foodwineclick

You might like to try a Mourvèdre, but you say you don’t have $50 burning a hole in your pocket?  How about $15?   I wanted to see if I could find a Mourvèdre (French or American) that is widely available and less than $20.  I haven’t found a French one yet, but the Cline Cellars Ancient Vines Mourvèdre is very good and very affordable.  I wouldn’t mistake this wine for Domaine Tempier Bandol Rouge, but I would happily serve it with a meal to guests.

Cline Ancient Vines Mourvèdre is representative of the grape

Common characterisitics from our Bandol / Mourvèdre tastings
Most of our Mourvèdre wines had some common characteristics:

• Medium dark red in color.
• Nose is usually dark fruit.  The French wines had an herbal /garrique quality.
• Rich, ripe and full bodied with definite tannins.  The tannins seemed pretty smooth.

How did the Cline compare?  Take a look at the notes below.

Cline Ancient Vines Mourvèdre  2011 ($15 on sale at Surdyk’s)
Eye: Pretty purple dark red.  Barely translucent, not pitch dark
Nose: Smoky, and a bit of earth and a touch of herbs.  Dark fruit.
Mouth: Nice and pretty smooth, not too lush, very nice.  Kind of surprising for an American wine.  Tannins are there, but you have to pay attention to notice.
With grilled tuna with a balsamic marinade, a sweetness emerged from the wine.
Day 2 – still nice and smoky/dusty. still nice and smooth
Bonus: Cline wines have a recipe attached as part of the back label. The Mourvèdre label  has a bacon and brussels sprouts recipe, we’ll try it!

Mourvèdre and Fish?
You might be surprised to find that red wine can pair with fish, but this combination worked.  The combination of a big, tuna steak with the deep flavor of the balsamic vinegar, finished with the char from the grill and Mourvèdre makes a nice match.

Cline Mourvedre: a nice partner to a big tuna steak in a rich balsamic marinade.