2018 Dirty and Rowdy Mourvèdre Outer Limits- USA, California, Central Coast, Lime Kiln Valley (3/28/2020)
This is a whole different world for a D&R wine. It’s amped up in every way, but still displaying purity and nuance. Deep berry fruit, warm earth, nutmeg spice and a touch of garam masala ride a wave of velvet. It’s comfort wine.
I’m drinking the 2018 Rodnick Farm right now. Complete soil-to-glass transfer, pure ripe brambly fruit. A juice bomb without over-ripeness, great acid and structure. Is there carbonic on this wine? Reminds me of the meatier versions of Beaujolais, say like a Chateau Thivin. Doesn’t have the funk that I love in some French versions of the grape that I love, but this is a California expression.
We opened our bottles at 10 AM and had 1/2 of each with dinner last night, homemade pasta noodles with ground buffalo ragu. We all much preferred Enz by dinner. Thinking OL is the early drinker.
Roughly 20 months after my last bottle of this, which I absolutely loved, I opened my second and last. My guess is this doesn’t get any “better,” and I am not sure this is any different than it was 20 months ago, but still just a smoking bottle of wine, with big berries and a healthy dose of mourvedre earth. Sometimes, especially with big wines, I don’t feel the need to finish a bottle with my wife, even when I like the wine. Not so here, because it’s too delicious to stop drinking.
It’s warm but never hot. I again love this wine–need more 15%ers from Hardy.