2013 Dirty and Rowdy Mourvèdre Old Vine Rosewood Vineyards
Yikes! Gamey and rubbery notes were so intense I briefly pondered whether it was bretty (it’s not). Just full of Mourvèdre funkiness, & D&R luminosity! Pine tar and stewed strawberries. Light bodied and crisp. We both loved it, and paired it perfectly with Aussie lamb chops.
Cheers,
Warren
Thanks for the tasting note, Warren!
What was it sealed with? Nomacork?
Doug
I think it was natural cork. Maybe Hardy can confirm.
Warren
I did a quick search, and it looks like they didn’t switch to Nomacorc (which I misspelled) until several years later.
And it’s not the typical Nomacorc is it? I thought it was some weird sugar cane thing. They are a royal PITA to get out of the bottles. Hate them.
Regarding D&R’s use of Nomacorc closures, here’s what I personally was able to find…
From August 21, 2015 Dirty & Rowdy email:
“…In this release, you will notice a major change to all of our labels. Our labels are now made from 100% recycled coffee sacks (bags used for bulk beans). They are beautiful and another step in reducing our environmental impact. Our ’14 Familiar Blanc is sealed with a Nomacorc Select Bio closure. It is a ‘cork’ derived from sugarcane. It is 100% carbon neutral, breathable, recyclable, and free from TCA. It is the same closure we used in the ’14 Familiar Mourvèdre. We will continue to use these corks in more of our early drinking and mid term aging wines in the future…”.
I do not know if this was the first time (2014 vintage) that Nomacorc closures were used by the winery. I have not had any trouble getting bottles opened, but that’s just my experience.
I have had two corkscrews and one bottle neck break because of the stupid pseudo environmentalist corks. Hate them! Hate them!
I am also not a fan, and I’m not confident with aging, even though I would like to age some of the wines.
Warren,
Thanks for the notes on the '13 Rosewood. That is a wild wine- definitely more gamey vs. the 12 or 15. The '13 Rosewood was sealed with a 2in traditional cork. We started migrating to Nomacorc in '14 with the Familiar wines and moved the vineyard designates into them in '16.
We’ve been huge fans of the Nomacorc and use a range of them in the wines (Familiar wines get a more breathable closure and vineyard designates a tighter closure).
As far as aging goes, I have not experienced any closure related issues and have had higher levels of consistency than we’d expect with traditional cork.
I know David has had a corkscrew issue a few years ago. (which we replaced one, I didn’t know about the 2nd- and I’d be happy to replace it, too).
Over the past few years we’ve sealed 20,000+ cases with Nomacorcs and I’ve replaced less than 12 bottles (.05%) due to issues with the closure. That’s a heck of a lot better than industry average with traditional cork.
Thanks for posting here, Hardy. I was hoping you would. Have you had wines from other producers sealed with the same closure that have aged longer than the wines you first used it on?
And I don’t need another corkscrew. I have discovered that a Screwpull is the most effective weapon.
I have had some that were 10+ years old with the original (plastic vs sugarcane) closures and I thought the wines showed well.
Good to know!
The plastic Nomacorc was a disaster for many producers. I will withhold judgement on the sugarcane version while the wines sit in my cellar, and are opened in due course.
If at some time it seems like they are failing, then there is nothing wrong with drinking a ton of D&R over a short period!
I opened a 2015 Familiar this week and had no problem pulling the cork with a Pulltap.
2015 Dirty and Rowdy Mourvèdre FAMILIAR - USA, California (11/5/2020)
Crisp brambly fruit and nice acidity, it is still amply gluggable and went well with a veal chop Parmesan. (90 pts.)
