Mourvèdre‘s spiritual home is Provence’s Bandol region

Date: October 11, 2010
Philippines wine supplier Manila wine shop discusses wine by the grape variety Dolcetto.
After languishing in the wilderness for a while, Mourvèdre is now on the verge of becoming hip. It’s in the new world where the real image change is taking place, and in particular California and Australia. It used to be Mataro, a spotty teenager with a crap social life. But it’s undergone an image makeover, metamorphosing into Mourvèdre, the grape that everyone wants to know. It’s been invited to the party.
Its spiritual home is Provence’s Bandol region, which itself has undergone a revolution in the last thirty years. Led by Lucien Peyraud’s Domaine Tempier, Bandol now boasts a clutch of dynamic, aspiring producers, including the likes of Lafran Veyrolles, Gros’ Noré, Pibarnon and Begude. By law, Bandol Rouge must now contain at least 50% Mourvèdre, but many serious producers will use more than this.
But it is Spain that grows the lion’s share of Mourvèdre. Known there as Monastrell, it’s the second most widely grown grape, after Garnacha (Grenache). Producers there are just beginning to wake up to Mourvèdre’s new cachet; will we soon see a wave of varietal Mourvèdres from Spain marketed by the grape’s French name?
All is not rosy, however. Mourvedre is a challenging grape to grow. The yield is irregular, and it has a reputation for ‘alternance’, whereby one year produces a good yield, followed by a poor yield the next. And whereas most grapes produce a commercial yield in three to five years, you can be waiting as long as 10 years for Mourvèdre to deliver. But small yields do deliver good colour, and when it’s not excessively astringent and ripens properly (it needs warm climates), it makes some fairly serious wine.
What are the flavour characteristics of Mourvèdre? Look for leathery, herby, spicy notes on the nose. In the new world there is often some sweetness, too. On the palate think savoury. Part of the reason that this has been so successful as a blending grape is that it provides a spicy, savoury structure that complements the richness of Grenache and Syrah grown in warm climates. It’s not an excessively fruity grape, and in some cases can contribute slightly gamey, almost animal-like flavours, especially in younger wines.
The wines featured below were tasted ‘single-blind’. This means that while the wines were served blind, we knew which ones were included in the tasting. It’s a fun exercise matching them up, and I scored pretty well. I got 7/9 correct, although I think I should be awarded half a mark for wine 4, for which I gave two options, one of which was correct. The group favourites were wines 9 and 6, which shows that groups don’t always get it right: wine 9, the Bonny Doon Old Telegram 1998 was not one of the better wines on show here by a large margin. Notes are as written (blind), with the real identity in bold at the end of each note.
My three favourites were all from Provence, and two of these are from Bandol. The 1998 Lafran-Veyrolles Bandol Cuvée Longue Garde is delicious now and will no doubt improve. Already with some bottle age, the 1994 Tempier Cabassaou is beginning to show some lovely herby/spicy complexity, and will just keep getting better. The third wine is the wonderfully intense Domaine la Courtade, from a small island just off the Provençale coast; quite pricey at around £17, but worth it.
Source: http://www.wineanorak.com/mourvedre.htm

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