Ep 315: The Grape Miniseries -- Mourvedre/Monastrell
Release Date: 03/02/2020
Ep 568: Alternatives to a Favorite -- Sauvignon Blanc
Wine for Normal People
It's another edition of the "Alternatives to a Fave" series! This time: Sauvignon blanc. As an extension of the Grape Mini-series, for this series I come up with lists of wines that lovers of a specific grape can try as alternatives. Sauvignon blanc is not a one note! It has so many different styles -- from the acidic, minerally, citrus and flinty notes of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé to the tropical fruit, peach, grass, green pepper, and sauteed herb aromas in New Zealand and the blends with Semillon in Bordeaux, there are many, many iterations of this very popular grape. Photo:...
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Ep 567: The Wines of Victoria, Australia with CEO of Wine Victoria, Stephanie Duboudin
Wine for Normal People
Stephanie Duboudin, CEO of , joins to educate us on this state at the southern end of Australia that has a ton of diversity and makes all styles of wine. A boutique winery heaven, Victoria is something you need to know about! Wineries mentioned: Tahbilk Seppelt Mount Langhi Wild Duck Creek Yeringberg Yarra Yering Brown Brothers Pizzini Campbells Chalmers Chambers Rosewood Stanton & Killeen Giant Steps Bindi Wines _________________________________________________________ Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. ...
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Ep 566: The Greats of Bordeaux – Pauillac
Wine for Normal People
Located the middle of the Médoc, 50 km/31 miles northwest of Bordeaux, Pauillac is home to 18 of the 61 châteaux classified 1855, just under a third of the list. There are three first growths, two second growths, one fourth growth, and twelve 5th growths. The first growths are Château Latour, Château Lafite-Rothschild, and Château Mouton-Rothschild. Pauillac is north of St-Julien and south of St-Estèphe with the manmade Landes Forest to the west, sheltering the vines from Atlantic winds. The commune has 1,213 ha/3,000 acres of vines (7.5% of the Medoc) and makes about 7...
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Ep 565: Back to Basics – 8 Ideas to Break Your Rut and Discover New Wines
Wine for Normal People
As part of the Back to Basics series, in which I update previous podcasts on practical topics that can be helpful to everyone, I update podcast Episode 28 from September 2011! Rick was the co-host then and it was a much shorter, less detailed show. Image: Assembled on Canva by WFNP Some of the suggestions from those many years ago were great, and some have changed or I’ve augmented them. The goal of this show: to give you some ideas to motivate you to try new wines and new ways to explore. Ideas include: exploring different grapes from the same regions you like, joining a...
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Ep 564: The Greats – Taurasi DOCG
Wine for Normal People
On the heels of my trip with a group of Patrons to Campania, I wanted to do a show on Taurasi while it was still fresh in my mind. Taurasi, a small (472 ha / 1,166 acres) DOCG region, is indisputably one of Italy’s greatest red wines along with Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello, Chianti, Vino Nobile, and Montefalco Sagrantino. Taurasi, made of the ancient Aglianico grape, is in Campania, more specifically in hills northeast of Irpinia/Avellino and is centered around the town of Taurasi, a small town with a 10th-century castle that was rebuilt by the Normans. Over the 17 towns within...
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Ep 563: Alentejo, Portugal -- Original Blends, Great Value
Wine for Normal People
This week I go in depth on one of the best value regions of Portugal -- Alentejo. These wines are mainly blends and they are as easy on the palate as they are on the wallet -- a perfect combo! Photo: Vineyards in Alentejo outside of Évora. Credit: WFNP Located in southern Portugal, a two hour drive east of Lisbon, Alentejo is huge -- representing almost one-third of the Iberian nation. Although in the past the region was known only as the breadbasket of Portugal and as the world's largest supplier of cork (nearly half of the world’s corks come from Alentejo's cork...
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Ep 562: The Greats of Bordeaux – Margaux
Wine for Normal People
This is the second in the Greats series on Bordeaux. This time, the first, most southerly, and most famed commune of the Médoc, Margaux. Surely this is one of the world’s greatest regions, with the only major appellation with a château named after the region, Château Margaux. Margaux is a 1,500 ha/3,700 acre communal appellation on the Left Bank of Bordeaux, 25 km/15 miles north of the city of Bordeaux in the Médoc. Margaux is the largest Médoc AOC, representing 9% of Medoc vineyards and an average of 6.5 million bottles yearly, depending on vintage. Due to its size, the region has...
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Ep 561: Fred Peterson of Peterson Winery on the (d)Evolution of Soil Health Over the Last 40 years
Wine for Normal People
has been making wines in Sonoma County for more than 40 years. While attending UC Santa Cruz, he took a job in a classmate’s family vineyard in Mendocino County and he found his passion. He left Santa Cruz, and used the rest of his GI Education benefits to attend UC Davis. . Credit: Wine for Normal People Fred got his bachelor’s degree in Viticulture and Enology in 1978. And after managing vineyards for a large winery in the Central Coast, he moved to the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma in 1983. That same year, he planted a vineyard and built his house on Bradford Mountain....
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Re-release of Ep 230: The Biz of Small Wineries with Jim Morris and Oded Shakked of Longboard
Wine for Normal People
On the heels of the tariff show last week, and news that wine consumption is at its lowest point in 60 years, I thought it may be interesting to revisit the US industry structure in more depth. As I say in the freshly recorded intro (the show is edited for relevancy too, so it's not a straight re-release) I wanted to carve out the issues for small wineries that are every bit as relevant today as they were when I launched this show in 2018 with and Jim Morris, the Sonoma Wine Guy and frequent pod guest. (left) and Jim Morris (right) As I point out in the...
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Ep 560: Wine Tariffs and their Dire Consequences for American Wine Businesses with Ben Aneff, President of the USWTA and Daniel Posner of Grapes The Wine Company
Wine for Normal People
Tariffs have been a hot topic in recent weeks, but this issue has been ongoing. During President Trump’s first term, the wine industry was caught flat-footed when, in 2019, the administration put a 25% tariff on still wines from France, Germany, Spain, and the UK (notably, Italy and Portugal were not included) as part of a trade dispute with the EU over subsidies given to Airbus. It was then that my guests – Ben Aneff and Daniel Posner started to organize and get industry leaders together to lobby Congress and try to explain why these tariffs were so harmful to wine. Those tariffs...
info_outlineThe grape miniseries continues! This time we cover the grape known as Monstrell in Spain, Mourvèdre in France, and Mataro in other parts of the world. Difficult to grow and make, when treated well the wines from this grape are unlike any other -- herbal, gamy, powerful.
The key things to know about Monastrell/Mourvèdre:
- The grape originated in Spain, and then moved to the Roussillon, Rhône, and Provence in France. It needs a lot of heat to grow, so it can only thrive in hot locations with lots of sun but ample water.
- Flavors: They vary greatly depending on where the wine is made, but generally it has deep color, full body, is tannic and high in alcohol.
- Spain: can be more like red fruit -- cherries and raspberries with spice and herbs.
- France, especially Bandol: the wines have more dark fruit (if any fruit character at all) with spice, olives, herbs (garrigue as they call it in southern France), and a gamy, barnyard or wild animal smell to the wine. With time (3-5 years) that flavor mellows to something more akin to leather or tobacco and the tannins calm. In the new works styles are less tannic and less gamy.
- In blends: Mourvèdre adds fullness, flavor and structure that complements the more lifted Grenache and the elegant Syrah.
- In rosé: The grape helps these wines have longevity, lending tannin and great flavor to the wine
- Food Pairings: Meats or root/hearty vegetables that are braised, grilled, or in a stew. Hard cheeses work too.
Where can you find it?
France:
- Provence: Especially Bandol, where the finest Mourvèdre is made. Producers we mentioned are Domaine Tempier (reds and rosé), Château de Pibarnon
- Languedoc-Roussillon: one to watch for more varietal Mourvèdre in the future
- Rhône: in blends and especially in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. We mention Beaucastel as having a high percentage of Mourvèdre
Spain (called Monastrell)
- Central and southeast Spain: Murcia, Castilla-La Mancha, Valencia
- Main grape in: Alicante, Almansa, Jumilla, Valencia, Yecla, Bullas
- Producers: Luzon, Juan Gil, Castaño, El Nido, Casa de la Ermita
California
- Northern and Central CA: Contra Costa County (old plantings found here), San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, Sonoma
- Producers:
Other US: Washington State, Oregon, Arizona, TX, Virginia, Chile, South Africa
Australia
- Used as a component in GSMs -- Grenache Syrah Mourvèdre blends
- South Australia: Riverland (bulk wine), Barossa, McLaren Vale
- New South Wales: Riverina (bulk wine area)
- Producers making single varietal Mourvèdre:
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