2016 Dirty and Rowdy Mourvèdre Skinner White Oak Flats Vineyard- USA, California, Sierra Foothills, El Dorado County (5/12/2022)
I wrote a note about this wine the last time I had it nearly three years ago. I could write the same note tonight. The wine is all about texture. It’s certainly evolved since 2019, and the fruit has taken on an earthy edge. Yet it’s still about the brightness, the freshness of the acidity, and the sunshine it conveys from the glass. I have one more bottle, and I am really not sure if it’s a drink soon, or drink a little later proposition. So I will just take it as it comes, and see what’s in the bottle without having some plan. The wine doesn’t care what my plans are anyway.
The two Skinner sites created such different wines. I’ve probably mentioned this before but to use Beaujolais as a comparison, the White Oak Flats texture and profile always felt more cool vintage Morgon and the higher elevation Stony Creek like Fleurie.
We’ve picked up a new site on the edge of Amador and El Dorado that looks to have a similar profile to Stony Creek. The Mourvèdre escaped most of the massive frost damage last month and I’m psyched to work with it.
It had been a while since I last had one of these, and I did not look at CellarTracker until after I had finished a glass. Beaujolais was firmly in my mind.
drank a '14 Skinner estate Mouv the other day and it was highly enjoyable. seems to be a great spot for growing wine grapes. (I know not D&R wine, but felt this was a good place to share the note)