Comments on: Mourvedre Monday #8: Castaño Monastrell 2007 Rosado http://www.vinegeek.com/2010/03/mourvedre-monday-8-castano-monastrell-2007-rosado/ wine is interesting. Fri, 13 Aug 2010 01:47:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Dominique ROUJOU DE BOUBEE http://www.vinegeek.com/2010/03/mourvedre-monday-8-castano-monastrell-2007-rosado/comment-page-1/#comment-521 Dominique ROUJOU DE BOUBEE Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:23:38 +0000 http://www.vinegeek.com/?p=2342#comment-521 Hi Jim, I've never tasted Hewitson old garden, just know it for fame (there's not so famous monastrell wines in Australia). I'm impatient to read your comment. Enjoy! Cheers Hi Jim,
I’ve never tasted Hewitson old garden, just know it for fame (there’s not so famous monastrell wines in Australia). I’m impatient to read your comment.
Enjoy!
Cheers

]]> By: Jim/VINEgeek http://www.vinegeek.com/2010/03/mourvedre-monday-8-castano-monastrell-2007-rosado/comment-page-1/#comment-519 Jim/VINEgeek Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:06:04 +0000 http://www.vinegeek.com/?p=2342#comment-519 Thanks, Dominique, for all the great info. I definitely plan to include more Bandol throughout the year (just did the Gros'Noré last week), so I'll be on the lookout for your suggestions. The lineup from Sierra Salinas looks very intriguing! I hope I can find them - I'd love to include them in the series as well. I've been looking for the Castaño red Monastrell locally, but haven't found it yet. I may have to order online. You're right to point out the age of the rosado (07). I was just excited to have found a Castaño Monastrell of any sort to include, that I wasn't thinking about the vintage. If I find an 08 or 09 I'll give it another try. I'm definitely planning to include several of the USA and Australian producers you mention. There are several I still need to acquire, but I've got the Hewitson Old Garden 05 in cellar, so look for a post on it soon. Again, thanks for all the great info. I hope you'll come back and comment some more on this series. Cheers, Jim Thanks, Dominique, for all the great info. I definitely plan to include more Bandol throughout the year (just did the Gros’Noré last week), so I’ll be on the lookout for your suggestions.

The lineup from Sierra Salinas looks very intriguing! I hope I can find them – I’d love to include them in the series as well.

I’ve been looking for the Castaño red Monastrell locally, but haven’t found it yet. I may have to order online. You’re right to point out the age of the rosado (07). I was just excited to have found a Castaño Monastrell of any sort to include, that I wasn’t thinking about the vintage. If I find an 08 or 09 I’ll give it another try.

I’m definitely planning to include several of the USA and Australian producers you mention. There are several I still need to acquire, but I’ve got the Hewitson Old Garden 05 in cellar, so look for a post on it soon.

Again, thanks for all the great info. I hope you’ll come back and comment some more on this series.

Cheers,
Jim

]]> By: Jim/VINEgeek http://www.vinegeek.com/2010/03/mourvedre-monday-8-castano-monastrell-2007-rosado/comment-page-1/#comment-518 Jim/VINEgeek Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:46:19 +0000 http://www.vinegeek.com/?p=2342#comment-518 Benito - Still on the hunt for the red. I can understand the Stormtrooper confusion, though this should have been a tip off: http://www.brianstoys.com/store/images/products/Star%20Wars/vintage/ActionFigures/Carded/AFA/POTF/Vintage_POTFAFA_4659643.jpg Benito – Still on the hunt for the red.

I can understand the Stormtrooper confusion, though this should have been a tip off: http://www.brianstoys.com/store/images/products/Star%20Wars/vintage/ActionFigures/Carded/AFA/POTF/Vintage_POTFAFA_4659643.jpg

]]> By: Dominique ROUJOU DE BOUBEE http://www.vinegeek.com/2010/03/mourvedre-monday-8-castano-monastrell-2007-rosado/comment-page-1/#comment-517 Dominique ROUJOU DE BOUBEE Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:08:23 +0000 http://www.vinegeek.com/?p=2342#comment-517 Hi Jim, I love your idea to declare 2010 the year of the Mourvèdre. It’s true that Mourvèdre is one the less known of the finest grape in the world. And not only in USA but also in Europe or in Asia. I’m a lucky consultant in viticulture and enology working in Spain (I already did a comment on your blog concerning the wines of Ribeira Sacra), but I grew in the South of France and I know quite well the wines from Bandol. The philosophy there (for the majority) is quite special. They don’t search to be fashion with new oak, neither big extractions. Their goal is to produce a wine with Mourvèdre with good capacity of aging. Because the Mourvèdre is not a sexy grape like Syrah for example which can give huge sensation in its youth. The personality of Mourvèdre come with the aging, after 4-5 years (depending of the vintage), and it can give extraordinary wines after 10-20 years. For me, the best ones are domaine de Tempier (they have also 3 very special wines made each one from a special plot: La tourtine, Cabassaou y la Migoua), château de Pibarnon, château Vannières, domaine le Galantin, domaine Lafran-Veyrolles, château Pradeaux, … You have to know that this grape comes from the south of Spain, the Levante area, it mean the triangle formed by Alicante, Jumilla y Valencia. It’s the majority grape of the Denomination of Origen (like AOC in France) Yecla, Jumilla, Alicante and sometimes of DO Bullas or Valencia. I am working with a winery in Alicante, BODEGAS SIERRA SALINAS (http://www.sierrasalinas.com) owned by the Castaño family (http://www.bodegascastano.com) where we have a lot of old vines of Mourvèdre in a lovely valley of organically poor limestone soils, at 700 m of altitude. We make 4 wines: Mo Salinas, an easy wine with 85% of Monastrell (the spanish word for Mourvèdre) and 4 months of aging in french oak barrels, Puerto Salinas, a more serious wine with 65-80% of Monastrell, 10-20% of Cabernet-Sauvignon and 10-20% of Alicante Bouschet (garnacha tintorera in Spain), aging of 12 months in french oak barrels (30-40% of new oak), Mira Salinas, where we search the finest and fresher expression of Monastrell, thinking in a long time aging in bottle, and we have Salinas 1237 (the mountain – sierra in spain – culminates at 1237 m of altitude, from there the name of the wine) which is a potent mediterranean wine with a majority of Alicante Bouschet and a complement of Cabernet-Sauvignon and Monastrell. These wines are distributed in USA by Eric Solomon, European Cellars http://europeancellars.com/. You should taste also the red wines of Yecla from the Castaño family, for me the best produced in this area. Since the "simple" Castaño Monastrell, to the well known Hecula, the more ambitious Castaño colección or the more confidential Casa Cisca. Personally, I love the Castaño colección, a very attractive wine with a soft price. It's normal that the rosado 2007 was a "little bit oxidized" like you mentioned. The harvest actually in the market is the 2009 and those wines doesn't have the ambition to age more than 1 year. With the 2009 vintage, we did in Sierra Salinas a special cuvee of a rose wine (just 11.000 bottles), named Mo rosé, from Mourvèdre, Alicante Bouschet and Cabernet-Sauvignon, but I don't know if it will be commercialized in USA. In USA, you can also find nice examples with Tablas Creek, but also Jade Mountain, Old Telegram, Cline Cellars ancient vines mourvèdre (you tasted few times ago "small berry mourvèdre"), Garretson mourvèdre \la garotsa\ paso robles, Ridge mataro (an other name of the mourvèdre) pato vineyard ATP 2002 or 2003, Alban vineyard forsythe, all from California, McRea mourvèdre red mountain in washington state. In Australia, you can find also a few producers than use Mourvèdre like Torbreck in the Pict or Hewitson old garden mourvèdre or baby bush Mourvèdre. Sorry to be so long, but it’s true that Mourvèdre-Monastrell-Mataro is a great unknown fine grape and each time I heard someone talking about it, I feel like to join the discussion. Enjoy those great wines of Mourvèdre and I hope your initiative will make the Mourvèdre more popular. Dominique ROUJOU DE BOUBEE Twitter droujoudb Hi Jim,
I love your idea to declare 2010 the year of the Mourvèdre. It’s true that Mourvèdre is one the less known of the finest grape in the world. And not only in USA but also in Europe or in Asia.
I’m a lucky consultant in viticulture and enology working in Spain (I already did a comment on your blog concerning the wines of Ribeira Sacra), but I grew in the South of France and I know quite well the wines from Bandol. The philosophy there (for the majority) is quite special. They don’t search to be fashion with new oak, neither big extractions. Their goal is to produce a wine with Mourvèdre with good capacity of aging. Because the Mourvèdre is not a sexy grape like Syrah for example which can give huge sensation in its youth. The personality of Mourvèdre come with the aging, after 4-5 years (depending of the vintage), and it can give extraordinary wines after 10-20 years.
For me, the best ones are domaine de Tempier (they have also 3 very special wines made each one from a special plot: La tourtine, Cabassaou y la Migoua), château de Pibarnon, château Vannières, domaine le Galantin, domaine Lafran-Veyrolles, château Pradeaux, …
You have to know that this grape comes from the south of Spain, the Levante area, it mean the triangle formed by Alicante, Jumilla y Valencia. It’s the majority grape of the Denomination of Origen (like AOC in France) Yecla, Jumilla, Alicante and sometimes of DO Bullas or Valencia.
I am working with a winery in Alicante, BODEGAS SIERRA SALINAS (http://www.sierrasalinas.com) owned by the Castaño family (http://www.bodegascastano.com) where we have a lot of old vines of Mourvèdre in a lovely valley of organically poor limestone soils, at 700 m of altitude. We make 4 wines: Mo Salinas, an easy wine with 85% of Monastrell (the spanish word for Mourvèdre) and 4 months of aging in french oak barrels, Puerto Salinas, a more serious wine with 65-80% of Monastrell, 10-20% of Cabernet-Sauvignon and 10-20% of Alicante Bouschet (garnacha tintorera in Spain), aging of 12 months in french oak barrels (30-40% of new oak), Mira Salinas, where we search the finest and fresher expression of Monastrell, thinking in a long time aging in bottle, and we have Salinas 1237 (the mountain – sierra in spain – culminates at 1237 m of altitude, from there the name of the wine) which is a potent mediterranean wine with a majority of Alicante Bouschet and a complement of Cabernet-Sauvignon and Monastrell.
These wines are distributed in USA by Eric Solomon, European Cellars http://europeancellars.com/.
You should taste also the red wines of Yecla from the Castaño family, for me the best produced in this area. Since the “simple” Castaño Monastrell, to the well known Hecula, the more ambitious Castaño colección or the more confidential Casa Cisca. Personally, I love the Castaño colección, a very attractive wine with a soft price.
It’s normal that the rosado 2007 was a “little bit oxidized” like you mentioned. The harvest actually in the market is the 2009 and those wines doesn’t have the ambition to age more than 1 year.
With the 2009 vintage, we did in Sierra Salinas a special cuvee of a rose wine (just 11.000 bottles), named Mo rosé, from Mourvèdre, Alicante Bouschet and Cabernet-Sauvignon, but I don’t know if it will be commercialized in USA.
In USA, you can also find nice examples with Tablas Creek, but also Jade Mountain, Old Telegram, Cline Cellars ancient vines mourvèdre (you tasted few times ago “small berry mourvèdre”), Garretson mourvèdre \la garotsa\ paso robles, Ridge mataro (an other name of the mourvèdre) pato vineyard ATP 2002 or 2003, Alban vineyard forsythe, all from California, McRea mourvèdre red mountain in washington state.
In Australia, you can find also a few producers than use Mourvèdre like Torbreck in the Pict or Hewitson old garden mourvèdre or baby bush Mourvèdre.
Sorry to be so long, but it’s true that Mourvèdre-Monastrell-Mataro is a great unknown fine grape and each time I heard someone talking about it, I feel like to join the discussion.
Enjoy those great wines of Mourvèdre and I hope your initiative will make the Mourvèdre more popular.

Dominique ROUJOU DE BOUBEE
Twitter droujoudb

]]> By: Benito http://www.vinegeek.com/2010/03/mourvedre-monday-8-castano-monastrell-2007-rosado/comment-page-1/#comment-516 Benito Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:19:00 +0000 http://www.vinegeek.com/?p=2342#comment-516 Man, that's disappointing, and there's a bunch of great Spanish pinks out there. The regular red Castaño is great, though! Also, despite having been born in 1976 and a huge Star Wars fan my entire childhood, I was an adult before I learned that Stormtroopers were people, not robots. I'll agree to a two-month suspension of my geek credentials. Man, that’s disappointing, and there’s a bunch of great Spanish pinks out there. The regular red Castaño is great, though!

Also, despite having been born in 1976 and a huge Star Wars fan my entire childhood, I was an adult before I learned that Stormtroopers were people, not robots. I’ll agree to a two-month suspension of my geek credentials.

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