March 1, 2024 - Bought a case of this in April 2020, drank a bunch, and then lost track of it in the sea of pandemic purchases. It’s a little less angular and spiky now than I remember, but still very fresh and vibrant, with some violets on the nose, crunchy purple fruit, and a lot of dynamism on the palate. Not the most complex of the D&R Mourvèdres, but it wasn’t trying to be. Eminently “quaffable” or “crushable,” depending on your generation, I guess. No sign of decline.
August 12, 2023 - always a crowd pleaser!
March 16, 2023 - Lovely, crushable classic D&R, with savory grilled herbs, juicy plums and cranberries, and friendly and lightly rustic tannins. Just a touch cloudy which detracts slgihtly from the experience, and lacks the precision,focus and complexity of Hardy’s other wines. Could use a standup for several days and a decant. You can recognize the lineage from here to the EDWC mourvedres, but it’s a bit like the juvenilia of a master - admirable on its own, but a work in progress compared to what is to come.
February 10, 2023 - By the bottle at the HUB at Weston Playhouse in Weston, VT. Nose is juicy, crunchy and black-fruited. Vague notes of crushed rocks. Palate is slightly more red-fruited, bright ripe cherries, crunchy juicy blackberries, lifted, slightly floral, great acidity, slightly dusty finish but no real tannins (!) Love this wine. Great choice with pheasant pate charcuterie.
June 13, 2022 - Similar notes to my tasting last year -- a bit more savory and even more crushable, perhaps. So good. I love the zesty, spicy, perfumed, brisk, peppery goodness in here.
March 25, 2022 - Light medium purple color - unfiltered
Medium aromas of red/ blue fruit with white pepper/ green herbs and smoked meat secondaries - nice
Medium bodied with palate of light blue/ black fruit and pepper notes
Medium plus acidity and medium alcohol with medium minus tannins and an average finish
Tasty and quaffable - really cool to have the Mourvèdre elements here without the tannins and heft one normally sees
February 6, 2022 - Consistently delicious. Needed a little air.
January 10, 2022 - Si il n’y avait qu’une chose à retenir de ce vin ce serait la finesse. Une aromatique pure sur les fruits rouges et noirs, de la fraise écrasée mais aussi de la mure et un côté floral. Une très fine structure tannique, c’est à la fois aérien et incarné, difficile à décrire, original et rassurant, j’ai beaucoup aimé. Très différent de l’expression souvent rugueuse en jeunesse du cépage en Provence.
Passage en carafe de 1h30 minimum plus que conseillé.
November 19, 2021 - As mentioned below, Cru Beaujolais meets mourvedre meatiness. I could do without the carbonic elements (carbonic EVERYTHING is getting a bit exhausting/annoying these days) but having full-on young mourvedre but with lower alcohol acid and w/o the punishing tannins is NICE.
October 17, 2021 - Damn this is nice and my last D&R Familiar Red... bittersweet... beautiful wine.