Every Thursday I feature a wine I particularly enjoy, whether it’s something new and different, is a great value, or from a producer worth checking out. For this week, my Wine Of The Week is the 2010 Carlisle Mourvedre Bedrock Vineyard.
The Winery
Carlisle Winery & Vineyards is a small Sonoma County based winery based in Santa Rosa. According their website they specialize in the..
…production of old-vine, vineyard designated Zinfandels and red Rhone varieties (Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Petite Sirah).
Mike Officer is the Owner/Winemaker. He caught the wine “bug” early – at age 19 – when he tasted a late-harvest Riesling (It seems like we all start with sweet wines doesn’t it?) After graduating from college, he worked in software development for five years, but realized that was not his passion. He knew the answer would involve wine, but he wasn’t sure in what capacity.
He decided to try winemaking, starting with making 5 gallons of Zinfandel in his kitchen. Some years later, he and his wife Kendall found themselves making 300 cases of “garage” wine. They decided to jump in with both feet and established Carlisle Winery & Vineyards in 1998. They’ve focused on old-vine Zinfandel, and red Rhône blends, until the 2010 vintage, when they made their first white wines.
In addition to their own estate vineyard, they source grapes from Sonoma County, primarily the Russian River, and Dry Creek AVAs. Officer always been a fan of old-vine vineyards. In fact, of the 16 vineyard sources listed on their website, half ( Gold Mine Ranch, Martinelli Road Vineyard, Montafi Ranch, Pagani Ranch Vineyard, Papera Ranch, Rossi Ranch Vineyard, Saitone Ranch, and Two Acres) are considered historic vineyards by the Historic Vineyard Society.
The Wine
From Carlisle…From vines planted in 1888, exceptional fruit and simple winemaking have combined to create this age-worthy old-vine Mourvedre. Aged in French oak, 21% new. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. 133 cases produced. SRP – $40
My tasting notes follow:
Dark nearly opaque ruby color with complex roast meat, dark fruits, violet, spice and oak aromas. On the palate it’s full-bodied with wonderful depth and concentration, along with very good acidity, velvety texture and dusty tannins. It shows flavors of blueberry, blackberry, plum, espresso, cacao and sweetened orange rind. Long finish. 14.8% alcohol
Rating: A- : Fantastic example of what a 100% Mourvedre can be. It’s a shame it’s not produced more as a 100% varietal bottling (It’s hard to grow, and does best with low yields…so it’s about $$$). This is a very age-worthy wine I’d love to try again in another 10 years. Wish I had more!
Pair with: Beef Short Ribs, or Vegan Portobello Stroganoff, or Portobello Mushroom Lasagna.
Sample purchased for review
Ratings Key:
(A) – 94-97/Outstanding
(A-) – 90-93/Excellent
(B+) – 86-89/Very good
(B) – 80-85/Good
(C) – 70-79/Bleh
(D) – 50-69/#Fail
Martin Redmond is a Financial Executive by day, and a certified wine geek with latent foodie tendencies the rest of the time. In addition to the wine lifestyle and food he enjoys family, fitness and traveling. He likes to get thoughts of wine off his mind by sharing experiences on his ENOFYLZ Wine blog, which features wine reviews, wine country travel, and wine and food pairings.
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