TNs--Mike on Mini-Tour--Dirty & Rowdy Comprehensive in Atlanta

I cannot thank Mike Evans enough for taking the lead in organizing this and providing most of the wines. To the others who chipped in, big appreciation as well. I didn’t have any D&R but I brought a tip of the cap to Hardy with a 2013 Corison Cab.

We had hoped to skype or facetime with him, but no such luck–he was driving 2-year-old Maple to the Pumpkin Patch! That said, I was thrilled to get Hardy on the phone with all of us a couple times to help give some extra flavour and details to the wines.

2014 Dirty And Rowdy Familiar Blanc

Hardy mentioned the shelf life is intended to be 2-3 years. Sour if interesting taste, but yes, coming apart at the seams some

2013 Dirty And Rowdy Chard

Full year for primary ferment, all concrete. Racked into old barrels for 3 weeks to warm up the wine. Very pretty resolved citrus and pear aromas. That’s excellent—great, restrained balance, fully mature yellow fruit and good carry. My #4 today and heard many other pleased noises at the table. 13.3%. Alder Springs fruit

2013 Dirty and Rowdy Familiar Mourvèdre

Cedar closet, dried cherry, a li’l cinnamon sniff. Still plenty of life here—light-ish but conversational

2018 Dirty and Rowdy Familiar Mourvèdre

Hardy is excited about this vintage. He does say that 2019 will be quite challenging. Don and I both get lots of Beaujolais note—bright, juicy berry. Nick is thinking some sundried tomato and I follow that, with touch of black pepper

2014 Dirty and Rowdy Skinner White Oak Flats Mourvèdre

1300 foot elevation granite and clay soil. I start to get coffee grounds here, with cocoa and black berries. Good spicy snap, doesn’t drive to the back but I like the earthiness

2014 Dirty and Rowdy Skinner Stoney Creek Mourvèdre

By contrast, 2600 ft elevation and granite soil. Fresher, more mineral, light cocoa in the nose. Quite poised, almost too much. Nicely light-bodied. Hardy comments on the different sites, comparing White Oak Flats to Morgeon and Stoney Creek, 40 minute commute, to Fleurie

2014 Dirty and Rowdy Shake Ridge Mourvèdre

2000 ft and volcanic soil. Lovely baking spices here. Dark plum and a touch of sage and thyme. That’s really beautiful—acid and feathery tannins and real class. Just excellent. Usually the Evanghelo is my fave, but not today. WOTD and I think it was pretty unanimous at the table

2014 Dirty and Rowdy Santa Barbara Highlands Mourvedre

The acid is ascending here, much tart berry. No ripeness on palate makes me wonder when the grapes were picked. I think there was a little VA here which my seat mate Dennis S agreed with

2013 Dirty and Rowdy Antle Mourvedre

Hardy told us this was 100% punchdown. From 20-year vines. This has some wood varnish and almost-mustiness about the bouquet. Dried plum and even a bit of prune underneath. On the tongue, plush and mouthcoating, there is meatiness here without departing from the mourvedre character. Good.

2015 Dirty and Rowdy Antle Mourvedre

combo of 40 year and 20 year vines. More pumpovers for this vintage, Hardy said. Still-truculent nose isn’t giving up much–maybe kahlua? some surmaturite strikes me on the palate, but it’s underdeveloped too—a lot of stuff, promising but in an awkward spot at the moment.

2014 Dirty and Rowdy Sparkling

As far as I know, the only vintage they’ve done it. 75% PB, 25% Sem. Traditional Method. Whee–Jamaican ginger beer wafts up the glass. Citrus too. In the mouth, it’s very much cider for me, in taste and feel. A lot of people liked this at the table.

2014 Dirty and Rowdy Evanghelo Mourvedre

Lots going on in the sniffer–coffee and black forest cake and pepper, and a tiny hit of licorice. Stlll a little early to drink, but great guts to this wine with lots of red and black fruit. Chewiness and grip. leave 1-2 years, but would love to try it again at that time. Thumbs up here from me.

2016 Dirty and Rowdy Evanghelo Mourvedre

more primal nose here, chocolate, bit of espresso. This is just a baby right now, lots of pieces but a long way from being put together yet. Be patient.

2013 Dirty and Rowdy Rosewood Mourvedre

I get some motor oil scent here, very broad red fruit underneath. To taste, lacking identity here for me–smooth enough, but doesn’t speak to Mourvedre.

2015 Dirty and Rowdy Rosewood Mourvedre

Elevated sort of aroma–some roasted herbs lurking and some baked pie quality to the fruit on nose and mouth. Mike identifies grapefruit pith which is a good catch for sure. Although not complete yet, I like the overall profile on this one better than the 13, do think there’s more interest.

2015 Dirty and Rowdy Fred and Dora’s Petite Sirah

Checks in at 13.5% Still closed nose, tarry a bit. Plums, prunes, even dates. Tangy and lithe dans la bouche, meat-tinged blackberry. Nicely restrained for PS

2015 Dirty and Rowdy Rosewood Petite Sirah

13.9% here. Spice and black plum and boysenberry aromatics. Dense and tense wine to sip with tannins, small berry fruit. Really enjoyed the vivid picture this paints—to the point of having some terroir aspects. My #5 I think.

2012 Dirty and Rowdy Petite Sirah

Peppery, chickoree bouquet, nice perfumed secondaries. Rather elegant, tannins have softened and has some fur at the bottom of the throat and some nutmeats on the afterbreathe. Neat to try something with this much age on it.

2016 Dirty and Rowdy Merlot

The grapes are from Alder Springs. Clear expression of juicy red fruit, some cake as well. This is Cali merlot done awfully well–bright and delicious–really delicious, it’s vibrant and inspired and reminds me a little of what Paloma used to do. My #2 today.

2013 Corison Cab

An outlier of course too different a kettle of fish. Still solid, but so much more in your face than these wines have been. Air time was all to the good for this, as later in the evening and the next day it picked up depth and balance.

2014 Dirty and Rowdy Semillon

Marvelous 10.6%. Concrete and skin-fermented, I remember tasting this with Hardy at the winery from the concrete. Lemon-tasty tart, a small bit of lavender. In the mouth, it’s a super-featherweight. Tingle on the tongue, smallest zap of ginger and vanilla bean and all liveliness. To show this much at the end of a big tasting is really saying something. My #3

I am so enthused with what Hardy and Matt are doing and this was a unique opportunity to try so many of the wines. I am grateful.

Haere Ra,

Mike

Such a fun tasting. I loved the Shake Ridge Mouvedre. First time having it. A delicious wine with great balance and intensity. Also loved the Merlot. The Skin Contact/Concrete Fermented Semillon is one of my favorite of Hardy’s wines always. It has crazy complexity and is so refreshing.

Good to see you Mike. Nice notes here.

__Thanks for the tasting!!
Really fun day.

First deep dive into the wines and I was impressed

I was a big fan of the skinners

To repost your notes…
2014 Dirty and Rowdy Skinner White Oak Flats Mourvèdre

1300 foot elevation granite and clay soil. I start to get coffee grounds here, with cocoa and black berries. Good spicy snap, doesn’t drive to the back but I like the earthiness

2014 Dirty and Rowdy Skinner Stoney Creek Mourvèdre

By contrast, 2600 ft elevation and granite soil. Fresher, more mineral, light cocoa in the nose. Quite poised, almost too much. Nicely light-bodied. Hardy comments on the different sites, comparing White Oak Flats to Morgeon and Stoney Creek, 40 minute commute, to Fleurie




I keep thinking thinking about the difference in “snap” as you say. The low elevation wine had more perceptible acidity which made it my wine of the day (contrarian I know)

I would think the higher elevation wine would have more diurnal variation, which may be so, but the acidity perceived was more apparent in the lower elevation terroir.

Hardy, you mentioned these sites are not close to each other although they share a name. Would love to hear your thoughts on soil,elevation, and climate that impact the two examples of skinner

Again really great day. Nice to meet

Mike- It was good to meet you after all the years of near misses! An Jay and Nick, too. Thanks for doing the yeoman’s work on logging these notes - Impressive.
I will echo what you all have said - a nice afternoon and fun to run through a comprehensive lineup of D&R. Despite many at the table having known Dirty for years, since he was just Hardy-a member of our wine circle, this was the most expansive tasting of D&R in ATL we’ve done.

Thanks to Mike Evans for all the organization of flights and providing many of the wines. And thanks to Randy for hosting!

Thoughts- the 2014 Shake Ridge Ranch was the WOTD (after the Prum ). Excellent wine. Followed by the 2014 Evangelho. I also really enjoyed the 2014 Semillon that came on to close the tasting. Excellent wine. Cloudy, funky, full of verve.

General thoughts - all of the single vineyard Mourvedre wines need time. Be patient. I have not been, regretfully. Many of these wines are meant for the haul, and I think you get that sense when you taste them in a comprehensive setting.

Special thanks to Hardy for talking us through the wines on his cell while juggling parenting duties on the way to the pumpkin patch. You are a gem, Dirty!

Thank you, all, for a real good time!

Some pics below, including the always brilliant '01 Prum WS to close the day (thanks, brother Klafter!)

Mike, thanks for accepting the task of scribe and posting your notes. A couple of corrections, it is “Shake Ridge,” and the sparkling wine was the Traditional Method, which was also made in 2013 and 2015, along with a Pet Nat in 2013.

Personal favorites included the Stoney Creek, Shake Ridge, and Antle Mourvedres and the Merlot among the reds, the sparkler, the Chardonnay, and the Semillon, though I enjoyed almost all of the wines. The only flight that didn’t excite me were the Rosewood Mourvedres.

We had two incredible illustrations of the effect of context on perception. First, when the Corison, which under other circumstances would seem a model of balance, showed as a clumsy, woody mess after so many wines with little to no marking from oak. Returning to the Corison after an hour or so, its quality became more apparent.

Then the Semillon, which showed nice acidity and complexity when tasted after the reds, turned simple and dull after a few sips of Rob’s razor sharp and brilliantly precise 2001 J.J. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlëse. If we had the Prüm first, I would have seriously misjudged the Semillon based on the Prüm’s effect on my palate.

I’ve noticed a similar effect to a lesser degree when drinking great Bordeaux that I know well after red Burgundy, which is why I generally recommend drinking Bordeaux first and the Burgundy, but I don’t recall any examples as clear as the two we had at this tasting.

Incredible notes, my friends. It’s great to see a retrospective on Hardy’s wines, even though he really has not been at it that long. Some interesting thoughts on the Mourvedres - I do agree that patience certainly is rewarded with the variety, but the ones I’ve had from Hardy in the past seemed ready to drink off the bat in a lighter, more ‘delicate’ style.

Hardy - are you changing the way you are handling the fruit to give your wines more ‘umph’ now compared to the past? Are you using larger fermentors or doing punch downs more often or using more or less whole clusters or breaking more of the berries or?!??! Just curious to try to dig a little deeper to see what the cause/effect relationship here is. Or is it simply a matter of doing the same thing but reflecting now that these wines really do blossom in a way that perhaps was not envisioned or experienced in the past?

Thanks again - and Hardy - let me know when you’re ready for a Mo-Fest - I’ll be there!

Cheers.

It should also be noted that most (all?) of the D&R wines were decanted in some form or fashion. I decanted the '13 Antle and '16 Evangelho for 90min before putting back and bottle and heading to the tasting. Mike Evans probably has the details on how much air most of the wines got before serving.

Thanks for noting that. I tend not to decant most wines these days, instead enjoying their ‘development’ over a 2-4 hour period before and during a meal. The decanting certainly will ‘open them up’, but then if not all wines are handled the same, differences may arise that are based on air time / oxidation rather than the wines themselves . . .

Cheers.

Mike, thanks for the corrections, much appreciated and have edited the OP. I was criminal to neglect to thank Randy and Cris for their wonderful hosting, not only for this, but for Jay, Nick and I for the whole weekend visit. So lucky to have you both as friends.

Larry, Hardy mentioned to us that all the mourvedres are 100% whole cluster now, IIRC.

Mo-fest? Love it! You’re giving me some food for thought for WineFest VI in 5 years…

Mike’s note on the effect of the Corison was what I wanted to say

I have a note on the Prum, but saving that for an “odds and ends” thread that will include afternoon with Fred, a Prager for dinner and a last dessert German from Randy.

Thanks, Larry. Hardy suggested healthy decants on most of the wines. We had a good bit of guidance from him going in. Maybe Mike will chime in with more detail. Cheers.

All of the Mourvedres and Petite Sirahs I brought (the Skinners, Shake Ridge, the 2015 Antle, Evangelho, Mourvedres and Rosewood Mourvedre and 2015 Petite Sirahs) were double decanted about 2 hours before the tasting. Don’s 2013 Rosewood Mourvedre and 2012 Rosewood PS were double decanted when the tasting started. Don’s 2014 Santa Barbara Highland Mourvedre was the only single vineyard Mourvedre that wasn’t decanted and that was probably a mistake in my part.

How long did the tasting go for? Any noticeable ‘changes’ in the wines from the beginning of the get together to the end?

It’s somewhat an ‘embarrassment of riches’ to have these many awesome wines in one setting. In one respect, it’s great to compare ‘side by side’, but in another, it’d be wonderful to follow a smaller selection in a more ‘intense’ way over an entire tasting.

Thanks again - and yes, Mike - talk to Hardy as he has suggested it and I am ALL IN!!!

Cheers.

I first noticed this phenomenon about 20 years ago when the a Climens showed as the incredibly great wine it is at first and then showed oaky and flabby when tasted immediately after a Muller Catoir. Some bread and water and then the Climens was great again.

Since then I’ve never served a Sauternes next to a riesling or other high acid sweet wine.

For a guy with the serious Sunday task of taking a Princess to a Pumpkin Patch, Hardy put together some remarkably cogent thoughts. Excellent to get a few flights of dialogue, and he was especially helpful with some of the altitude-related questions we had.

Mike Evans is a top-notch wine enthusiast, in general, and was especially invaluable on this afternoon. It is real pleasure to have him assist in orchestrating this kind of afternoon tasting, particularly when our friends offer their home up to make it super relaxing and comfortable. Mike’s abilities with off-the-cuff nuances and details are joined with a very diverse set of wines he loves, which makes him special.

Any man who brings '01 Prum with him as a welcoming gift is my kind of human being, so I will ride with Rob anytime. #Fact

This was a great Round Table.

Wow, fantastic tasting and equally fantastic notes. Thanks Mike.

I had to dump my last bottle of 2014 Familiar Blanc when I opened it last month. It was drinkable, but not at all enjoyable. I was equally unimpressed by the 2014 Semillon so I’m glad to hear it performed so well for your crew.

I’ve been sitting on a bunch of the other 2014s: Shake Ridge and Skinner Stoney Creek Mourvedre, Fred & Dora’s Petite Sirah, and the D&R/Enfield “Red Wine” Antle Vineyard.

Based on your notes, I think it’s time to crack them open. Cheers.

Mike and all,

Thanks a ton for putting this together and apologies for the delay in response. It has been a helluva sprint to what seems to be a never-ending finish of 2019. I’ve logged about 2K miles in the last week and still have 600+ more to go.

A couple of notes / Answers to questions:

Familiar Blanc / Familiar Mourvèdre (any vintage) and Especial wines. If you own them, drink them with gusto within a year of purchase (maybe 2) The Familiar and Especials are early drinking wines that get their wow from now. (made for early consumption)

2014 Skinner White Oak Flats and higher acidity (at lower elevation)
Even thought the White Oak Flats vineyard is a whopping 1400ft lower (at 1300ft) than Skinner Stoney Creek, it always has higher acidity. This is in big part to this being one of our hottest daytime sites. These vines are constantly shutting down and even though blazing hot, this is almost always the last vineyard we pick each year, and the vines struggle to reach 22brix. It makes a compelling and somewhat counterintuitve wine. In a cooking analogy- this fruit is seared (grilled and sealed on the outside and rare and juicy on the inside)

Shake Ridge
It is a great f’n place for Mourvèdre Ann and her family take such great care of that place.
I think the '14 may be the most broad and dark of all our Shake Ridge vintages. I think the '14 is probably showing some secondary flavors now, where many of the other Mourvèdre (shake and others) are still pretty primary.

Umph has never been a target. Over the past 10 vintages, I’ve tried to keep gentle in our extraction. Vintage variation is the biggest factor in intensity, but fermentation temps (I rarely use temp control), size of fermenters (can I tread it / punch it down or do I have to pump over?), pressing (and what press I am using), and other factors all have some effect in the umph and profile of each bottling. If looking horizontal vs vertical, some of our vineyards pack a bigger punch - primarily based on soil.

Though I’ve followed the same star since day 1, with a decade of experience (which isn’t that long in the grand scheme of things), I have become more dialed in to voice of each site and equally important, the what and why we do what we do. I hope that growth continues, is evident in the wines, and brings even more pleasure to people that share them.

Andrew,

Go for it w/ the '14 Shake and '14 Skinner Stoney Creek.

The '14 Fred & Dora’s Old Vine Petite Sirah is one of my favorite wines. It requires a long decant or more time in the cellar. Keep in mind this is whole cluster, old vine Petite at 11.9% ABV. Which might sound “light” but it is high acid and quite a bit of tannin. Once it has some air, it has beautiful old vine depth on a very lean frame.

The '14 DRE (Dirty Rowdy and Enfield) is a wine is in no rush to be opened. If you pop it, give it 4hrs or so. It might be the most structured and mineral wine that John and I have ever produced.

Sorry to hear about the '14 Sem. Was it the Skin Fermented or the direct to press?

this looks like an amazing event. thanks for the notes and pointers from all. will hope to pull one of these off myself in a few years

Hardy, an insight from one who misplaced and later re-discover this wine in my cellar says that 2015 Familiar Mourvedre was able to handle a few years. Reminiscent of rustic French versions of same, perhaps from an area cool enough that they run a little less ripe, with the resulting juicy acidity. Lots of blackberry flavor, plus a bit of plum.

This is one I really would have loved to attend - for the old friends I haven’t seen in too long, the online friends I’d love to finally meet, and for the educational opportunity the wines presented, especially for someone like me who is relatively new to D&R. Thanks for the great notes!