Open Mike - Mourvedre - would you trust this grape?

Bob
Ta for the info on the Rutherglen Estates wine. I've had positive experience with this winery who I reckon offer very good value for money for some genuine cellar prospects. The Durif in a good vintage is a steal for cellaring. I've look out for this new wine.

regards

Ian

Thanks Ian. I believe the Reunion is aimed at the N American market??
Looking at their website, they mention the wine as a blend but I could see no "Reunion" mentioned anywhere. Perhaps you can check?

We revisited the Bastide Blanche tonight, after a few days open. Taking 3 sitting to finish a wine is really bad form but it doesn't indicate a difficult wine - despite still a quite firm structure. No sediment to speak of (ok just the finest whisper) - whereas I had expected a little more. It doesn't appear that the fining/filtering has taken anything obvious away.

I really enjoyed this wine a lot. The fruit was great, not overplayed, but strongly supportive of the wine. The tannins were in check and as a whole this wine came across as very classy - even sophisticated. We're now on 2007 vintage over here and at £12 a bottle, I'm tempted to get more. IIRC we paid £9 for the 2005, which really was a screaming bargain.

regards

Ian

edit: not to now - makes a big difference!

we paid £9 for the 2005...that has to be the bargain of the year!
Who was giving it away Ian?

Bob
Waitrose - during a (IIRC) a 25% off promotion of meditteranean wines.
regards
Ian

I have read a lot about Waitrose and their wine selections. I could not find the time to visit during my recent London trip.

Have a Rutherglen TN coming up shortly. Have some entertaining to do here, rodeo in town!!

Ian asks whether Mourvèdre can be trusted. I answer that, allowing for the fact that it is difficult to ripen in Europe outside the Mediterranean basin, it is no more untrustworthy than any other grape variety. Particularly in Bandol, where it dominates, it is very reliable in giving fine results in the hands of good producers when vintage conditions permit. In recent years there has been a spate of good vintages, global warming assisting probably.

I have already posted on three good ones and here is another opened this evening with lamb.

Bandol 1998 – Tardieu-Laurent – Alc. 13%. Tardieu-Laurent has a reputation for lavish wood treatment and recently I opened an Hermitage which was internationalised and diminished by this. This Bandol was, however, very good with some real typicity. The aromas showed characteristic red rose and bramble mixed with wet leather and dusty tar and the palate was full bodied, dark and deep with excellent shape building up towards a firmly structured ripely tannic finish mixing some liquorice in with the dusty tar; 16.5/20+.

Lovely note Tim. Right now I am eyeing a `99 Bunan but not sure which occasion to open! Are `98/`99 good vintages?

Are `98/`99 good vintages?

Both are good, Bob. Indeed, since 1998, one of my French reference books only describes two years as "petit millésime", namely 2002 and 2005; the latter is a bit of a surprise considering its blanket success over the rest of France. Maybe like Piedmont and Tuscany they suffered some late rain which diminished quality.

WTN: `05 The Reunion Rutherglen Estates, Victoria Aust.

Cellared for 2 years, opened and decanted for an hour. No sediment noted. Blend of 60% Mourvedre, 20% Shiraz, 20% Grenache.
SC, $22 Cdn, 14.5% alc.

The rep allowed me to taste the `06 the other day. I thought it quite approachable unlike this `05 which was quite a monster two yrs ago!
The 2005 vintage is considered a classic.

Color. Light to medium red-ruby, can see thumb through the center. Light bricking on the rim. Seem to remember this wine had deep color when first sampled?

Nose. Meaty tones fill the kitchen. Not a lot of heat here, spice, cherry, strawberry, some pepper after it airs.

Palate. Dry, nice balance, integrated tannins. Has evolved nicely, not as juicy as that `06 described. Cherry and raspberry on a medium length finish. "Some boysenberry...very nice" from across the table.
Did not really need food but had a steak lined up!
"Not at all oaky" and we both found some ripe fruit after 2 hrs.

** I kept one glass for day 2. Quite delicious w. pork cutlet and tomato balsamic salad.

Tim
Can it be trusted? Well artistic licence on the intro aside, then it seems it's a grape that (with the usual caveats about being grown in the right place and made well) that does appeal to me. Good structure and savoury complexity make a good combination.

Bob
We're just back from a little trip to Waitrose - taking advantage of the 25% off all wines week, which now seems a regular annual event. Included in our purchase was two bottles of the 2002 Musar which will head off into the stasis chamber with their buddies from earlier vintages. Unfortunately I didn't see/forgot about the Bandol mentioned earlier in this thread,
regards
Ian

We're just back from a little trip to Waitrose - taking advantage of the 25% off all wines week, which now seems a regular annual event.

It's about time that I paid a wine buying trip to the UK. Liz and Mike Berry, formerly of La Vigneronne in Kensington, say in their latest Newsletter from their Vins Fins de la Crau that they have imported some treasures from the UK into France, profiting from special offers and weak sterling.

I guess that when old stocks disappear, their replacements at the devalued rate of exchange will inevitably be less attractive price-wise.

Tim
Indeed and I suspect Liz & Mike aren't the only ones doing this. The auction scene in particular has been daft this year, with hammer prices going noticeably up during the period of the recession. Maybe the French are now doing 'booze cruises' to UK?

It really does stand out when a merchant does revise their prices upwards, but many haven't - I suspect they're being cagey about stock levels & re-ordering.

regards

Ian

Liz and Mike Berry, formerly of La Vigneronne in Kensington, say in their latest Newsletter from their Vins Fins de la Crau that they have imported some treasures from the UK into France, profiting from special offers and weak sterling.

Tim, I cannot see the newsletter on the website. Is it subscription only?

WTN: `04 Laderas de El Seque, Alicante.

Local winebar serving by the glass, have one in the cellar and after this must consider drinking up soon. Serve slightly chilled might be OK.

Monastrell/violet edge/ripe fruit/spice/international/v fruity/cherry/strawberry/pomengranite.

Another Mourvedre encounter recently:

1998 La Bastide Blanche Bandol Cuvée Fontanéou
nose: brambly black fruits, earth, slightly medicinal/Brett
palate: medium body, high acidity, fine tannins, medicinal finish

Not the most complex or compelling Bandol of my experience, but a very respectable wine which went quite well with lamb and, later, with pizza.

Mark Lipton

Mark
A local merchant has the 2000 vintage of this & it might well make his tasting next month. I'll report back if I do get to taste it.
regards
Ian

Have not seen this winery of late here. In fact the selection out there is pretty grim right now which does not bode well for future purchase and cellaring. My `99 Bunan is still here ready to go!

Hi Ian,

I bought my first mouvedre varietal wine earlier this year from Tablas Creek winery in Paso Robles, CA. I really liked it and here is my tasting note:

2006 Mourvedre, 90% mourvedre, 10% syrah $29.75 Tablas Creek Winery
Garnet red. Earthy, oaky, and plumy nose. Nice juicy fruit, silky tannins and acidity on the well-balanced midpalate. Medium-long finish of plums and loganberries. This wine is a sensuous tango of flavors that I really liked.

Anyone tried a Sparkling Monastrell.

Scotswoman Pamela Geddes makes La Pamelita in Penedes. Lovely stuff and a lot drier than most Sparkling Shiraz.

But from what she said when we met a couple of years ago she is going to be using Shiraz instead of Monastrell. A Pity.

Tom
Excellent! (and Mourvedre and Syrah seem to gel very nicely together, though FWIW I've only had blends where Syrah was the dominant partner). Sensuous I like as a descriptor - subtly different to sexy.

Warren
No, I've not had a sparkling monastrell, but do have a sweet one that a friend has hold of (we had it lined up for a tasting, but never got to it, so he's going to bring it to the table next time we meet up).

regards

Ian

Ian

I find sweet Monastrells come out far too tannic. I have not found one I liked yet.

Which one have you got lined up?

From the archives!

I decided to get out my last bottle of the `98 Bunan Bandol Moulin des Costes. I have been eying for a week and think a red as I have been sampling quite a few whites of late. The cost 8 yrs ago was only $18 Cdn so quite a bargain when one looks at other Bandol prices around here.
Just decanted and big gobs of sediment, color is on the decline with fair amount of browning. We will see in an hour or so eh. Stay tuned forumites.

I recently tried twice this wine that is made from 100% mouvedre. It's the Mas de Boislauzon Châteauneuf-du-Pape Le Tintot. It's not cheap (at around $90 in these here parts of MA), but it is a really interesting wine and I love it.