You don't often see mourvèdre as a single varietal wine on sale in the supermarkets. More often than not the grape is reduced to a supporting role in blends, playing a less glamorous second fiddle to the likes of syrah and grenache. Always the bridesmaid but never the bride.
So I was surprised to see this bottle on the shelf in my local Co-op, which, it has to be said, has a pretty decent range of wines around the £5-8 mark. Some other local supermarkets several times the size have less inspiring wine sections.
I bought this wine on curiosity value. And at just under a fiver, I wasn't expecting a lot (remember, after taxes and packaging costs etc are taken into account, only something like 50p of your money is going towards the wine itself for a bottle around this price). But this was worth the £5. Not a wine I'd recommend taking to someone's house I admit, but quite an interesting one.
My first thought on giving it a good sniff in the glass is dark chocolate, followed by a waft of spicy cloves. Also a bit of mushroomy earthiness in there too. To taste, it's an earthy one, and it seems a touch unripe to me. Not overly fruity, perhaps just a bit of blackberry underneath the earthy spice.
I am certainly not a wine buff or snob, I tried this wine as I know the area, the terroire I believe it is called. I really enjoyed it, I found it rich and fruity. Others must have enjoyed it too as my 2 local Morrisons sold out and have had requests for it. Glad to see the Co-op has it, will hunt for it tomorrow. Well done the producer
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