We have purchased fruit from this historic 100 plus year old vineyard for over a decade. The vineyard was part of a larger farm established by the Spanish Benedictine Monks. The Spanish synonym Monastrell hints at the monastic origins of this variety i.e.: ‘alter wine’, while the french Mourvedré is more sinister – dog strangler, a reference to the fearsome tannins the variety can sometimes display. This is often combined with a savoury edge and dark fruit character.
This wine was our first attempt at a solo Mourvedré. A mixture of crushed and whole berries were first cold soaked, then wild-fermented in our concrete open-topped fermenters. A month-long post fermentation maceration was employed to soften the tannins, before the wine was bucketed into the press. After settling the wine was racked into seasoned french oak barriques for almost two years. The wine was then allowed to rest in bottle for a further eight months before release. After fermentation, I realised why there is not much varietal Mourvedré on the market, however the gentle, old fashioned winemaking has coaxed this wine away from the dark side and it is now one of my favourites.
- Plum / Mineral animal fur / Dark Chocolate
