Despite its name, the petite sirah grape is not a small version of syrah. It's actually durif, a grape from southern France, where it produces coarse, rustic wines.

In California, petite sirah is often mixed in vineyard plantings with zinfandel, carignane and other red grapes. It is used in blends to add body and structure. Although a few winemakers bottle it separately (with good results) petite sirah still gets little respect.

Through DNA fingerprinting, it was discovered that petite sirah/durif is the offspring of syrah (considered a noble grape) and peloursin, a minor French grape. The syrah connection gives petite sirah/durif a boost. Devotees of the grape formed a fan club of sorts: P.S. I Love You. (P.S., of course, stands for petite sirah.) The group recently held its seventh annual symposium where there was a tasting of roughly four dozen petite sirahs, mostly from around California (along with one entry from southern Oregon).

Petite sirah acreage in California has more than doubled since 2000, to about 7,300 acres. Much of that planting has been in the Central Valley, but there’s some in cabernet-centric Napa County. There's also been a surge in San Luis Obispo County, which now has more than 1,100 acres of petite sirah, second only to San Joaquin County.

Petite sirah producers still battle to draw more attention to their grape. A survey by Full Glass Research found that many consumers aren't aware of petite sirah and that retailers and restaurants don't push the variety. The grape's fans, however, understand that it produces dark, robust, teeth-staining wines with tannins that range from firm, but manageable to very intense and drying.

Do we have any petite sirah lovers in da house?