Tag Archives: Grenache

Price: 16-20 bucks, Tasting Notes

Still Life with Randall Grahm, MacBook Pro & Bonny Doon 2011 Clos de Gilroy

Leave a comment

 

Bonny Doon Vineyard’s 2011 Clos de Gilroy is made from grapes not quite right for BDV’s top bottling, Le Cigare Volant (clos but no cigare, as Randall like to say).

83% grenache
7% cinsault
6% syrah
4% mourvèdre

from various locales around the Central Coast AVA

I love the freshness of this wine. It’s got lifted aromatics calling to mind exotic spices and red fruit, and a brightness and life on the palate that makes it highly quaffable. (I know “quaffable” can sometimes be a backhanded compliment, but I mean it in an exclusively positive way, as in I’d happily drink this all night.) A style of wine I wish was more common. You should definitely try this wine. Highly Recommended.

Lists at $18/bottle, but available for under $15 via several sources online.

Price: Over 20 bucks, Tasting Notes

Mourvèdre Monday #26 – Esprit de Beaucastel

Leave a comment

I tasted this wine back in the summer, but never got around to blogging my notes. So I decided to dust them off for today’s Mourvèdre Monday post.

Tablas Creek 2008 Esprit de Beaucastel Rouge

Complex nose of cherry/raspberry fruit with a hit of coffee/mocha and mint. On the palate, it is mouth-filling without being overwhelming. It delivers earthy dark fruit and lightly grippy tannins and finishes with a bit of a mineral/minty lift. Fruit-forward, but balanced.
VINEgeek Verdict: Damn good.

38% Mourvèdre
30% Grenache
26% Syrah
6% Counoise

Coolio bona fides:

  • grapes from organic estate vineyard
  • fermented with native yeasts
  • aged in 1200-gallon French oak foudres

Price: $40-45

Price: Over 20 bucks, Tasting Notes

M. Chapoutier Domaine de Bila-Haut ‘Occultum Lapidem’ 2007

2 Comments

Price: Around $25

Image link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dobrych/4552132976/

————–

I’m experimenting with this new review format. I thought it would be cool to take the free association image I would typically insert in a post and give it more impact by making it the primary feature, with the text for bottle info (just the basics) and my tasting notes layered on top. I’m digging it, but let me know what you think.

Cheers!

Jim

Price: 16-20 bucks, Tasting Notes

Mourvèdre Monday #23: Becker Vineyards Prairie Rotie 2007

6 Comments

Mourvèdre Monday finally makes it to Texas. Becker is a big name in the Texas wine scene. I’ve tried quite a few of their wines over the years with mixed results. I had high hopes for their “Prairie Rotie” — a Southern Rhône blend of Mourvèdre, Grenache, Syrah and Carignan (though the name is a play on Côte Rôtie, which is a Northern Rhône appellation where the wines are either all Syrah or Syrah + Viognier). Let’s check it out.

Producer: Becker Vineyards,whose winery and tasting room are in the Texas Hill Country near Fredericksburg

Grapes: 68% Mourvèdre, 14% Grenache, 12% Syrah, 6% Carignan

Appellation: Texas High Plains AVA – way up in the panhandle

Vineyard: Martin Vineyard

Vintage: 2007

Winemaking: This wine spent 9 months in new American oak barrels.

Alcohol: 13.8%

Price: $16.95 on Becker’s website, but I believe I paid about a few dollars less at HEB (supermarket).

Tasting notes: This wine smells purple, grapey. Or like some imaginary Kool-aid flavor called Sparkleberry. Some sweet oak coming through pretty strong as well. Extracted, overripe berry fruit on the palate, coming across a little raw. The winery’s description promisingly mentions forest floor and herbs and coffee, but I didn’t pick up any of that in the wine. I grew bored of this very quickly.

Overall impression: A Texas winery taking pains to make and market this as a Rhône-style wine set my expectations to a way different place. I hope Becker (and others) continue working with these grapes here in Texas, but this particular wine didn’t do much for me. C

Free association:

Price: Over 20 bucks, Tasting Notes

Mourvèdre Monday #22: Domaine La Suffrène 2005 Bandol

Leave a comment

I’ve been meaning to devote more attention to Bandol in the Mourvèdre Monday series. Bandol, after all, is the only appellation in France where Mourvèdre is the top dog grape (it must be a minimum of 50% of the blend).

So I was very excited when I was recently followed on Twitter by @BandolWines and subsequently discovered that they’re a Bandol importer based in nearby Houston. Soon after we connected via Twitter, I got the chance to meet Amine Matta, who was pouring three wines from Domain La Suffrene at the Austin Wine Merchant: a fresh, crisp appley white (from Clairette and Ugni Blanc), a nice minerally rosé and the red reviewed below. (Tasting notes based on a full bottle I purchased and drank later.) I’m looking forward to tasting through the as much of their portfolio as I can eventually!

Domaine La Suffrène 2005 Bandol

Producer: Domaine La Suffrène

Grapes: 55% Mourvèdre, 20% Grenache, 15% Cinsault, 10% old-vine Carignan

Appellation: Bandol (AOC, France)

Vineyards: “sandy-silt-laden, calcareous and clay” soils

Vintage: 2005

Winemaking: 18 months in oak (% new unknown)

Alcohol: I failed to note it.

Price: I paid around $30 at Austin Wine Merchant

Tasting notes: On the nose, there is a spicy, black pepper layer on top of the red fruit (berries and maybe some plum). A definite whiff of horse stable on the nose, but a nice clean horse stable, like the ones with the clydesdales at Busch Gardens and SeaWorld. On the palate, it has good dark fruit, but it’s strength for me is in its leathery, savory, earthy qualities. A wine for contemplation, not quaffing.

Overall impression: A real winner for me. B+

Free association: I picture Dumbledore drinking this in his office after a long day battling office politics at Hogwarts.

Price: 16-20 bucks, Tasting Notes

Mourvèdre Monday #21: Cline Cashmere 2008

1 Comment

I always look forward to opening another bottle of wine from Cline Cellars. Cashmere is their GSM blend (Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre) and in their latest release – the 2008 –  they’ve upped the share of Mourvèdre in the blend. Your favorite blogger’s favorite grape is now the lead dog at 44%. (Let’s all pretend they did that in response to the shear market-moving force of VINEgeek.com.)

Producer: Cline Cellars

Grapes: 44% Mourvèdre, 35% Grenache, 21% Syrah

Appellation: California (AVA)

Vineyards: From the winery’s tech sheet…

“Contra Costa County provides the lion’s share of the grapes for this blend. Careful attention to the Massoni Grenache vineyard in Oakley involves cluster thinning and leaf pulling, which increases fruit concentration. Big Break Grenache is harvested from older lower yielding dry-farmed vines. The Oakley Syrah experiences warm days and cool nights. And the Mourvedre, planted in sand soil, is dry-farmed.”

Vintage: 2008

Winemaking: 9 months in dark toast French oak (25% new)

Alcohol: 15.0%

Price: Around $15

Tasting notes: I get raspberry cream and a bit of black pepper on the nose. The palate is blackberry pie filling, but with the polished mouthfeel I’ve come to expect from Cashmere (though not as luxuriously silky as the 2007). A brief bit of grip at the end that quickly morphs into a sweet, oaky finish. I don’t get the minty note I usually get in wines with fruit from Cline’s Big Break vineyard, which has eucalyptus trees adjacent to the vineyard.

Overall impression: Because of the increased presence of Mourvèdre in the blend, I wanted to like this even more than past vintages, but I have to say I liked the 2007 a bit more. But, the 2008 is another crowd-pleasing Cashmere from Cline. (Old-Worlders may want to pass) B

Free association:

(it's a Blackberry... get it?)

Image credit: 1sock via Flickr

More info:

Grape Stories/CellarTracker reviews (avg: 87 pts)

Cline donates a portion of the proceeds from every bottle of Cashmere sold to the Breast Cancer Network of Strength.

Price: Over 20 bucks, Tasting Notes

Wine Guerrilla Conte Vineyard RRV Zin 2008

5 Comments

I first took notice of Wine Guerrilla, a producer of several distinct Russian River Valley and Dry Creek Valley Zins, after reading this post at Benito’s Wine Reviews. Reading the post and checking out their website reminded me of my early days as a wino, er , wine lover. After having my eyes opened to the world of wine by a Cabernet on a camping trip, I quickly gravitated to Zinfandel. On my first couple of trips to wine country, I focused on Dry Creek Valley and Russian River Valley and was on the hunt for Zins. Wine Guerrilla’s mission is “Finding the very best zinfandel grapes, and crafting wines worthy of the grape’s unique characteristics, and introducing those wines to the public.” I can get behind that.

Producer: Wine Guerrilla

Grapes: A co-fermented field blend (yay!) of 83% Zinfandel, 12% Petite Sirah, 2% Carignan, 2% Alicante Bouchet and 1% Grenache

Appellation: Russian River Valley (AVA, California). A cool-climate sub-region within Sonoma County that is known primarily for the Burgundian grapes Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but it’s Zinfandels are a highlight, too – usually noted for their finesse, balance and delicacy. Not sure that description fits here, but read on…

Vineyard: Conte Vineyard

Vintage: 2008

Winemaking: Spent time in 1-3 year old oak barrels (French, American and Hungarian)

Alcohol: 15.9%

Price: $30

My tasting notes: This wine definitely reminds me of why I fell in love with Zin when I first got into wine. Big, fruity nose that shows rich raspberry and blackberry fruit, and even some prune and raisin but not in a bad way (at least for me). Definitely some sweet oak on the nose, too. Dense, rich mouthfeel that’s full of more delicious red and black fruit. Solid acidity and tannins. The 15.9% alcohol is definitely noticeable, which wouldn’t have bothered me so much in the early years, but I wish was toned down a bit here.

Overall impression: Another Zin from the “these go to eleven” school, but nicely made and better than most. The luscious fruit doesn’t seem fake or sugary and there’s enough acid to keep it out of trouble. If you’re a Zin fan, you should keep an eye out for this one. B/B+

Free association:

More info:

Only 195 cases produced.

This bottle was provided as a sample for review by the winery.

Price: Over 20 bucks, Tasting Notes

Mourvèdre Monday #7: Gros’Noré 2006 Bandol

2 Comments

Through six weeks of the Mourvèdre Monday series, one would be pardoned for wondering why I didn’t name it Monastrell Monday, as four of the first six wines were from Spain, where Monastrell is the name for this grape. Finally, in week 7, we make it to Bandol. This is the most important region for Mourvèdre in France. Really, it’s the only AOC where it plays a dominant role. So let’s see what Bandol brings to the table.

Producer: Domaine du Gros’Noré

Grapes: 80% Mourvèdre, 15% Grenache, 5% Cinsault

Appellation: Bandol (AOC, France)

Vineyards: Hillside vineyards with clay soil and 20 year-old vines.

Vintage: 2006

Winemaking: This wine spent 18 months in big ol’ 60 hl foudres. A foudre is a large oak cask. Sixty hectoliters is about 25 times bigger than a typical 225 liter Bordeaux-style barrique, which the common size for many wineries, New World and Old, that are trying to impart significant oak character.

Alcohol: 15%

Price: $34.40 at Spec’s in Austin

My tasting notes: Kirsch and Chambord on the nose with scrubby, herbal notes and a touch of meatiness. Intensity and structure on the palate. Red fruit and spice. Firm, dry tannins. Good earthy, mineral finish with solid acidity. There is a bit of grittiness to the texture (it’s unfiltered). The 15% alcohol definitely shows at the end, but it sort of reinforces the overall manly-man character of this wine.

Overall impression: This is not elegant stuff. This is Fight Club. This is Braveheart. This is the wine I’d want to drink before storming the castle. (I really hope that’s not a euphemism for some sexual act.) It’s a big, badass Bandol. B/B+

Free association:

More info:

Imported by Kermit Lynch.

A great post at Under the Grape Tree pairing this wine with a bluesman I wasn’t familiar with: Otis Taylor.

I almost went with this for free association: