The Future of Mourvedre?

WINE TALK
21

I am not so self-important to feel like winemakers need to get my approval for their interpretations of Mourvedre. I simply worry that the wines I have grown to love and associate with the varietal, a varietal with very distinct characteristic by most accounts, will lose their identity in some way.

Yes, I agree it is fun to explore the endless variety
ofcreative expression in the world of wine. I see that my emotional connection with Mourvedre as I understand it is just as valid as a newcomer to the variety who identifies with a fresher style.

22

FWIW, just got an email about an upcoming “Varietal Night” on Tuesday 5/12 featuring Mourvèdre, presented by the Paso Robles Chapter of the Rhone Rangers organization. No affiliation with the organization or the host winery (Brecon Estate) but thought I’d post the link for tix in case anyone is in the Paso area and is interested:

Anglim Winery
Brecon Estate (host)
Burbank Ranch
Cass Winery
Clautiere Vineyard
Cypher Winery
J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines
Kenneth Volk Vineyards
Law Estate Wines
Minassian-Young Vineyards
Oso Libre
Pipestone Vineyards
Powell Mountain Cellars
Sculpterra Winery
Summerwood Winery
Tablas Creek Vineyard
Thacher Winery & Vineyard
Venteux Vineyards
Villa Creek Cellars
Vines on the Marycrest
Zenaida Cellars

23

I’d put Hewittson’s “Old Garden” above nearly anything else in the Mourvedre world.

A.

24

Old Garden is great! I don’t know that I would call it the very best, but it is certainly the oldest planting of Moo still producing.

25

Because if all we know is good, then nothing is good. [wink.gif] [cheers.gif]

26

Get some Ohana fruit, if you can, assuming Hilary and Simon still farm it.

27

Yes, that is a very top-notch wine in my book. [cheers.gif]

28

I drink a lot of Tempier and have bot Dean’s Old Garden from his 1st vintage. Love them both and the 2010 Old Garden is great. However, we have never confused them when tasted blind together-the Old Garden always sticks out like a sore thumb. I would also say the Old Garden doesn’t age as well-the 2000 I opened this past month was pretty much OTH-as Dean had forewarned. Whereas, all the 1990’s Tempier seem to be drinking great. The Old Garden vines are a wonderful site to see if anyone visits the Barossa.

29

If I could afford it, I’d be stocking up on Paix Sur Terre The Other One 100% Mourvèdre. Absolutely amazing wine.

30

The future is that people will learn how to pronounce it correctly. [snort.gif]

31

One CA Mourvèdre not mentioned that I particularly like is ‘The Adversary’ by Sans Liege. There’s nothing “light or fresh” about it. It’s a dark brooding beast and I love it.

32

You’re welcome. I see K&L has a few left. I’ll check it out.

Interesting. Can you expand on that?

33

The ‘challenge’ with there being too many different ‘takes’ on the variety is trying to develop a sense of ‘typicity’ with the variety here. (yes, I KNOW it’s been grown in CA for over 100 years, but in terms of ‘popularity’, it has never seen more - though still pittance compared to other varieties).

It’s not a bad thing per se, but the general consumer is prone to find one and then feel all others ‘should be similar’ or they get confused. I see this happen all of the time with a few of the varieties I work with - Grenahce and Gewurztraminer being the two main ‘culprits’.)

Just another take on the topic . . .

Cheers!

34

Larry, that’s what I am talking about. I am 36 today (Happy birthday to me, send wine), and I spent ten years selling wine retail from the day I graduated from high school. I was blown away by the world of wine. I fell in love with Chateauneuf du Pape and California Rhone-style wines.

I know that I lack the expansive tasting history and breadth of knowledge most people on here have. Your comments were more to my original point; I suppose I I initially expressed myself poorly.

35

Isn’t this an issue with most (all) varieties/varietal bottlings? Riesling can be extremely sweet, bone dry, or anywhere in between. Pinot Noir can be thin weedy water juice from Burgundy or Syrah-like syrup from CA. Syrah runs the gamut, too, as previously beaten into the ground here and elsewhere. Sauvignon Blanc can differ greatly from NZ to France to CA to South Africa to …. Tempranillo has a wild range of interpretations, as does Viognier. Zinfandel manifests itself in many different ways just in CA alone. And so on, and so forth. I struggle to think of any grape that presents similarly across the world, perhaps except for those varieties that are grown only, or predominantly, in one region.

In other words, I don’t see how this problem is any greater for Mourvedre than it is for other varieties/varietal bottlings.

36

Counselor, I was at this same tasting with you, and I too was quite taken with Larry’s interpretation of the grape. I don’t drink a lot of it, although I did have a bottle of the '11 Wind Gap Bedrock Vineyard version this past week and I thought it was fine, but it didn’t wow me like Larry’s rendering. I plan to open another one of Larry’s this weekend for the Laura’s House event in Irvine, and I will share it with the crowd. I’ll be sure to grab a nice glass for myself, fo sho.

  • 2011 Tercero Mourvedre - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (3/7/2015)
    Tercero Dinner #2 in the OC with Larry Schaffer (A Restaurant In Newport Beach, CA): Tasted next to the 2006. As much as that 2006 has the bedrock of Larry’s first work inside that bottle, the 2011 for me just really showed best. Of all the wines last night on the table, this was the star for me. Aromatically was just bitchen, with green tobacco leaf, spice and smoke. Then the fruit reflecting cedar, dark cherry, leather, black cherry and a juicy, tarry finish that felt very youthful and balanced. Reminded me a lot of Bordeaux, too. Easily my WOTN and a wine I will buy for sure, several actually to enjoy over time. Bravo.

Posted from CellarTracker

37

Brian,

You are correct in that many varieties are facing this same challenge. I’m bringing this up with Mourvedre because of its recent rise in popularity.

The same thing certainly can be said for Grenache as well. I believe the wine can be made in multiple styles; to me, the challenge is when one is put up on a pedestal and given the notoriety of the ‘best’ example of the variety, when it has little resemblance to that variety at all . . .

As the variety establishes itself greater. more and more consumers will try to ‘identify’ with it - and my point is that that is where the challenge will be . . . and yes, it is no different than other varieties, though some you mention have already been there/done that and consumers will go ahead and order the ‘variety’ without really thinking about the how and where it came from.

Cheers!

38

Sorry for the late reply.

My comments come from a good place. Take Nebbiolo for example. How many producers in Barolo? Around 800? And how many make world class wine? 40? 50? So around 5%? Then there is another 100-150 where you could argue that they make good to very good wine. So you are at 25% making wines that are good to world class examples? How many producers outside of Piedmont are making waves with Nebbiolo? 1? 2? It’s rare. I know I came off a bit harsh, but this is just a really tough task. I’ve tried hundreds of example of esoteric varieties grown all over Cali, and they rarely leave a mark with me.

39

Ian,

Great comments, my friend. I really think it comes down to exposure, experience, and expectations - in your role, you have the opportunity to try a lot of varieties from their ‘native land’, so to speak, and that most likely creates ‘expectations’ about what the variety is all about and what you should ‘expect’ for the $$$.

That is a hurdle that CA will always be faced with, me thinks, with ‘traditionalists’ - that’s not a bad thing, it just is what it is.

When they taste a Harrington Nebbiolo, for instance, it will inevitably be compared with examples from Italy - and at similar or perhaps lower price points.

The same could be said of many varieties, and I think it’s ‘fair’ to make these comparisons, with the knowledge that many of us are not trying to ‘mimic’ the wines of other places, but trying to make the best example of that variety from the variables we have to play with here - vineyard, clone, microclimate, winemaking, etc . . .

Love the ongoing discussion - keep it going!

Cheers

40

Thanks for the reply. I do agree that many or most “esoteric varieties” that I try in new world spots range from poor to “interesting and fun, but not great and not as good and as good QPR as from their place of historic origin.”

I guess my question is how do we know which will become the cab, syrah, pinot, sauv blanc, chard, merlot type grapes that prove themselves to do well in California, versus which ones are the “esoteric varieties” that are at best only interesting as a change of pace? I think just by trial and error, by pioneering winemakers figuring out where to plant what and how to make it into a good wine.

Mourvedre, like maybe grenache before it (chronologically), doesn’t seem like that much of a stretch to work well in California, either in terms of its history in California, the caliber of producers willing to put their names on the label (Carlisle, Tercero, Tablas Creek, Dirty and Rowdy, etc.), the success in California of other varieties from mourvedre’s historical places, and the climate.

Plus, the Mourvedre isn’t like, say, Nebbiolo or Barbera, where a wide selection of good bottles is easily available in the US. Even the biggest wine stores probably only carry a handful of red mourvedre bottlings from Provence, Spain and the Rhone.

It might be time for a(nother) thread about what successes people have found with “esoteric varieties” in the US, and which ones seem to have the potential to grow out of the one-off realm into something bigger. Tempranillo, tannat, sangiovese, grenache blanc, etc.