Winemaker Notes
Very dark ruby-purple. Black raspberry, incense, tree bark, forest floor, and pepper waft from the glass. On the palate, dark fruits, loamy earth, and spice. Texturally seamless, with smooth but authoritative tannins building in the finish. Such an alluring wine that deftly combines power with elegance. While enjoyable now, this will no doubt age spectacularly for up to at least two decades, possibly three.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Dark but transparent purple in color, the 2021 Mourvedre Radiant Ridge Vineyard is lush with lavender, gamey earth, plum, and pine resin. Full-bodied and meaty, it offers ripe but gripping tannins, meaty black cherry pit, forest floor, and dried herbs, with a bit of iron richness, but it needs time to develop. Drink 2025-2040.
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Wine Spectator
Tightly focused and a bit trim, with dried cherry, smoked game and black pepper flavors that firm up on the finish but stay lively with acidity. Best from 2025 through 2032. 217 cases made.
Full of ripe fruit, and robust, earthy goodness, Mourvèdre is actually of Spanish provenance, where it still goes by the name Monastrell or Mataro. It is better associated however, with the Red Blends of the Rhône, namely Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Mourvèdre shines on its own in Bandol and is popular both as a single varietal wine in blends in the New World regions of Australia, California and Washington. Somm Secret—While Mourvèdre has been in California for many years, it didn’t gain momentum until the 1980s when a group of California winemakers inspired by the wines of the Rhône Valley finally began to renew a focus on it.
With boundaries overlapping the Sonoma Coast AVA and Sonoma Mountain AVA, Bennett Valley benefits from the cooling effects of the nearby Pacific Ocean just like its neighbors. Top grapes planted include Barbera, Pinot noir and Chardonnay, as well as Bordeaux and Rhone varieties.