562448 Sun Oct 05 08:12:09 -0700 2008 20 34 Wine 0 4082872 This is our first full Mourvedre (and may be our last). I've loved Cline wines and thought, with the high Bevmo rating, that this would be an exciting new one to try. But the first sniff was so disgusting, I thought the bottle was bad. The nose was sulfurous, like bad eggs, and was so off-putting, tasting the wine was impossible. So I decanted it. Sloshed it. Beat it with a stick. Yelled at it. The ugly nose retreated just a bit but drinking the wine was, by this time, little more than an experiment in torture. Is this a characteristic Mourvedre? Is the wine too young? Or was this a bad bottle? I mean, I love funky bouquets. Cat piss works for me as does dirty arm pits. But not sulfur. Sun Oct 05 08:12:09 -0700 2008 154091 pickypicky 1 4083090 Shit happens. I've had some -very few- bottles from other wineries that fit what you describe. More knowledgeable posters will be able to describe accurately. Try another bottle. Sun Oct 05 10:14:32 -0700 2008 4082872 28703 RicRios 1 4083207 It's one of my fav varieties. That's just a bad bottle, I think. Can't say anything about that particular 2006 mourvedre, but like you, I've generally enjoyed Cline wines, and I believe they own (or access) one of the oldest mourvedre vinyards in California. Back in the day, I believe it was a key component to the early versions of Bonny Doon's Flying Cigar blends. For a different take on the variety, try some of the Spanish monastrells - which is the same grape by a different name. Castano from Yecla is consistently good, and I love Juan Gil from Jumilla. Sun Oct 05 11:24:26 -0700 2008 4082872 40270 Ed Dibble 2 4083325 I had enjoyed other wines in which the grape was part of the blend. My husb. believes that the Mourvedre/Monastrell may just have that odd sulfuric component on its own and needs other grapes to tame it. Sun Oct 05 12:30:30 -0700 2008 4083207 154091 pickypicky 3 4083340 2004 Clos St Michel Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee Grand Clos (100% Mourvedre) A Mourvedre Dry Red Table wine from Chateauneuf du Pape, Southern Rhone, Rhone, France Source : Wine Advocate # 169 Feb 2007 Reviewer :Robert Parker Rating : 93 Maturity :Drink: 2009 - 2029 Current (Release) Cost : $55 (55) The 100% Mourvedre cuvee has more in keeping with a great Bandol than a Chateauneuf du Pape. A pretty amazing wine, especially in this year, the 2004 Chateauneuf du Pape Grand Clos is, to my knowledge, the only 100% Mourvedre wine made in Chateauneuf du Pape. With surprising finesse and elegance for a wine made from this varietal, the wine has a dense bluish/purple color and a big, sweet nose of blueberries, damp earth, and spring flowers. It is deep, tannic, medium to full-bodied, backward, and rich, yet the purity, overall texture and balance are impeccable. Give this wine 2-3 years of cellaring and drink it over the following two decades. A new generation of Moussets has taken over and is certainly making better wines than ever. Moreover, this is another estate where the price points for the Cotes du Rhones and Chateauneuf du Papes have been extremely fair for the high quality in the bottle. As I stated last year, Mousset’s 2004s turned out much better than the rather challenging 2003s but are wines that are probably best drunk early on, except for their 100% Mourvedre cuvee, the Grand Clos Chateauneuf du Pape. Importer: W. J. Deutsch and Sons, Ltd., White Plains, NY; tel. (914) 251-9463 Copyright © The Wine Advocate, Inc posted with permission of eRobertParker.com Sun Oct 05 12:44:08 -0700 2008 4083325 28703 RicRios 3 4083385 There are many good 100% Mouvedres/Monastrells - Bodegas Castano and Vinos Sin Ley come to mind. I've had prior vintages of the Cline which have been good, but haven't tried it recently. Sun Oct 05 13:07:46 -0700 2008 4083325 35525 Frodnesor 1 4084247 That's definitely a bad bottle. I've had this wine on a few occasions and sulfur and bad eggs are certainly not what should be on the nose. Sun Oct 05 21:00:56 -0700 2008 4082872 97069 mengathon 1 4084727 Redemption! The story continues. Two days after opening, the stink is gone, and the wine is AMAZING. Chocolate, coffee, berry. A more exciting, full ,and chewy mouthful than I've had in a long long time. THe mystery of wine is part of the allure. . . Perhaps it was too young. Perhaps it had a traumatic childhood.. But if I had the means I would buy at least one bottle and hide it for a few years. Mon Oct 06 06:29:40 -0700 2008 4082872 154091 pickypicky 2 4086616 Hi Pickypicky: A slight unpleasant smell is a characteristic of Mourvedre as a variety. Ignore it. It is a great grape variety! The top of the line mourvdre at Cline is their Small Berry Mourvedre. It is rather pricy, but a great wine. Together with Tablas Creek, they are one of the few Mourvedre producers in CA that can compete head to head against top French Bandols, among which my two top favorite are Domaine Tempier and Domaine de La Bastide Blanche. Other decent Mourvedre producers in the CA Sierra Foothills include Holly's Hill (particularly their reserve), Sierra Vista, and Lava Cap. I am sure there are also quite a few in the Paso Robles and Santa Barbara area. Mon Oct 06 18:21:09 -0700 2008 4084727 192682 bclevy 3 4088007 Thanks! I saw the Tablas Creek and may try it next. Tue Oct 07 10:11:45 -0700 2008 4086616 154091 pickypicky 4 5163814 according to the Tablas Creek website . The animal, game-like flavors present in young Mourvèdres can be so strong that they are occasionally mistaken for the bacteria Brettanomyces. In a well-made Mourvèdre, these flavors should resolve into aromas of forest floor and leather with aging So maybe you just need to try an older vintage. Sat Nov 07 14:45:07 -0800 2009 4088007 1122578 DickGreenleaf 1 4085594 No, it's not characteristic of the grape. it is characteristic of hydrogen sulfide contamination/ side effect. This can be caused by too much sulfites, lack of proper nutrients during fermentation, yeast combining with various forms of sulfur , even bacterial contamination. Look for wines from the Bandol region. "if I had the means I would buy at least one bottle and hide it for a few years." This is a sub-$15 bottle of wine we're talking about. Even I would have the means to buy a second bottle. Mon Oct 06 11:38:54 -0700 2008 4082872 26666 FrankJBN 2 4086139 The means to lay by and forget a bottle; not to not buy it in the first place. So FrankJBN, how do you explain the wine's seeming turnaround? Or did it not turnaround and just seemed an improvement over what it opened up as? Based on what the Cline eventually became, I would try it again. Or maybe I should try a straight mourvedre from the Bandol. Mon Oct 06 14:44:13 -0700 2008 4085594 154091 pickypicky 1 4088172 Cline gets their mourvedre from Contra Costa County, which notoriously has a Brettanomyces problem. Can you recognize bret in the wine? I wonder if they might have pumped in extra sulfur to try to combat it. Tue Oct 07 11:03:16 -0700 2008 4082872 11117 SteveTimko 2 4088310 It's a winemaking error, no matter what. Either inattentiveness, or ignoring a problem early on in the ferm and not treating it, or even sanitation errors. Tue Oct 07 11:54:55 -0700 2008 4088172 18222 maria lorraine 2 4089053 What is bret? How would I notice? I had thought the sulfur nose had dissipated, but after 3 days it was still there. It was so horrible on first opening, that everything in me said DO NOT DRINK. I've never-- in 30 years of tasting and more than a few bad bottles-- smelled anything that bad. Tue Oct 07 16:04:29 -0700 2008 4088172 154091 pickypicky 1 4089067 Just read a bit on bret on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brettanomyces Very interesting. . . thanks so much for this. Tue Oct 07 16:09:44 -0700 2008 4082872 154091 pickypicky 1 4091109 I had that wine at a restaurant recently (can't recall the vintage) but was struck by the nose of the wine (it smelled of rotten lettuce to me). The wine tasted fine but the aroma was so odd and unpleasant I would be unlikely to choose it in the future. Wed Oct 08 12:27:33 -0700 2008 4082872 50082 TonyO 1 4509864 I agree with others that have replied: I believe you got a bad bottle. My wife and I and another couple enjoyed two bottles of the '06 with dinner last Saturday night. I will look for a case of it! The wine list described the wine as "chocolate over cherries". I agreed with the description completely. Give it anothe whirl! Good luck. Mon Mar 16 12:24:00 -0700 2009 4082872 274920 luke6019 2 4511717 Since we are on the topic of Mourvedre, I received last week a shipment of Matt Cline's Three 2007 Spinelli Mataro. It is a great mourvedre (may be even better than Cline's Small Berry Mourvedre) at a very reasonable price (low $20s). Mon Mar 16 21:04:39 -0700 2009 4509864 192682 bclevy 1 5184615 Mourvedre is one of my favorites. The first Big Kid bottle of wine I bought to lay down was a mourvedre for a reason. You had a lousy one. Go snag yourself a bottle of French magic! Sun Nov 15 21:51:34 -0800 2009 4082872 64882 Vetter