Winemaker Notes
Medium red with a bright purple hue. Brambly blueberry and black cherry, dried herbs and earth. Sarsaparilla and forest fruits backed by very soft and fully ripe tannins.
Professional Ratings
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Australian Wine Companion
The 'baby' mourvèdre vines were established in 1998 from cuttings off the epic 1853-planted Old Garden vineyard. Lots of colour and lots of fruit depth for babies! Rich dark plum, blueberry and black cherry fruits with hints of turned earth, light bramble tones, graphite, dark spice, roasting meats and charcuterie. There is a wee whiff of choc-mint way off in the distance, too, with an impressive fruit density, tight granite dust tannins and bright acid drive finishing pure and savoury.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Baby Bush Mourvedre is the littlest sibling in the array of Mourvèdres at this address, and it drinks just like it. It is fresh, young, fun, not complex but equally joyful, spritely! It has notes of mulberry and blackcurrant, and the tannins are a touch more grown up than the flavors would suggest. It's a bit of an "old soul." 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
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.
Historically and presently the most important wine-producing region of Australia, the Barossa Valley is set in the Barossa zone of South Australia, where more than half of the country’s wine is made. Because the climate is very hot and dry, vineyard managers work diligently to ensure grapes reach the perfect levels of phenolic ripeness.
The intense heat is ideal for plush, bold reds, particularly Shiraz on its own or Rhône Blends. Often Shiraz and Cabernet partner up for plump and powerful reds.
While much less prevalent, light-skinned varieties such as Riesling, Viognier or Semillon produce vibrant Barossa Valley whites.
Most of Australia’s largest wine producers are based here and Shiraz plantings date back as far as the 1850s or before. Many of them are dry farmed and bush trained, still offering less than one ton per acre of inky, intense, purple juice.