SFChron: Esther on Monastrell/Graciano ScrewUp in Paso

Very nicely done article be Esther in today’s SFChron:
Esther:Monastrell/GracianoScrewUp

Sorta like the FPS screwup of Refosco/Mobdeuse identification…maybe the screwup is not so bad in the end. The good thing is that we’ll be seeing more Graciano wines…which is maybe not such a bad thing afterall.
Tom

One potential downfall is that that mourvedre that you thought you really liked was not really mourvedre!

EasyPeasy, Larry…I’ll just make Graciano my new favorite/hip/with-it grape and quite buying Mourvedre!!
Tom

That’s OK for folks like me - I am a fan of both grapes. Would love to have more Graciano available in our market (I only know of a couple producers up here in WA that are producing a varietal Graciano. The one from Idillico is fabulous.)

It may be ‘okay’ but it does ‘confuse’ the market a bit. There are plenty of folks from SB and SLO counties, including plenty of folks up in Paso, who have been producing stand-alone Mourvedres and blends containing Mourvedre that were not, as it turns out, accurate. The question - where do they go from here? My hope is that all of them choose to label ‘correctly’ - but I guess we’ll see.

Even folks like Manfred Krankl, as far as I’ve heard, was given incorrect material - and will now be labeling the wine as Graciano moving forward . . .

Cheers.

Thanks, Tom for the link!!

I figured that the issue would begin receiving more press after the initial article in Wine Enthusiast. The long-term implications could be of benefit to all Iberian varieties in America’s public eye, or it could hinder the growing popularity of Mourvèdre/Monastrell/Mataro and stymie Graciano’s chances at success before it even gets off the ground.

That is - unsurprisingly - not correct. I love Graciano; I wanted Graciano; I got Graciano. And its not like anything has changed in that regard since we planted it. Wherever Larry “heard” things I do not know, but he doesn’t know the first thing about what or why or how we do things. But why let facts get in the way.
We have bottled some Graciano, but it was never intended to be anything else.
It is tasty and frankly quite different from Mourvedre…which we have too.

Cheers.

Thank you for that clarification. I stand completely corrected. And I will pass this information along to the person who told me in the first place.

Cheers.

I don’t believe that Larry intended any ill-will with his comment, as his thousands of posts will present an overwhelming recurrence of polite discourse, the tone always civil and modest.


At the same time, I can understand any winemaker appearing to be upset or disappointed at the speculating of one’s thoughts by others.


I apologize if my intervention is unwelcome or unwarranted. I hope that all is well with both of you!

In the “What, No Mourvèdre Appreciation Thread?”, the first article (from Wine Enthusiast) on the “Monastrell ≠ Graciano” Paso Robles debacle was shared.


A fellow Berserker commented that the mix-up had been floating around for longer than I expected - a point made in Ms Esther Mobley’s article. I mistakenly thought that was a fact limited to the winemaking social circles of Paso Robles/West Coast.



In point of fact, the very issue was pointed out in a thread on Wine Berserkers last year.

Well said, Drew. I think Larry was just simply relating something he had heard from someone he had a reason to believe.
No malicious intent whatsoever.
Tom

+1

And I would add that he’s typically well-informed!

I believe Larry is incapable of anything other than civility…let’s run him outta here!

I read the article prior to scrolling down through the comments. Here is what I was going to write prior to reading the comments in this thread:

Great attitude by the Paso winemakers! They are rolling with it and focusing on making great wine. Some recent activity in Paso has me sniffing “Napafication” with all of the negative connotations that go along with that - overpriced, pretentious, appealing to “exclusivity” vs. being inclusive, and generally an increase in “meanness”.

Here is what I’ll add after reading the comments:

Thank you Mr. Krankl for providing some timely validation of my view of Napafication!

But, sigh, there are now quite a number of winemakers in Paso that have dollar signs in their eyes. They’re aiming for that lamest of monikers - Cult. Have at it. Fleece the sheep.

+1

As much as I am a fan of Mourvèdre, the words of those growers/winemakers affected by the unintentional switcheroo were very nice. I am no less inclined to try their wines in the future, Mourvèdre, Graciano, or otherwise.

Wish I had heard about this before my recent Paso visit. I did actually notice that several wines from different wineries had Graciano in their blends.