pm, the crusher began smoking. I had never seen this at any winery, let alone ours! Now when I say smoking, I mean serious smoke.  It was completely jammed and we still had grapes to crush.

“So, it’s 1030 pm, we’re exhausted, stressed, and it’s way too late to get a repair person. If we didn’t crush the remaining grapes, we risked them starting to ferment and spoil. I talked to my partner, Dovber Berkowitz, who suggested dumping the remaining ton of clusters, uncrushed, with their stems, into the tank with the crushed grapes and juice. ‘We’ll deal with it tomorrow.’

“When I got home, I couldn’t sleep, terrified of what might happen and feeling that we were cursed with a broken crusher. So I began voraciously researching ‘how to deal with mixed whole-cluster fermentation.’ As it turned out, not only was it not a problem, it was actually a style of winemaking that could produce remarkable results. The addition of the stems added different arrays of tannins and the in-berry fermentation could produce esters like cinnamon and earthy flavors.

“As has happened so many times in my career, a seeming mistake was an actual miracle! The wine is so complex. Chocolatey, piney, blueberries, forest floor, eucalyptus. It’s both fruity and umami, and the additional tannins, in an already tannic wine, will serve to protect the wine (their function in plants) and allow it to age and evolve for many years to come. It’s one of our proudest accomplishments, and we hope people will enjoy it.”

Invei, Clarksburg, Petite Sirah, 2022 Tasting Notes (tasted on 8/31/2024):

50% whole cluster fermentation. Aged in French oak, medium toast plus, for 18 months. Brooding, opaque purple in the glass. Nose of wild blueberries, blackberries, dark cherry, herbaceous, cocoa, earth, balsamic, cardamom, white pepper. Full bodied, with lifting waves of acid, meaty tannins. Rich California blueberry and blackberry with good structure and complexity. Chewy and tannic. A big wine full of lush fruit with great acidic balance. This wine is enjoyable now with several hours of air but will improve. Drink 2026-2035.

$59, 15% ABV, non-mevushal

Available at kosherwine.com or at invei.com. Locally available in Los Angeles shops and soon in stores in the Northeast.

All photos courtesy of Invei Winery other than the two bottle photos courtesy of the author.