Keeping with the Rhone Ranger theme, I went for a Mourvedre tonight to pair with some lamb kebabs off the grill. Tonight's wine comes from the Contra Costa County wine appelation, which is located just east of San Francisco. This relatively unknown appellation uses a wide variety of grapes, but is best known for its Rhone varietals.The dark cherry red 2003 Cline Cellars Small Berry Mourvedre lead with spicy cinnamon and jammy blackberry aromas. Later the nose put on a nice display, with notes of leather, tobacco, violet, vanilla, hazelnut, and a faint scent of rosemary right after it was poured. On the palate it resembled my last experience with this wine: full-bodied with juicy, dark berry fruit, it had firm tannins, mild acidity, and was a bit hot and awkward. A nice pairing and a nice (but pricey) wine.
15% alcohol
Score: 16.5/20
Price: C$39 (LCBO)
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4 comments:
Hi Joe;
Cline makes a very nice Carignan, not so pricey. Can you get it in Montreal?
Cheers,
Kenn
that you Kenn? No Carignan in Montreal - just the syrah, mourvedre and zinfandel. I will try to get a bottle when I visit Sonoma in October. Cheers!
Joe,
You should also try the Cline Ancient Vines Mourvedre which is available in Canada.
This one can age too.
Andrew
Hi Andrew - Thanks, I see that wine is available locally. I will pick up a bottle and compare the two sometime. Cheers!
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