VINEgeek

When I saw “Niellucciu” named as the grape on the back label — which looks to me more like a Scrabble rack than any grape variety I’d ever hear of — I bought first and asked questions later. Back home, Oz Clarke’s Grapes and Wines — a must-own book in my opinion — revealed to [...]

I’ve been meaning to devote more attention to Bandol in the Mourvèdre Monday series. Bandol, after all, is the only appellation in France where Mourvèdre is the top dog grape (it must be a minimum of 50% of the blend).
So I was very excited when I was recently followed on Twitter by @BandolWines and subsequently [...]

This is a special Wednesday edition of my yearlong Mourvèdre Monday series. I was very excited to see that this month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday #69 theme was the Mourvèdre grape, chosen and hosted by The Passionate Foodie (click through to learn why the sub-title is “Animal Cruelty”). So I decided to delay my regularly scheduled [...]

This wine was shared with me by Mike Castleman, whom I met via Twitter. He heard about my Mourvèdre Monday series and recommended this wine to me. When we realized we were both in Austin, we planned to meet up and taste it together. Thanks, Mike!  I’ll have to return the favor soon. (Mike makes [...]

Mourvèdre Monday is back after a few weeks off around the birth of my baby girl, Lucy. I’m easing back into regular blogging. Let’s get things restarted with a bang…
This is one of the priciest varietal Mourvèdres on the planet. So I’m glad to be able to include it in the Mourvèdre Monday series. (Thanks [...]

Trio Vintners, a collaboration between winemakers Tim Boushey, Denise Slattery and Steve Michener, is one of the “incubator wineries” set up at the Walla Walla Regional Airport. They are a small lot producer and one look at their lineup lets you know they’re doing some interesting things: Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Syrah, Carménère and this Mourvèdre. Nary [...]

I had the pleasure of participating in Swirl Smell Slurp’s United Slurps of America: Texas. Each week they taste some wine from one of the 50 states and invite a blogger or two from that state to taste the same wine and share their thoughts. My blogger-pal Ben from Vinotology was the other Texan to [...]

Producer: Valley of the Moon Winery
Grapes: This is their Bordeaux-style blend, which they call Cuvée de la Luna. 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 4% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot
Appellation: Sonoma County AVA
Vineyards: Various lots were sourced from Sonoma Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma Mountain and other area in the county.
Vintage: 2006
Winemaking: Stainless steel [...]

I first took notice of Wine Guerrilla, a producer of several distinct Russian River Valley and Dry Creek Valley Zins, after reading this post at Benito’s Wine Reviews. Reading the post and checking out their website reminded me of my early days as a wino, er , wine lover. After having my eyes opened to [...]

For this week’s Mourvèdre Monday, we’re hopping in the wayback machine. I mean waaaaaaaaayback. I’m talking the oldest known Mourvèdre vines in the world. I’m so excited I just might wet myself.
Producer: Hewitson
Grapes: 100% Mourvèdre
Appellation: Barossa Valley, Australia
Vineyard: All the grapes for this wine come from the “Old Garden” planted in 1853. Eight. Teen. Fifty. Three. [...]