2017 Mourvedre on Tuesday 27/8:
It’s beautifully balanced with lovely almost seamless flow, the fruit is in the sour/savoury spectrum and there is certainly charcuterie/chorizo in the flavour profile, mainly black fruits the wine has a full smoothish but gentle mouthfeel. An outstanding feature of the wine is the tannins, they are fine and pencil, graphite like. Still young and therefore quite drying at this stage. This type of tannin is reasonably rare in Australia but, for me, oh so enjoyable. All in all the wine will be very long lived and it would, within it’ style, hold it’s own in top shelf wines around the world and is a real credit to Warren and Queensland wine in general. At this stage it actually runs rings around the 2018 which really needs a lot more time to reveal it’s true nature.
2018 Mourvedre on Wednesday 28/8:
It’s an earthy beast on the nose. There are lots of strong black fruits and even some black tea aromas as the wine opens up, the acid is young and fresh (needs to settle). the a/v 14.5%, suggests, at least compared to the 2017, some marginally riper fruit – the flavour profile of this wine is sweeter than the 2017 although this is not a ‘sweet’ wine. There is quite a tannin structure underlying and driving the wine (very chalky indeed) and this also needs to settle somewhat. The fruits and the underlying tannin are quite powerful making this wine a “big” mourvedre. It’s a bit like a bowl full of black, with some blue, berries with fresh acid and strong tannins all competing with each other for dominance. It will take some time to become what it truly is. I think it’s a potentially exciting wine for the Granite Belt and mourvedre in general but hard to say exactly what it will eventually morph into although nothing is out of balance so I’d expect that when it settles it will become a powerful yet smooth wine, if that makes sense.
Side x Side 2017 Vs 2018 on Friday 30/8:
The breathing time has certainly assisted the 2018 as the components are now competing less with each other so it’s a more harmonious wine. The acid still surges a little and the fruit is ‘big’ but the wine glides a lot more smoothly across the palate. It seems, from this, that the wine will come together nicely but is likely to be a bigger style than the 2017 and especially due to the greater fruit weight.
The 2017 has hardly changed, indicating how long lived it will be. The tannins are still very impressive as is the overall balance and structure of this wine. The wine presents an almost endless unfolding complexity as it glides with great length across the palate. The more time you spend with this wine the more time you want to be with it, it’s a seductive process – what a beautiful wine!
Both wines are very good examples of Mourvedre but the superb balance and the lovely tannin profile of the 2017 makes it a rare wine on the Granite Belt if not Australian wine in general.
As long as you’re not a primary fruit addict you may cellar the 2017 for many years with confidence. The 2018 should also cellar well but it just isn’t in quite the same class as the unique 2017.
2017 Mourvedre:
Tasted: Tuesday 27th August, 2019 through Friday 30th August without food and then with over several hours. Re-tasted a few days later after breathing in half bottles.
Alcohol: 14%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $40
Suggested Drinking Window: Now to 2040++
2018 Mourvedre:
Tasted: Wednesday 28th August, 2019 through Friday 30th August without food and then with over several hours. Re-tasted a few days later after breathing in half bottles.
Alcohol: 14.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $40
Suggested Drinking Window: Now to 2035
