Domaine de Nizas, 2006 Languedoc-Roussillan, France

The Domaine de Nizas was acquired in 1998 by John Goelet with the collaboration of Bernard Portet, co-founder of Clos du Val in Napa Valley. A visionary, who had by the 1970s the idea of ​​making great wines using the world's best soils. John Goelet an American of French origin, a direct descendant of the family Guestier (traders in Bordeaux), has always had a traditional wine-based finesse and elegance. He had already created Clos du Val in Napa Valley (California), Taltarni in Victoria (Australia) and Clover Hill in Tasmania.  

Domaine de Nizas is located in the South of France, on the outskirts of the village of Nizas near Pézenas in the heart of the Languedoc region. Located 20 miles from the Mediterranean Sea, the exceptional terroir of Pezenas as ideal for creating high quality wines, the traditional way, which express the character Mediterranean climate with low rainfall and dry, warm summers.

On a manually tended 200-acre vineyard, the estate is known for handcrafted limited-production wines. Their goal is to serve as a model in terms of elegance, complexity, balance and aging ability among Mediterranean wines. The winery crafts boutique-style, artisanal wines and emphasizes sustainable agriculture.

Winemaking in the Languedoc region in the south of France began as early as the 5th Century B.C.E., when Greeks planted vineyards along the coast near the city of Narbonne. Those ancient vintners no doubt realized that the region’s soils were special. The winery’s terroir offers a unique mosaic of three soil types. These soils are deep and provide excellent drainage while retaining moisture at root level, ensuring vines fully ripen without water stress.

The Villafranchian (pebbles, river gravel soil), often found in the Chateauneuf du Pape area of the Southern Rhone Valley, preserves the freshness of flavors and produces elegant and velvety tannins.  This soil type brings finesse and structure to the wines grown at Nizas, as well as a good acidity that allows the wine to age. It produces aromas of chocolate and coffee in Syrah.

The Basalt, a type of volcanic flow unique to the Pézenas area, creates fine, mineral aromas and elegant structure with flavor sensations of spice and licorice.

The Marne Calcaire (limestone-clay) when planted with Syrah, results in more powerful wines with red berries aromas.

70 percent of the Domaine de Nizas acreage is classified as Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée Coteaux du Languedoc. The average age of the vines is 20 years, ranging from recently planted Syrah to 60 year-old Carignan. The varietals used in Domaine de Nizas wines include Syrah, Mourvèdre and Grenache in the AOC category as well as Syrah, Carignan, Viognier and Muscat Petit Grain in the Vin de Pays category.

Domaine de Nizas has been certified by the Bureau Veritas, an independent government bureau, which strives to protect the health of consumers and respect the environment. Domaine de Nizas obtained its sustainable agriculture certification in 2003 as a result of pioneering efforts to farm sustainably since their inception in 1998.

Domaine de Nizas practices sustainable agriculture by:

The vines are worked manually and a decisive approach is taken towards pruning, bud removal, lifting the wires, and if required, removing excess grapes.

The plantation of the vineyard with a long term view, conserving old vines with high quality potential such as our Carignan of 55 years old.

Favoring the biological life of the soils by using ploughing and grass rather than herbicides

Tracing each bottle of wine to a specific vineyard plot in order to more effectively control quality and segment any bottle variances to its origin in the vineyard

Minimally using selective fungicides and insecticides to conserve natural predators of vine parasites

WINEMAKING PHILOSOPHY

Grapes are harvested at optimum ripeness with a good balance of sugar and acidity. The trellised vines are machine harvested, however, the young vines and old vines are hand-picked. Transport of the grapes in tipping trailers or small crates for the hand-picked fruit to assure good condition of the grapes from the vineyard (white grapes are protected from oxidization).

The cellar is situated at Usclas d’Hérault (5 to 10 km from the vineyards), this former apple warehouse transformed into a winery offers a well-adapted solution for vinifying, ageing and warehousing wines. Located on 3000 m² on the edge of the village, the 1300 m² building was renovated and transformed in May in time to receive the harvest in 2001.

Once the grapes arrive at the winery the grapes are de-stalked (with the exception of the Carignan to be vinified under carbonic maceration) and gently put into tanks. Maceration is carefully controlled in order to naturally enhance the work that has already been done in the vineyard shooting for deep colors, intense and pure aromas, full-bodied and soft tannins.

After 15 to 25 days on the skins, the grapes are pressed and the resulting wine is then graded according to the quality of the press. The wines pass into oak barrels to complete the malo-lactic fermentation. The oak ageing of part of the wine to be included in the final blend aims to enhance the Mediterranean character of our wines without dominating it. The wines aged in tanks are regularly pumped over.

After 9 to 12 months, the wines are pumped over and blended in preparation for the bottling, when they are lightly filtered. They are then aged in bottle in our air-conditioned warehouse awaiting their launch onto the market.

Description and praise for the wine:

Domaine de Nizas 2006 Coteaux du Languedoc
This is a blend of Syrah, Mourvèdre and Grenache. This wine is deep garnet in color, with fragrant aromas of blackberries, bilberries (European blueberries) and spices. The distinctive herbal notes commonly found in wines around the Mediterranean called garrigue—lavender, sage, rosemary and wild thyme—speak to the wine’s regionality and terroir. The palate is well-balanced and clean, becoming round and full-bodied, with soft, ripe tannins and a long finish. Enjoyable now or age for up to five years in a cool cellar. 

Wine Spectator - This elegant red, with interesting hints of juniper and savory herb to the red fruit flavors. Well-structured and balanced, with a succulent finish. Syrah, Mourvèdre and Grenache. Drink now through 2014. Score: 90. —Kim Marcus, September 30, 2010.

Owen Roe, 2010 Sinister Hand, Columbia Valley

Owen Roe winery is named after Owen Roe O'Neill, a 17th century Irish Patriot from County Cavan, Ireland where winemaker David O'Reilly, one of 12 children, was originally from. Despite an age-old clan rivalry between the O’Neills and the O’Reillys, the two families were united in the opposition to Oliver Cromwell’s English tyranny over Ireland in the 1600’s. The photographs on all of his wine labels commemorate sites in Ireland where O’Neill lived, fought, and died. 

Adorned on the label is a giant picture of a severed left hand which turns out to be his own family’s crest. It tells a story of a rowing competition between the O’Reilly’s and the O’Neills. Whoever touched land first after rowing across the lake was to be rewarded with the land he touched. Lagging behind, one of the kinsfolk grabs his sword to cleave his hand and tosses it ashore to touch land first. He won the land and later ruled over it as king.  Each wine and each label depicts a different chapter in the Owen Roe saga, utilizing the back label to convey the story.

Owen Roe is committed to practicing the highest standards of winemaking. Since the first vintage in 1999, Owen Roe winery has been working to produce exceptional wines from fruit sourced from small vineyard sites in the Willamette Valley in Oregon and the Yakima Valley in Washington State, a place where the fruit ripens slowly and fully, resulting in excellent acidity and balance, in an effort to showcase the best expression of each variety.    

The interest in these areas is further enhanced by the remarkable diversity of soil types within each region; allowing them to create wines with distinctive and unique personality, even within the same varietal. They employ as natural practices as possible in the vineyards.  The principle of good earth stewardship is very important to everyone they work with, so no herbicides or pesticides are used in these vineyards. David O'Reilly is a firm believer in the principle that great wine comes from great grapes. All of the grapes are hand harvested, handled with minimal processing, small-lot fermented, and aged in French Oak barrels. 

Typically they are racked only once after malolactic fermentation. Once in the winery, only minimal and traditional handling practices are employed to gently coax the most authentic expressions of each varietal.

"Everything we do is meticulous," said O'Reilly. "What we do is totally uncompromised. It is a lifestyle that includes hard work, but the product is thoroughly rewarding."

As someone who believes in working with the best, O’Reilly insists on feeding his crews in Oregon and Washington at lunchtime with fresh food. He hires a cook to serve lunch daily. The crew sits down for the meal and talks about the work of the day or things they hear in the industry. If O’Reilly is in town, he joins them for a meal.

Everything O'Reilly does is also thoroughly Irish. "I like to tell people that I got involved in the business to follow an Irishman's dreams," said O'Reilly with a wink and an Irish brogue that comes and goes. "Imagine making a living by drinking!"  He jokes of course, because O'Reilly is dead serious about wine making. Although he enjoys the high ratings bestowed on his wines, O'Reilly says he is more satisfied with great taste.

In a relatively short time these spectacular wines have built an excellent reputation among the restaurants and shops of not only Washington State, but also New York, San Francisco, and Chicago.  His wines generally sell out every vintage, and his beautiful labels are immediately recognized by consumers.

Owen Roe's 2010 Sinister Hand blend is a Chateauneuf-du-Pape-style blend composed of 71% Grenache, 24% Syrah, and 5% Mourvedre. A small crop of intensely flavored fruit in 2010 means fewer bottles than usual of an especially big Sinister Hand. Deep purple. Dark fruit aromas are accompanied by juicy raspberry and cranberry preserves, with herb and savory spice accents. The first sip of this wine surprises the palate with soft, supple flavors of raspberry jam and currant. The mid-palate opens up to a complex layering of minty eucalyptus, black pepper and leather and finishes with a structured backbone of earth and spice. The overall palate is vibrant and lush, with fine tannin structure and a medley of earth, hint of coffee and baking spice accenting the layers of fruit.  Syrah adds pepper, Grenache adds raspberry jam. Medium to full-bodied with crisp acidity, smooth tannins, and a long finish.

It's not an unfamiliar sight to see O'Reilly touring the hills surrounding the Yakima Valley in his Ford Explorer, scouting out vineyards. Although a designated appellation, the Yakima Valley has been under the radar for many years, with the Walla Walla and Columbia Valley appellations garnering most of the attention. O'Reilly, a stickler about fruit, is convinced that the Yakima Valley has yet to yield all its gems in the hills surrounding the desert floor. With a cool, dry climate and shallow soils on top of volcanic rock, Yakima Valley vines produce smaller grapes with high acidity and lower pH levels - exactly what O'Reilly wants for a balanced wine.

There is no shortage of grapes here, but at times it has been a battle to convince local growers that less fruit of higher quality will be their best fiscal bet. Eastern Washington crop farmers are used to big yields - 5 to 10 tons of fruit or more per acre.

The Columbia Valley AVA is Washington's largest viticultural region covering just over 1/3 of the land mass of Washington state. Within the Columbia Valley AVA lie all of the AVAs of Washington except the Puget Sound AVA and part of the Columbia Gorge AVA. Many different micro-climates are found within this larger region and these influence quite heavily the Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling and Chardonnay grown here. The arid soils, warm days and cool nights provide perfect conditions for fruit forward balanced wines.

Story compiled from excerpts from Christina Kelly at AvalonWine.com, and other sources found on the web including;
http://www.avalonwine.com/Owen-Roe-Winery-New-Vineyards-New-Winery.php, 
http://www.northwest-wine.com/owen-roe-winery.html
www.winepeeps.com
www.owneroe.com

Urban Legend, 2009 Mourvedre, Amador County

Steve and Marilee Shaffer are the owners of Urban Legend Cellars, established in 2009 at 621 4th Street in Oakland.  With their pit bull, Sunshine, they are one of three wineries in the relatively new Jack London Square area. Steve and Marilee Shaffer make the wine and do just about everything else as well.  

The couple, who emigrated from the East Coast to the Bay Area, caught the winemaking bug by experimenting in their garage before turning professional. In the winery there is no formal tasting room. Steve and Marilee said they did most of the work themselves, with lots of help from friends.  (sourced from: http://fthorsberg.wordpress.com/tag/urban-legend/)

 

Urban Legend sources certified organic components and keeps their winemaking pretty simple—grapes, yeast, and not much more. Their Mourvèdre is a recent addition to our wine list and offers some different nuances than the other Mourvèdre wines on the list. The wine has very floral aromatics. Notes of rose hips, violets, and dusty herbs may be a product of the vineyard; Wine Tree Farm, located just outside Amador City.   

Wine Tree Farm is located on over 100 acres in Amador County, on one of the historic farms, known as the Torre Ranch. The old farmhouse was built in 1902. The farm was uninhabited for at least 20 years before it was purchased in 1998 by Corinne Moore.

Amador County seems to be well suited to Mourvèdre, also known as Mataró and Monastrell, it is hilly and warm.  The Shaffers describe the taste and the texture, “In the mouth, the ’09 offers soft red fruit—raspberry and cherry with a little red licorice. It’s light in the mouth, but a touch of Grenache rounds out the mid-palate. It’s structured, but soft, without overly drying tannins that are often its bad dog characteristic.”

In 2011, the Mourvèdre won a Silver San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.

Appellation: Amador County
Blend: 97% Mourvèdre, 3% Grenache
Alcohol: 13.5%
Acidity: 0.55 g/100 mL
Residual Sugar: < 0.1%
pH: 3.55
Malolactic Fermentation: Complete
Barrels: 2 and 3 year old French oak
Harvest Date: October 20, 2009
Bottling Date: August 23, 2010
Release Date: October 31, 2010
Total Production: 70 Cases

More about Amador County:

In the heart of old gold-mining country, in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, lies picturesque Amador County, bathed in history and filled with the promise of a growing wine industry. Part of the larger Sierra Foothills AVA (American Viticultural Area), Amador County is located 40 miles (64km) east of California's state capital, Sacramento. 

Most vineyards here are planted at altitudes of 1200 to 2000ft (365–609m), on sun-drenched hillsides. The hot days cool down considerably as night falls and breezes blow down from the Sierras, cooling the grapes and enabling them to retain the acidity that is essential for balanced wines. Decomposed granite soils are iron rich and laced with sandy clay loam, making them able to retain some of the limited rainfall. These are ideal conditions for cultivating high-quality wine grapes. A high percentage of the area's vines are also grown organically. Wine growing is an important part of the local economy, representing 50% of the region's agriculture.

2009 Cline Ancient Vine Mourvedre

This wine starts with dark fruit, cocoa powder (like when you dump a packet of Swiss Miss in a cup and that little mushroom cloud of cocoa dust erupts) and a savory/meaty/smoky quality on the nose. More juicy dark fruit flavors (dark cherry and plum mainly) on the palate, with a latte-like creaminess and a faintly herbal note that offers a hint of Eucalyptus on the nose. The scrumptious and unusually delightful wine has a substantial mouth-feel followed by soft tannins. The mouth–feel is slightly sappy and the tannins are unobtrusive, but without leaving the wine feeling flabby and unstructured.

The 2009 Ancient Vines Mourvedre draws from some of Cline’s oldest, most historic and shyest-bearing vineyard blocks. These blocks produce fruit that is of stunning concentration. They are able to reach this concentration as a result of sensitive farming practices, and a unique cooling brand of air that flows in from the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers. By naturally restricting yields to only 2 to 3 tons per acre they are able to achieve a sublime expression of the Mourvedre fruit.

The 2009 Cline Mourvedre will pair very well with our grilled butchers steak, the cassoulet (this wine is a perfect complement to the duck confit), and the grilled top sirloin burger with cambozola.

We have had Cline Mourvedre on our list for many years; both the Ancient Vines as well as the Small Berry. The mourvedre has always been an intriguing grape, and the spicy, peppery flavors of the wine are compelling flavors to cook for. As a Bandol lover, it is wonderful to see the California winemakers strive to find the balance point to achieving Bandol characteristics with the California grapes, soil and microclimates.

We are proud to have our recipe featured on the back of this label.

From the website: In 1982, with an inheritance from his grandfather, Fred founded Cline Cellars near Oakley, California. Here, he preserved and restored many ancient vine sites to their rightful reign as premier California wine lands. In 1991, Fred and his wife Nancy relocated the winery from Oakley to the Carneros region of Sonoma County on a historic 350-acre estate with new vineyards and facilities. While much of the cool Carneros region is planted to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Merlot, Fred pioneered the planting of Rhône varietals including Syrah, Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne.

Mourvèdre is an exotic grape found in the Rhône and Provence regions of France, Spain and Australia. It is a key component in Chateauneuf-du-Pape and has a starring role in Bandol. Once widely planted in California (where it is often called Mataro), today only a tiny amount exists and Cline owns many of the historic ancient vines that remain. Redolent of dark plum, chocolate with a hint of oak, this juicy Ancient Vines Mourvèdre is delicious now and will age for well over a decade.

Charlie Tsegeletos, Director of Winemaking, joined Cline Cellars in 2002 and is responsible for wine-making and production for the winery’s Cline, Oakley and Jacuzzi Family Vineyards brands.

The Oakley ranch, situated 40 miles east of San Francisco, is home to Cline’s Ancient Vines - some of the oldest and most rare grapevines in California that range in age from 80 to 120 years old. One hundred and forty acres of varietals such as Mourvèdre, Carignane and Zinfandel are harvested each year. While Contra Costa is typically hot, the vines around the town of Oakley are in a viticulturally blessed sector, one that experiences daytime heat and the moderating effect of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers, which significantly reduces the temperature at night. Cline's Mourvèdre and Carignane are planted in small blocks of gnarly, head-pruned vines in sandy soil. These growing conditions heighten the intensity of the fruit and forces the old vines to struggle to produce one to two tons per acre. The sandy soil also successfully inhibits the dreaded louse, phylloxera.

Cline’s Weed Control
Controlling weeds in the vineyard is vital. Competition with the vine for water and tangling up the fruit can cause problems at time of picking. Broadleaf weeds, existing mostly in weaker soils, have also been known to cause vineyard problems. To keep problems at bay we rely heavily on soil management. To assist in removing harmful weeds from the vineyards, we employ grazing sheep. Hand pulling weeds and an under row cultivator that uproots weeds are often used as well.