TN: 2015 Dirty & Rowdy Mourvedre Antle Vineyard

Hardy’s red wines always have that signature Rosy-Acacia-lavender aroma and this mourvedre last night had it in spades. You could smell this wine the moment it was opened. Beautiful nose of crushed berries, that rosy lavender complex and earth. Flavors also were not shy, cherry, blueberry, sweet herbs, minerals and and a note I can only describe as “blue raspberry sweet tart”. That note was not a negative at all, simply made this wine all the more complex, racy and delicious. 12.5% abv, medium body, mouthwatering acidity and a nice long finish. Can you tell I liked this wine .

One final thought. There are several top notch wines (D&R Mourvedre, Enfield Pinot Noir, Jolie Laide Melon de Bourgogne and several others from Antle Vineyard). I find it fascinating that this vineyard can yield such great wines from such DIFFERENT GRAPE VARIETIES. Some may say that this fact shows that many different grapes can grow there but there is no “star” variety and I guess you can make a case for that. Another thought is that the location of Antle (Chalone with a view of Pinnacles Peak), the soil (crushed limestone, granite) elevation (1800 ft), temperature shifts etc etc make it the IDEAL location for growing the ultimate quality of several different grape varieties.
I don’t profess to know the answer, just throwing the thought out there. Maybe Hardy or someone with experience there could chime in.
I also realize there are several other vineyards that could make this distinction, Monte Rosso with several excellent varieties comes to mind plus there are others.

BTW, we brought and enjoyed the 2015 D&R Antle Mourvedre at Diavola in Geyserville. Outstanding Italian-Mediterranean restaurant.

Tom

Great note Tom! Was that D&R on the wine list?

Last time we went to Diavola the meal was excellent, the 40 minute wait not so much.

Last part of the post says that he brought it.

On Antle, I am fascinated with how limestone affects the wines. The vineyard produces something very distinct.

Hi Brian, if its just the two of us we generally bring wine (though the Diavola list is very good). If we are with another couple or a group we buy one-bring one or more.

I hear ya on the wait time. The food at Diavola is wonderful but the Kitchen can really get backed up at times.

Tom

David, exactly how I feel. D&R Antle Mourvedre can stand up to hearty roasts, stews etc while the Jolie Laide Antle Melon de Bourgogne is the best wine ever with raw oysters, shelfish etc.

The mineral spine (limestone?) that runs through such different wines as mourvedre and Melon de Bourgogne (just two examples) from this vineyard is pretty incredible.

Tom

Tom,
Thanks so much for the notes on this wine. The '15 Antle is special. The mineraity in this site never ceases to amaze me. If served blind, it would be like an accent telling you not just the city it grew up in, but practically the block. That shines through in the Jolie-Laide, the Enfield, and I’m sure the other wines from the property.

It is a very good location for Mourvèdre. It gets a lot of hang time and rides that balance between savory (almost classic) and fresh. I’m happy that there are several new blocks of Mourvèdre going in on the property as well as some Grenache (and maybe Albarino?). Though I’ve never worked with it, I’m fascinated by the small block of Viognier there as well.

Thanks again for the note on the '15. I’m glad you enjoyed it!

Hardy, thanks for your input and agree that Antle shows power AND grace and that is always a wonderful combination. Great to hear that some new blocks of Mourvedre are going in, hope you get to work with them.

Tom

We had the 2016 at Christmas and similarly found it outstanding. A truly special wine.

I am actually more interested to follow the wines from the current blocks, to see what happens as the vines age.

Hardy, when were the blocks you currently work with planted?

D&R has recently become available at retail in my state (Oklahoma). Is this specific wine mailing list only? I haven’t seen it in the local wine shops.

Most of the wines are pretty small production, except perhaps for the Familiar.

Glad you have seen it, as not much made it to OK. We sent a few cases of Unfamiliar Mourvèdre (our declassified '17 Mourvèdre) and a couple cases of Chenin. In most years, we produce 13-15 wines (about 6-8 vineyard designate Mourvèdre), and 2-3 wines regularly make it into distribution (with a handful of cases of some of the others going here and there).

I’ve enjoyed several bottles of the Unfamiliar. I know several others that have as well. Your local broker/distributor is a friend and he’s a tireless promoter. Please keep the bottles coming our way.

Fine note and exposition, Tom. I have only had the D&R Mourvedre from the property (not this vintage) but it was memorable. Although I love what Hardy does with the Evangelho fruit, I think this is a remarkable site for consistency of just what you’ve described.

Salud

Mike

Awesome! He’ll be out here in about a week and will taste through some of the new stuff.

Thanks, Mike!

There are Mourvedre vines up there that are somewhere around 50 years old already. I know Windy Oaks pulls from them.
As to whether Antle/Rodnick Farm is special – all of Chalone is special, it’s one of a handful of truly special appellations in California. It’s just no longer a Pinot Noir locale.
Also, Hardy is special.
Ian

First, thanks for the tasting note, Tom!!


Ian, I had no idea that the “Antle Vineyard” had Mourvèdre vines that old!!!

Ha- Thank you, Sir!

Yes. I think Windy Oaks still gets some rows in the older block and we get a some rows as well.