Opened this given the current releases from Dirty & Rowdy and Sandlands as both make wines from the Enz Vineyard and reminds me why I’m a buyer of both regardless of what wines are being released. Just pure quality at an excellent price-point.
2016 Dirty and Rowdy Mourvedre Old Vine Enz Vineyard- USA, California, Central Coast, Lime Kiln Valley (2/7/2019)
This is gorgeous. Popped the cork and let sit for about 2 hours in bottle. Initial pour showed a sweet strawberry nose with graphite and dust; palate of the same with subtle flowers, spice and white pepper; tannins and acid are in perfect harmony which I’ve come to expect from D&R wines; just delicious, bright, fresh fruit, full-on-juicy, well-made goodness here.
AH, the D&R strawberry! I almost always pick of a strawberry note when I open a Dirty & Rowdy Mourvedre. It must be something about their elevage techniques, as it’s consistent across most of the vineyards.
Thanks, Trent! This is such an amazing vineyard. This past Wed. Tegan, Ian Brand, and I all poured our Enz Mourvèdre during a historical vineyard society event. It was awesome to see the vineyard through three different lenses.
David- A few years ago, I would have thought it was purely from some of the whole berry / partial carbonic elements paired with shorter elevage, but the more I work with Mourvèdre, and the more I travel and taste, I feel like that fresh strawberry (on the earlier side) leaning raspberry (on the riper side) are the essential mourvèdre flavors that more often than not sit under a world of savory and reductive elements.
I was leaning towards elevage, only because I don’t see it so much in Larry’s Mourvedre bottlings, nor do I see it much in the wines of Bandol, except in rosé. So perhaps your technique allows that element to take a more central role, while other folks do things that allow other aspects of Mourvedre to be the focus.
Then we have Evangelho, and I swear every wine from every producer of that site tastes of Evangelho before anything else.