The picture is from a tasting we did with Ray Costanzo at Golden Grove Estate on Friday 17th July 2020. Ray left the mostly full bottle with us to enjoy later and we did that so well it was empty before it occurred to us that we hadn’t taken the usual photo with wine in the glass. My little girls fluffy creature was content with this wine as well.
I fell in love with Mourvedre many years ago, it has traditionally been used in blends I’m sure everyone is familiar with – GSM, Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre, and its variants. I simply can’t understand why such a lovely grape variety was relegated to the position of second or third cousin, what were winemakers thinking!
So I’ve been drinking Mourvédre, Monastrell, Mataro wines from all around the world for 20 odd years. For a number of years we’ve had a mourvédre blind tasting at Pyramids Road Winery where we taste a mix of very different mourvédre’s mostly from around Australia, this is always a great night. If a situation emerged that allowed only one red variety to be made into wine on planet earth I would immediately vote for mourvédre and this 2018 wine from Ray Costanzo provides a better explanation than any words could.
The very young and very dark purple colour spectrums of this wine just glisten at you in the glass, indeed it would take some will power I don’t possess to resist it’s invitation. A bouquet packed with berries, spice and earth, powerful black fruits and some blue catapult from the the wines depths in an unrestrained invasion of the limits of your olfactory abilities. A big and powerful palate experience follows after your first sip and, although powerful, it is simultaneously seamless and silky. Black fruits and a little blue lead the procession with an unrestrained welcome, an earthy meatiness makes you feel as though you are strolling barefoot through the vineyard and suddenly encountering a charcuterie delicatessen and after tasting those flavours you discover the spice shelves and begin sampling a difficult to define mix but you just know you want more. Somewhere at the back of this delicatessen an adroit conjurer has managed to produce a combination of drying chalk infused with a little sweet but dominant savoury/sour flavours. Warning – if you open one of these and believe you will need more wine when it’s finished then be sure to a have at least another in your cellar because no-one will want to drink anything else.
Ray has used 5% whole bunch in this wine which is the product of a near perfect ripening period. Let’s hope the release date isn’t far off.
Tasted: Sunday 19th July, 2020 without food and then with over several hours.
Alcohol: 14.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $35
Suggested Drinking Window: now to 2028+
Winemaker: Ray Costanzo
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