The Future of Mourvedre?

WINE TALK
41

Go ahead, Chris, you can do it! Start up the thread, man!

42

Interesting. Can you expand on that?[/quote]

Sure. I just got back from visiting the Chicago and New York markets and it’s always interesting to see how those urban (and urbane) areas distant from our growing region perceive us. In the appointments I spend a lot of time asking buyers, wine directors, somms, etc. what they’re seeing and thinking and what they find exciting. Outside of the normal natural/hipster wine chicanery among younger buyers, there are a few interesting things coming the the forefront with Central Coast wines, one being the road forged by Angela Osborne and her beautiful, ethereal Grenaches that capture the weight of the air and sunlight of the coast so well. We’ve felt that it’s a grape and a style uniquely suited to the area that really reflects individual vineyards extremely well for a while, but were scared of selling those wines. We had a few grenaches along those lines that were already in barrel when I tasted hers and because of the work she had done, their acceptance in the more dynamic restaurant cities is fantastic. Which, for me, at least, is a revelation and a far cry from some pretty clunky wines that have characterized the region in the past. That said, it’s a style that only really works in specific soil types and vineyards (thankfully, they are ones we have in abundance).

Mourvedre has been a tougher nut to crack for me. I love it in West Paso (I also love Tannat out there, and am intrigued by Petite Verdot). I’ve found only one vineyard that I really enjoy making it from so far, and another two that I might like to try my hand at if they become available, locally. Part of the issue is that there are so few Mourvedre plantings that the odds of finding the vintage/vineyard/winemaker/idea combination that provides those revelations are far fewer, at least as far as I can see.

43

I have found far too many CA mouveds have a horsey barnyard taste.

44

Ian,

Interesting points indeed. I dig what Angela is doing as well - just as I dig what Hardy is doing with Mourvedre . . .

To me, these are very different takes on the varieties at hand, for sure. They are both achieving great success at the on-premise level, as they should be.

To me, though, there continue to be great examples of other styles of grenache that are really shining around the state, but perhaps don’t get the critical acclaim - or even notice - that they should. Mikael Sigouin at Kaena, for instance, has been killing it with the variety for over a decade here in Santa Barbara County; Beckmen has made killer wines from their Purisima Mountain estate along Ballard Canyon for quite some time; Qupe’s Sawyer Lindquist Grenache from the Arroyo Grande area is quite pretty and inviting; and the list goes on . . .

As far as Mourvedre goes, that list is a lot shorter - to me, it’s a more difficult variety to work with. It ripens later than the others and, to me, needs lots of late harvest heat to really ripen up and make the wines ‘interesting’ (and no, not talking 30 brix here [stirthepothal.gif] ).

I’ve always dug what Kenneth Volk has done with his San Benito Canyon stuff; I dig Villa Creek’s recent bottlings; I had a nice one over weekend from Bokisch . . .

Love the conversation - keep it going!!!

45

which ones come to mind, Andrew?

46

That’s one of the textbook descriptors of the variety, isn’t it?

47

Hardly. Associating the grape with brett is just excusing poor winemaking hygiene.

48

Not simply brett, David. Mourvedre has a distinctive “horsey” smell to it separate from that of brett. There are Tempier examples which are clean and yet still show this earthy factor to the wines.

49

I disagree. I have had plenty of Tempier, old and new, and the horsey smell is brett just like everyone else’s brett.

50

I opened a 2014 Dirty and Rowdy Mourvedre Thurs night. Clean, bright flavors that remained strong over three days.

51

Ian, thanks for responding. Interesting that you mention Angela Osborne. Coincidentally, I picked up a few bottles of her wine awhile back and they are in the queue to try at some point soon.

It’s great to have you and Larry contributing to this thread!

52

The 2010 Halcon Vineyards Mourvèdre Esquisto is surprisingly approachable and was such a good price.

53

And another look into Larry’s 2011. Just opened this and put it right to my glass, as I am using it for a Laura’s House charity event this afternoon, to be poured for the crowd. I plan to point people to this wine and get a few perspectives on it, which mine will be clear in the note below.

  • 2011 Tercero Mourvedre - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (5/3/2015)
    Opened and poured right to the glass for this note. I was pretty smitten by this wine a few months back, tasting it then without any bias or history for the wine. So, was eager to get at this bottle today to see if the same experience would repeat. Once again, this just has an older world quality for me, with the leather notes, the funky quality and the red fruited acidity. It has enough ripeness and CA centric quality to let me know this is not from the other side of the world, yet Larry seemed to get qualities into this wine that give it a distinctive quality. This is just a really beautiful wine, with structure, fruit and an extra essence of expression that is really just, well, cool. Glad to have 2 more of these in the cellar, as I suspect this is going to gracefully age, come into focus and really be something that will get attention. Terrific now, will get even better with more time.

Posted from CellarTracker

54

What Harry said.

55

Apparently, I need to try the Tercero…

56

And not to alienate Larry, who made great comments as well. So I will do my best to reply to both of you. Sorry again for the delayed response. The NFL draft thread has been zapping all my free time :wink:

Scrolling back here, I’m definitely get far more exposure than others on the “native land” varieties, which may make me more partial to the native land version, that’s for sure.

Part of it could come down to farming, and vine age. Mourvedre is a variety that generally performs better with more serious vine age. It also does well when it’s dry farmed, and I find, not as well when it’s not. Mourvedre from the Rhone tastes different than Bandol, as the maritime influence has a big impact in Bandol. So which style are people choosing to emulate?

Then there are the wines that are overly “artistically made”, and aren’t an ode to anything. Thank you Larry for not over thinking your wines :wink:

57

When I first began this thread, my primary concern was:

· How should a varietally-bottled wine express the grape’s identity in the glass?

After several years, and many delightful experiences with Mourvèdre, I gleefully welcome ALL interpretations of the variety.


A recent summary of a Decanter magazine tasting panel’s notes on inexpensive California red wines brought to mind my past difficulties in determining whether the New World should have BENCHMARK wines - bottles that represent some Eonological Ideal of Varietal Expression:


“…Our expert trio found the ‘mixed bag’ flight of varieties such as Barbera, Carignan, Counoise, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Valdiguié hard to judge as there were no benchmarks…”.*


IS the idea of varietal “benchmark” wines approaching “dead horse” status? If so…

· How should a producer communicate to potential consumers what to expect from a Mourvèdre before the bottle is purchased or tasted?


\

58

Aren’t Hardy’s wines (at least now) the benchmark?

59

Not only that, didn’t he pretty much start this whole Mourvedre rediscovery (or even discovery), if now there is such a thing (which there seems to be)?

60

andremily.