2018 Ochota Barrels Mourvèdre From the North

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 88.5 points

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  4/4/2021 - Guillaume-en-égypte Does not like this wine:

  I really wanted to like this, being my first foray into quality Aussie wine & on the description & story from the guy in a great little new wine shop in Westborne Grove (west london). Forceberry's review from a couple of years back is, as always, descriptively acute and much better than I could muster, so Ill try and take some of his observations as a starting point. The wine is, as he writes, 'ripe' with 'sweet toned flavours of liquorice', 'ripe and concentrated and screaming for more tannins' - all of this was still apt, however rather than 'high acidity' it was crying out for more acidity and more freshness! - started at a cool cellar temp and let it gradually warmed up over a few hours, so temperature was not the issue. I found it too sweet, lacking in complexity (OK, it's young and maybe that will come, but it ain't cheap), cloying & jammy - the yoghurt note, yeah, probably, but I needed a prompt to pick that up, so it may have receded.. Overall, really kinda hard work & between two people who can get through multiple bottles of a night, we couldn't finish this :(
  I dont have any experience with the wine, region or producer and would never drink a Bandol (Mourvedre) this young, so I will hold off scoring,
  but if I did 60s / 70s - borderline undrinkable / down-the-sink...at present....(not much change day 2)

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  2/7/2019 - forceberry wrote: 90 Points

  The grapes are sourced from a biodynamically farmed plot planted in 1869. Pre-fermentation cold-soak for 5 days, macerated as crushed whole bunches during fermentation over 12 days, pressed and left to ferment dry. Aged for 3 months in old French oak barriques. Bottled unfined and unfiltered with 20 mg/l SO2. 12,8% alcohol, 5,2 g/l acidity, pH 3,63.
  
  Almost fully opaque blackish blood red color with a hint of youthful purple. The nose feels sweet and aromatic with a lactic overtone of blueberry yoghurt followed by aromas of sweet dark plums, some licorice, a little bit of cherry juice and a hint of savory, earthy spices. The wine is rich, moderately full-bodied and quite dense on the palate with ripe, sweet-toned flavors of licorice, juicy blackberries, some plummy tones, a little bit of lactic blueberry yoghurt character, light bilberry juice tones, a hint of peppery spice and a touch of boysenberry jam. The wine shows quite a bit of old-vine concentration, but remarkable freshness as well, thanks to the high acidity. The textural tannins feel very light and lend almost no grip at all to the mouthfeel. The finish is lively, crunchy and not grippy at all with lengthy, ripe flavors of plums, some inky tones, a little bit of blueberry yoghurt, light black cherry tones, a hint of earthy spices and a touch of boysenberries.
  
  A sophisticated, tasty and enjoyably crunchy Mourvèdre that simply needs more age to make that lactic yoghurt note disappear. I feel like a wine this ripe and concentrated really screams for more tannins, as it feels just so soft and silky with no sense of grip and firmness from the tannins, but I can imagine many people love to see this wine as this kind of ripe and smooth, easy-drinking red wine. To me, the tannins would lend the wine the seriousness this kind of ripe and concentrated old-vine fruit needs, but to each their own. I can imagine the wine will become better once the lactic MLF notes disappears, but I doubt this will ever be something really impressive.

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