Ancient Vines Mourvèdre 2006, Cline Cellars
7th June 2008
The Mourvèdre grape has a bewildering range of aliases. In Spain, from where it is thought to originate, it is known as Monastrell. In Portugal and much of the New World it is called Mataro, after the Spanish town of Mataró. Most of France calls it Mourvèdre, after another Spanish town, Murviedro. But in some parts it goes by the splendid name of Estrangle-Chien: “dog strangler”.
The grape is prone to rot, and so does best where the summers are fierce and there are strong winds to keep it dry. Windswept southern France is ideal: in the Rhône it is blended with Grenache to make wines such as Châteauneuf-du-Pape; in Provence it is the principal grape of Bandol.
Mourvèdre is also planted in Spain and Algeria. The Californians have been growing it since the 1840s: Italian settlers in Contra Costa County were fond of the stuff, and some of their vines managed to survive Prohibition. It is from such vines that this week’s wine is produced.
The maker, Fred Cline, is one of the heirs to the Jacuzzi fortune. Like Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon, he is one of the so-called “Rhône Rangers”, a generation of Californian winemakers who took the Rhône rather than Bordeaux as their inspiration.
Mr Cline’s techniques are entirely modern: low grape yields; fermentation in stainless steel; ten months’ aging in oak. The result here is a delicious wine with strong, earthy odours, flavours of cooked plums and bitter cherries, and a lingering suggestion of game. An excellent buy at $16 in the US, £9 in the UK.
