Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Produced of 100% Mourvedre coming from 1853 vines, believed to be the oldest Mourvedre vines on the planet, the 2009 Old Garden Mourvedre is medium-deep garnet-purple colored giving a whole array of complex aromas: warm mulberries, black raspberries, kirsch, fruit cake, baking spices, game, dusty earth and sandalwood. Medium bodied, it is elegantly fruited in the mouth with silky tannins, very crisp acid and a long finish with plenty of spice, red berry and savory layers. Drinking nicely now, it should cellar to 2022+.
Rating: 93+ -
Wine & Spirits
Mourvedre’s rustic warmth comes through in this earthy wine, a little wooly, a little strawberry, very bright and juicy. A peppery match for grilled lamb.
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Wine Spectator
Supple, polished and distinctive for the floral accents to the currant and blackberry fruit, echoing expressively on the refined finish.
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.