2014 Dirty and Rowdy Mourvedre Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (5/22/2015)
This is one of the more unusual wines I have had in a long time. It seems to straddle a line, with red wine on one side and white wine on the other side. Aromatically it opens with some lovely red cherry. Then the orange peel kicks in and takes over. Herbs and a hint of tea come in after a few minutes of air. Then ultimately it turns back towards grilled meat. This is all over the course of 15 minutes. Quite a performance.
On the palate this is the highest acid level I have ever encountered in a Mourvèdre. The citrus elements are carried on that acid, and dominate the front end impression of the wine. The grilled meat expands through the mid-palate, and some of the cherry elements are there as well, but this is really about that citrus peel sensation, and a dominant brightness. I feel a little bit like when I drink an orange wine and get those red wine elements, but in reverse. I enjoy the wine quite a lot, but it really confounds my understanding of what is possible with Mourvèdre.
2014 Dirty and Rowdy Mourvedre Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (3/26/2016)
Hazy light red color. Sweet red berries on the Nose, along with lots of cinnamon and a hint of fir. Light to medium-light bodied on the palate. High acidity. 12.4% alc. not noticeable. Red berries on the palate; dry; hint of black licorice. Very good, and probably would have been better had it not been popped and poured. This strikes me as a wine to be consumed within 5 years, but it’s such an idiosyncratic wine that I could very well be wrong about that.
I served this blind to three wine-lovers; that was funny!
NOSE: warm, carbonic-like, Nose; sweet Red Hot candies (this note was very distinct); high-toned and quite expressive.
BODY: superfine particulate matter present; violet-garnet color of medium depth; medium-light body.
TASTE: red-fruited – strawberry and red currant – with good acidity; alc. not noticeable; no noticeable tannins; good focus; better than my previous bottle of four years ago; did improve a bit with air exposure. Drinking really nicely now, but perhaps still some room for further improvement. Gut impression score: 91.
