Mourvedre/Monastrell

This is 55% Mourvèdre, 25% Grenache, and 20% Cinsault.  Arguably the best Rose made today.  Certainly, it is right up there with a rich track record.  This vintage is another winner.  A salmon pink and copper color.  The nose is very pretty with watermelon along with a slight strawberry and a steely quality.  On the palate, this is light and crisp.  Slight tannins.  Slightly oily texture.  Strawberries and slight watermelon notes.  Supple.  This seems more rounded that some vintages.  Good finish.  This is very food friendly and will go with almost any food or on its own.  These are suppose

A blend of 43% Grenache, 29% Mourvedre, 18% Syrah and 10% Counoise.  This wine is still on the young side but is open and with a bit of air, was drinking great.  Inky purple in color.  The nose has black raspberries, slight charred wood, black pepper, roasted herbs and roasted meats.  On the palate, what a wonderful texture.  Almost seamless.  Juicy black raspberry fruit.  Underlying char and roasted meats.  Great energy and balance.  This will continue to mature for the next five to ten years and be good for ten to fifteen after that.  The alcohol is high, but there is hint of it although

This is a blend of 58% Mourvedre and 42% Grenache.  Purple in color.  Opaque.  The nose has black cherries, plums, cedar, and roasted meats.  On the palate, the Grenache seems to dominate at this point, but with age that should change.  Black cherry fruit intertwined with smoke and slight earthiness.  Good acidity.  Nice finish.  This seems young but not a ton of tannins.  It will be interesting to watch this age.  It should go well with spicy Asian cuisine of stews and chili.  Drinking well now, I don't think it gets better but should morph over the next decade or more.  

From the producers of Sine Qua Non, this is the 7th edition of this wine.  The label says 15.8% but there is no hint of heat.  This vintage is a blend of 45% Syrah, 29% Grenache, 15% Petite Sirah, 5% Mourvèdre, 4.5% Touriga Nacional and 1.5% Roussanne.  Inky purple in color.  The nose has black raspberries, red licorice, black pepper, baking spices with a bit of leather/earth.  On the palate, this is rich.  Almost seamless.  It took quite a while to really open up suggesting that this wine still needs about five years depending on your tastes.  Delicious with flavors of black raspberries an

A fine showing for this wine.  At age 18, it is drinking well with plenty of time left.  This bottle was decanted for sediment and served.  It could have used an hour in the decanter or more to really open.  The last glass was the best.  Deeper ruby in color, mostly opaque.  The nose is clean for the most part.  Cherries, raspberries, some earthiness and nice minerality on the nose.  On the palate, this is medium to full bodied.  Plenty of depth with nice layering in the glass.  A lot of fruit left; cherries and raspberries and some black raspberries, over a dry earthy quality.  This bottle

72% Zinfandel with 20% Syrah and 8% Mourvedre.  This is a brawny wine that is delicious.  Purple in color.  The nose has black cherries, black pepper, slight bramble and baking spice.  On the palate, this has a wonderful texture.  Juicy black cherries over a bit of char with slight woody notes.  There is a nice depth to this wine.  It should continue to develop complexity over the next few years.  It should last another decade.  Whether it improves or not depends on how mature you like your Zins.  This is great on its own and should work great with grilled meats or spicy hot foods.  

This is a blend of 54% Syrah, 21% Mourvèdre, 16% Grenache and 9% Petite Sirah.  It is a big wine that really needed some time to settle down.  Even 6 years from vintage isn't really enough.  That said, with a couple hours of air, this was drinking beautifully.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose has black raspberries, plums, black cherries, and spice.  Perhaps a bit of black pepper.  On the palate, this is thick and big.  A bit chunky on opening but it smoothed out with air.  Lots of black raspberry fruit with some black cherries.  An underlying charred earthiness.  Good finish.  T

Usually, I like to let Saxum's age more, but this one is 45% Zinfandel, so we popped the cork.  Good move.  Also it has 36% Mourvedre, 12% Tempranillo and 7% Petite Sirah.  Weighs in at just under 16% ABV.  Inky purple in color.  The nose is big with black cherries, plums, black raspberries, some earthiness and spice.  On the palate, there is no heat.  Juicy black cherries, and black raspberries.  Some underlying char.  Long finish.  This is delicious but will be a tough food match.  Maybe some BBQ with spicy sauce?  It will be interesting to see how this ages.  I suspect the Zin fades and

This is a blend of 40% Mourvèdre, 34% Grenache, and 26% Syrah.  It is a big wine that is ripe and delicious.  The nose has black raspberries, blue berries, roasted meat and herbs, black pepper and some cherries.  On the palate, this is big.  Firm tannins.  Juicy black raspberry and blueberry fruit with an underlying minerality.  It softens a bit in the glass.  It is great on its own but a difficult food match at present.  It will most certainly evolve and gain integration over the next five to ten years at which time it will be great with cassoulets and roasted foods.  No regrets about open

Nice to revisit this wine.  Tasted (note posted elsewhere on this site), it was quite tight.  While still quite young, this wine has really made a lot of progress.  Still not at its peak, but providing a lot of pleasure right now.  It is a blend of 89% Syrah, 8% Mourvèdre and 3% Viognier.  inky purple in color.  The nose is great with black raspberries, smoked meat, white pepper and floral notes.  On the palate, this has firm tannins.  Black raspberry fruit over scorched earth and also some pepper.  Great texture.  Long finish.  This will go well with big meat dishes but also roasted veggie