Donkey & Goat 2013 “The Prospector” Mourvedre, El Dorado

When Green Dragon and I visited cousin Mary and her husband Cleve, it resulted in “The Night of 15 Bottles.” That was a little party that ended up with the Huntington Beach police arriving on the scene to shut down the merry-making.
Actually, thinking back, it might have been the “The Night of 16 Bottles” because while we were preparing for the party, we popped open this bottle. The bottle came from a case that Mary and Cleve had won in a charity raffle.
This may be the first bottle of wine I’ve had from the El Dorado appellation. The region is in the Sierra Foothills and was where California’s gold rush began with the discover of gold at Sutter’s Mill. By 1870, El Dorado was among the largest wine producers in the state, but the industry all but dried up until a renaissance in the 1960s. Today there are more than 50 wineries in the region.
It’s rare to find a bottle of Mourvedre, a grape that is primarily used in blending, so I was looking forward to tasting this one. “The Prospector” is named after those hearty miners who either struck it rich or went bust during the gold rush.

The Prospector is 95% Mourvedre with the remainder being Grenache, Counoise and Syrah. The grapes come from hillside vineyards above 2,800 feet.The wine is unfiltered and aged for 10 months in neutral oak.
This wine is everything I hoped it would be: gamey and earthy with solid tannins. There are flavors of crushed berries and cranberry. It has savory, meaty flavors.
I plan to seek out El Dorado wine in the future. We sampled several different bottles that night and, from what I recall, we all enjoyed them greatly. Except, perhaps, the neighbors who called the police.

All About The Mourvèdre Grape

We recently sampled a nice bottle of Mourvèdre rosé from Cline Cellars. It got me thinking that Mourvèdre is an underappreciated and, to most people, unknown grape. Here’s the knowledge download on Mourvèdre.
Mourvèdre is a red grape variety grown in a number of places around the world. It’s highest visibility is in the Rhone and Provence regions of southern France and in Spain, where it is the second most widely planted variety after Garnacha. There are also some plantings in California, Washington State and Australia.
The grapes produce a high-quality deep garnet colored wine with spicy and peppery characteristics. Mourvèdre can also be highly tannic and so is best known as a blending grape. The Rhone-style GSM blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre is a classic pairing that can be delicious.
Spain calls this grape Monastrell and it is often blended with Garnacha (which is Grenache). The Jumilla region has embraced Monastrell and produces some great big bodied reds with spicy notes. We’ve tried two: Wrongo Dongo and Tarima. These are great value buys that you can typical find for $10 or less.
We were impressed with the Mourvèdre rosé from Cline Cellars, which is also very affordable. The wine is dry and crisp with wonderful swirls of strawberry and a bewitching color.
In the Provence region of France, Mourvèdre is the key component in Bandol red and rosé wines. It is used to improve color and structure in the outstanding wines from Cotes du Rhone and Chateauneuf-de-Pape.
The grape clusters of Mourvèdre are compact with small thick-skinned berries that are high in both color and tannins. In addition to flavors of pepper and spice, Mourvèdre can impart soft, red fruit flavors as well as earthy barnyard notes.

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