2007 Mourvedre

Encounters with unblended Australian Mourvèdre are rare.  The origins of Mourvèdre are almost certainly Spanish where it is often called Monastrell. It is the principal black grape of the five appellations that cluster on Spain's Southeastern Mediterranean Coast. 

A very late variety in both bud break and ripening season, the Barossa Valley is one of the few areas in Australia that can successfully ripen Mourvèdre. One of the original grapes grown in the Barossa Valley, Mourvèdre thrives in the hot and dry conditions of a Barossa summer. Until the late 1960s, however, the main French plantings of Mourvèdre were in Provence, where it is the dominant grape in Bandol.  It is also used in the blends of Cotes du Rhone and Chateauneuf du Pape.  

The wine produced from Mourvèdre’s small, sweet, thick-skinned berries tend to be  deeply coloured, rich in spice, high in alcohol and tannin, gamey when young and full of fruit.