I have been assembling a handful of American Mourvedre wines (mohr-vay-thruh or moo-ved?) for a diverse range of taste experiences with friends.
I have Dirty-and-Rowdy Familiar 2014, Bedrock Ode to Lucien 2013, Two Shephards Mourvedre Windsor Oaks RRV, Gramercy Village l’Idiot Mourvedre 2012 (?), Carlisle Two Acres 2011, Mark Ryan Crazy Mary, and several blends with heavy influence from the grape (2001 & 2003 Beaucastel, Precedent Evangelho Zinfandel 2012, and Bedrock Evangelho Vineyard Heritage 2013.
Yes, Beaucastel doesn’t qualify, but it’s Beaucastel for crying out loud!
I need recommendations for a couple more: Tercero? Kenneth Volk? Cedarville? Neyers?
It looks like you’re into “new california” wines so should def try the la clarine farms mourvedres. I’ve found their wines to be a little spotty the last couple of years, but they’re priced right so worth a shot.
I’m sure a lot of folks here would also recommend sandlands mataro.
Tercero for sure, Drew - really like their 2011. Cedarville doesn’t make one but sells their Mourvedre fruit to La Clarine Farm - that bottling is worth seeking out. Other Sierra Foothills ones you might check out include Terre Rouge, Skinner, and Holly’s Hill. Another to try would be one from Paix Sur Terre in Paso Robles - they make two bottlings, “Comes A Time” and “The Other One”. The 2013 Donkey and Goat “Prospector” is another I can recommend. And since you’ve got Beaucastel, why not go for Tablas Creek as well - they make a 100% varietal Mourvedre as well as their Mourvedre-based “Esprit de Tablas” (which would be an interesting comparison with the Beaucastel).
La Clarine Farm in the Sierra foothills makes a delicious and distinctive mourvedre (Cedarville). Hank has also recently started making a mourvedre Ambrosia.
His wines are well worth trying if you can get your hands on them.
Get Loring’s. One of the best I’ve had. And get Tercero too, as mentioned. Years ago ESJ did one but I think those days are done.
And Cline. They’ve been doing it for a long time.
Anglim does one that’s a little bit lighter. I don’t know if you can find it but there’s a fairly new winery called Petrichor that does a wonderful version. Sol Rouge from Lake County does a pretty interesting one, old school like.
From WA there’s Grammercy Cellars, Vox Populi, Rotie Cellars, Flying Dreams, Kestrel, Bunnell and I would check MacRea. But do get some from WA.
When I’ve done this tasting I’ve always tried to include some from Spain, France, and Australia, all the same vintage. It’s hard to do them with age, but you can easily find 12 - 15 wines of recent vintage.
If you go with Australia, get Hewitson, even their Baby Bush vine is a worthy contender.
From Wa- I cannot recommend Syncline highly enough for Mourvedre. I strongly second the La Clarine Farm reco’s here & think contrasting the Ambrosia & Cedarville would be great for an MV tasting.
If doing a ringer- would recommend Tempier Bandol.
And this is a $30-something wine that I think is readily available, and with enough age to be drinking very well right now.
Another good one I tried recently was Paix Su Terre “The Other One” 100% Mourvèdre 2013. Very aromatic, good mourvedre character. Like Tercero, it strikes a nice balance between the funky/gamey/bloody side of mourvedre and having good dark brooding fruit. I thought it was still somewhat in a clumsy youthful phase, though.
D’oh! How could I have forgotten to mention Broc - I helped bottle the stuff!
While Steve doesn’t make a varietal Mourvedre these days, his “Rocks and Gravel” GSM blend has been featuring more Mourvedre the past few years - the 2014 will be 43% (+ 43% Grenache & 14% Syrah) - helping to bottle that one on Tuesday!
Love this grape. If you’re looking for ring-in’s, and if you can find them, may I suggest a couple of stars from Oz.
Teusner Astral Moppa Mataro 2006
Hewitson Old Garden Mourvedre (any vintage except 2011) - From the oldest known continually producing Mourvedre vines in the world, sown in 1853.
Look forward to your notes, but then I’ll no doubt just be annoyed that 99.9% of USA wine isn’t available here…
I don’t know if it’s available in your 'hood, Drew, or whether you want to include a wine with more age on it, but the 2008 Broc - Luna Matta (Paso Robles) I had recently and posted on is interesting.
Just a brief note about this wine, John. Chris Brockway’s wine style has changed a bit since he made that wine, so it’s no longer representative of his more recent Mourvedre bottlings, which are picked at lower brix than that 2008 was - the newer ones tend to be in the 12-13% alcohol range.
Just shows that we all perceive wine differently - I had the Broc '08 Luna Matta Mourvedre about a year ago with a bunch of people at a Luna Matta Vineyard tasting and didn’t find it tart at all. Of course there’s possible bottle variation that could account for the different takes on the wine too. FWIW, here’s my note on the wine (comparing it to the '07 vintage, which we had just before the '08):
Broc 2008 Mourvèdre, Luna Matta Vineyard, Paso Robles. Similar color to the previous wine, but with brighter and more upfront red fruit aromas plus iron and gamy notes and with oak well in the background. Medium weight on the palate with a livelier texture and fine, slightly chalky tannins, nice.
