If you are reading this and are 168 years old (not likely of course), your parents planted the seed for you to grow the same year the first Mourvèdre vines were planted in Australia, 1853 in the Barossa Valley, and there were also vines planted in McLaren Vale in the early 1900’s. It was a very popular variety in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s but unfortunately, a lot of it was pulled out in the 1980’s. These days it still doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Wines like this one are bound to changed that.
It looks good in the glass, a lovely deep purple colour. It is very aromatic thanks to an array of dark fruits, slightly herbaceous (and I mean slightly) and just a hint of pepper. The palate is concentrated with generous fruit flavours of blackberry and spicy dark cherry being the mainstays here. There’s a really good mid palate lushness, a savoury element too while tannins and oak play minor roles in the scheme of things. This wine is all about the delicious fruit that just seems to keep on giving.
This one may not have come from very old vines but it is still a Ray Costanzo masterpiece. Loved it!!
Region: Granite Belt, Queensland Price: $35 (cheap) Source: Sample thanks to Golden Grove Estate (cheers Ray Costanzo)
Words from a Wine Glass 