We happy that Bernard, who has sampled so many wines, has shared his notes with us. We do have, or have had for sale a few of the wines Bernard writes about, and we include a link to our stock page whenever it is a producer we carry (but since the stock page is kept up-to-date and the wines are sold, don't expect any but the newest of wines to show up in our stock!). Mostly though, since we specialize in County of Santa Barbara Wine and Central Coast Wine, we don't carry a lot of the wines Bernard writes about. But we think it is important that you be able to have an idea what they're like in case you are planning to buy some somewhere, or have them in your own collection. Enjoy.

Here are Bernard's notes from February 19, 2000:

The wines were tasted after appetizers which were basically smoky grilled items with lots of pepper, so that may have affected people's perceptions of the wines.

As usual, I tried to guess the wines, putting myself up to ridicule. I have included my guesses with the TNs. Because of various levels of knowledge of the participants, some wines had only a minor fraction of mourvedre in the blends. I anticipated that this might be the case, and with some wines the taste confirmed my hunch, so I did guess that some wines were blends with only a minor component actually mourvedre. As you will see, I pretty well nailed those situations.

The wines:
 

97 Cline Small Berry Mourvedre (Conta Costa)--Dark blackish violet with pristine clarity. Closed up with some smokey blackberry aromas. Very sweet liqueur-like intensity in the mouth. A young Bandol? (In retrospect, the  similarity with wine #4 made me think otherwise.) Hot finish with very puckery tannins. Sweeter and softer than wine #4. Could it be Ridge Mataro? Group #1, my #2. 91(+?)

96 Penfold's OV Grenache-Mourvedre-Shiraz--Dark. Sweet black fruit nose. Smells like syrah (!). Next to #2, rather ordinary weight. Cherry, medicinal, band-aid quality. Thin middle. High acid finish. Spanish? (I didn't really have much clue, though I should have stuck with my syrah instinct). 85

97 Byrd-Cooper Mourvedre (Conta Costa)--Dark. Animally, horse blanket,  blackberry, sweet fruit nose. Sweet fruit, very rich, dark, intense, blackberry flavor. Good tannic core supported by fruit. Long, but a bit of heat on the finish. My contribution (no need to guess). My #1, group #2. 92.

89 Ch. Pradeaux Bandol--Very dark. Smoky, closed up, dark fruit nose. Round texture on attack leads to big burly mid-palate with plummy black fruit. Fairly tannic, drying finish. Needs 6-8 years. My other contribution. 89(+?)

98 Foxen Mourvedre Rothberg Vyd (Santa Barbara)--Medium red. Smooth, light black raspberry. Tastes like grenache/syrah blend. Very tasty. Medium light tannins. Cherry mid-palate. Very nice. 87

95 Bonny Doon Old Telegram (100% M)--Medium dark. Fresh ripe cherry, oak, some animal aromas. Black fruit, minerals. Thinnish finish dominated by tannins. Some stewed tomato. (Foxen?) 85

97 Thomas Coyne Red Table Wine (Grenache/Syrah/M/Petite Sirah, Livermore)-- Bright garnet. Bit closed, but slight funkiness. Tastes like a grenache blend (!). Cherry, light oak, minerals. Really nice finish with moderate tannins. Could this be Jaffurs? Group #3. 88

97 Preston Mourvedre (Dry Creek)--Medium Burgundy red. Closed nose. Cherry flavor. Lighter weight than most. Spicy red fruit, minty. Hot finish. Some leather. No guess. 84

It's bloody pulpit time!

This was a fun tasting because the varietal tends to catch folks by surprise.

The CdP was pretty easy to nail for the expert (i.e. me). It had telltale terroir character and a tightness that made its youth apparent. I think the Deydier is no more than about 10% mourvedre.

The two CC mourvedres were nearly interchangeable and I was surprised how the similar origin and vintage yielded such similar wines. The Boyd-Cooper was produced by Bruce Neyers and cost about $22 (worth every penny). The  Cline (at $30+ from the winery) is pretty expensive as mourvedre goes, and it is about pushing the QPR limits.

The Pradeaux stuck out like a sore thumb in this tasting. It tasted old having dropped any obvious fruit. Whether this wine will ever evolve into something worth drinking on its own merits is anyone's guess, but it was interesting. I had thought it might go well with my Porterhouse steak, but alas it still seemed to dry of a wine.

The Foxen was pretty light weight, though its youth might be deceptive. The 97 vintage was much more substantial at this stage in its life.

The Coyne was quite a surprise. I have no idea who or what Thomas Coyne is. The Table Wine is excellent value at about $5 ( a price even Tom Hill could have paid 20 odd years ago for one of his cellar specimens). I thought it might be a Jaffurs Grenache/Mourvedre blend, but I guess I missed the "obvious" hallmarks of a Livermore Valley blend.

The Old Telegram should have been better. Maybe 95 was not such a good vintage. Or maybe the wine was not properly stored.