Here are a few things that have caught my Mourvèdre-adled brain’s attention recently (lots of Mourvèdre action from Down Under recently):

• Drinkster (aka @whiteswine) has a tour-de-force post on the history of Mourvèdre/Mataro in Australia all the way back to the Phoenicians. Must read.

• Aussie winemakers are producing more varietal Mourvèdre, according to themercury.com.au: “We’re seeing the emergence from blended obscurity of long-planted varietals like malbec and mourvedre increasingly appearing as straight varietals.” (via @kellsmellswine)

• The Empty Glass blog has a geek-worthy post comparing the merits of two bottle of d’Arenberg Twenty-Eight Road Mourvèdre 2006 McLaren Vale – one under cork and the other under screwcap (Stelvin closure). Click through to find out the results.

• The Good Drop blog reviews Yangarra Mourvèdre 2009 McLaren Vale: “The trinity of fruit, ferrous mineral and fine grained tannin make for a wonderful finish.” (Coincidentally, Yangarra happens to be mentioned in the Mercury article above.)

• Anglim Winery suggest s’mores as a pairing for their 2008 Mourvèdre. I, for one, avoid sweets with anything but dessert wine, but whatever floats your boat. I haven’t had the 2008, but I can highly recommend their 2007.

• Some crazed genius, who apparently cooks and sells corndogs from a modified shopping cart in England, apparently likes Mourvèdre enough to tweet an awkward-to-sing lyrical mashup of my favorite grape and that irritating song from Madagascar.