Wine: 2007 Mourvedre from Quivira Vineyards
Appellation: Dry Creek
Alc.: 14.7%
Haydn gives this wine: 91 pts (after it’s been open for a day)
Price: $32
You can buy this wine: at Quivirawine.com

It’s not everyday that the recommend food of a wine ends up on the bottle. But such is the case with the 2007 Mourvédre from Quivira (as well as the 2006 vintage). Each bottle by Quivira dawns a various animal that corresponds with the wine. With the Mourvédre, it has to do with the wild turkeys strutting their stuff around the Mourvédre grape. However, and I wonder how coincidental, that this wine would pair so well with Ben Franklin’s favorite bird.

The Biodynamically certified Mourvédre’s nose is spotlessly clean. No sharp spikes or jolts in the initial whiff. While some wines hit you right off the bat, almost yelling at you, this one whispers quietly, almost inviting you, no, more luring you to taste it. There’s a reason for that. In the words of Steven Canter, winemaker, “No new oak was harmed in making this wine”.

The Mourvédre is not an easy wine to quickly pick up. Cabs and Pinots (both old-world and new-world Pinots) have a distinct characteristic. Yet the Mourvédre is a little of a hodgepodge when it comes to flavor profiles.

On the nose, you’ll find hints of molasses and plums (I know it doesn’t visually sound appealing, but go with me here). And behind those are blackberries and even a little blueberries. The taste continues when you get the chance to answer the beckoning whisper of this Mourvédre. The plums continue on as the blueberries get bigger, and the sweetness of the plum gets a bit earthier. It’s as if the plum ripens from sniff to taste. There’s some meat in this wine. While you could drink this solo, I’d recommend a good, big cheese or say, a turkey!

Leave the job of paring big red meats to the big boys: Cabs, Syrahs and Bordeaux / Bordeaux blends (of course all dependent upon the sauce). Mourvédre’s sit comfortably in the middle when it comes to heaviness. Pinots (New World), Grenaches and Beaujolais would round out the lighter side. So it makes sense that a fairly meaty bird would compliment well with a fairly meaty wine. I can almost smell the turkey, lightly paired with the cranberry suace and a little bit of gravy round out this pairing (can you tell I’m starting to drool over the idea that Thanksgiving is less than a month away?).

This wine’s just a baby and it took nearly a day to fully open up. Decant, decant, decant, and then wait a while. The wine’s begging you to drink it—take your time and you’re patience will pay off.

Cheers,
Haydn

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Haydn Adams is the author of the book, Wineries Beyond Napa Valley: Dry Creek and Alexander Valley, an insider’s tasting guide to the hidden gems region. He also contributes to the Beyond Napa Valley Wine Blog, writes for vinvillage.com, and can be found roaming the hills of Sonoma County looking for the next hidden gems. You can contact him at haydn@beyondnapavalley.com

Hug 2007 Mourvedre
by Haydn Adams | Beyond Napa Valley Wine Blog

Appalachian: Santa Barbara
Alc: 14.1%
Haydn gives it: 84pts

Mourvédre’s had their day in the sun, but today they are relatively unknown. Chances are probably great that you’ve had a Mourvédre before, but the name wasn’t on the bottle. More times than not this varietal shows up with it’s two other compradres in the rhone blend, Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre. The Mourvédre is a beefy grape, with some strong characteristic. So I was jazzed when I discovered Hug Cellars producing a single varietal Mourvédre coming out of Paso Robles.

The age of this wine is very clear from the very first pour. On the appearance scale, we’re talking light ruby to indigo/violet. This dear young one just got into the bottle. The reddish tones were there but the violet/purple tones made it known it was a very young wine. I’m curious to know how long ago this wine was bottled.

The nose showcased wonderful tones of deep fruit, blackberries and plum. There was also a little bit of spice on the nose, which came out quite pronounced on the inital whiff.

While the nose was delightful, the palate didn’t fair so well. All of the aromas came through on the mid-palate but they bounced around on the tongue like someone shook up the wine like they way Champagne is shaken up before uncorked during a celebration. The wine felt like it was still in bottle shock. Two theories for this. 1) The wine was just bottled maybe a month or two ago or 2) California Overnight, the shipping company, pulled a Jimmy Carrey in Ace Venture Pet Detective and played soccer with the packaging. Ok, so maybe I’m going a bit too far, but it could have come from too much movement in shipping.

The silverlining? After two days of it sitting completely still, the wine did soften. The tastes were still bouncing around, but with less movement. I could detect more of a pronounced plum tone with a mixture of some sort of spice.

Overall, I could see this wine shining in a few months. Very low tannins for an ’07, it has a lot of potential. I gave it 84 pts due to it having possible bottle shock, and I’m looking forward to trying it again in the late summer when it has time to nap in the cellar.

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Haydn Adams is the author of the book, Wineries Beyond Napa Valley: Dry Creek and Alexander Valley, an insider’s tasting guide to the hidden gems region. He also contributes to the Beyond Napa Valley Wine Blog, writes for vinvillage.com, and can be found roaming the hills of Sonoma County looking for the next hidden gems. You can contact him at haydn@beyondnapavalley.com