In the early days of California wine, Petite Sirah was used to add color, tannic backbone and acidity to Zinfandel, the most popular wine of the 19th and early 20th century. It wasn’t often bottled as a stand-alone variety. Today there are some great old vine Petite Sirah vineyards sprinkled around California, and old vine Petite Sirah has built a cult following of wine drinkers who adore it for its inky color, stiff structure, black fruit and coffee flavors. Clarksburg, located near Lodi in the Sacramento River delta, has hot days but also enjoys cool evening breezes from the San Francisco Bay.

Dancing Coyote’s Clarksburg estate has been owned and operated by the same family for five generations. The winery was constructed in 1868 as a granary and was converted to a winery in the early 1900s, when it began to win accolades for its Port-style wines, brandies and vinegars. The first wines produced under the Dancing Coyote label made their debut in 2001. The label is inspired by the local coyotes that infiltrate the vineyard at night, gnaw on the irrigation lines, and raise hell under the bright summer moon.