Mourvedre...it's a hit in Arizona!

The Wine Guy sampling good wine
at the Keeling-Schaefer tasting room
in an historic bank building in Willcox, Az.

Before I left Arizona, I was pleased when noted Arizona winemaker Rod Keeling sent me a Facebook friend request after stumbling onto my wine blog.  His has always been one of the Arizona vineyards I had planned to visit during my tenure as an Arizona resident.  Unfortunately I never made it to the eastern part of the state before we departed for Ecuador.  Some five and a half months later, after trips to Ecuador and Thailand and two cross country road trips, I found myself on I-10 approaching Willcox.  Knowing Keeling-Schaefer had a tasting room downtown, I decided a pit stop for a little wine tasting was in order.  I'm glad I took the time to do so!

The Keeling-Schaefer tasting room not only offers a selection of their wines but also samples some wines from Arizona Stronghold and Kokopelli.  I not only enjoy the standard tastings but was offered some earlier vintage samples once the attendant found out I was a member of the International Wine Guild and a blogging wine fool, as well. (Thanks Rosanna for your attentive courtesy to myself and the fetching Mrs. Wine Guy!)

While I enjoyed several wines, the outstanding hit of the visit was the Schaefer Boys Mourvedre.  This limited release (68 total cases for the 2008 vintage) wine is, unfortunately, limited to sales at the winery, at the tasting room and from the Keeling-Schaefer wine club members.  It is, however, well worth the effort to seek it out.  It happens to be one of the best balanced of all the Keeling-Schaefer wines and sips very, very well. It offers all the ripe dark fruit flavors you would expect from a 100% Mourvedre with the typical earthiness of this grape.  These features give Mourvedre a richness not normally found in many fruit forward wines.  Some bold, yet round and smooth, tannins are also characteristic of this varietal when well vintified.

Mourvedre is best known as a blending grape, most notably in Rhone and Rhone style red blends.  It is a favorite partnering grape with Grenache with which it seems to have a natural affinity.  (Grenacha is another of The Wine Guy's favorite grape varietals ( see "Grenache, A Great Wine To Discover" in the Roger's Grapevine archives, 2/2/10).  It is also often found as a single varietal wine in Spain where it goes under the name of Monastrell or Mataro.    However you won't find it often as a single varietal from a US producer.

Congratulations, Rod,  and thank you for producing such a enjoyable wine!


For more information on Keeling-Schaefer Vineyards, log on to www.keelingschaefervineyards.com or better yet, visit them in Willcox or at one of the many Arizona wine functions they regularly attend!

Chateauneuf du Pape

Chateauneuf du Pape is a wine worth exploring for its history as well as what it has to offer in taste.

This French AOC, comprising almost 7,500 acres of vineyards, is located in the southern Rhone Valley.  It is probably one of the best know and most highly regarded Rhone appellations today.   That, however, was not the case for much of its long and storied history.

The area is the site of a decisive historic battle between the Romans and the Gauls in 121 BC and later, it was the Romans who initiated viniculture here.  After the fall of the Roman Empire, the church became the principal instrument of winemaking throughout southern France.  The Templars settled there in the mid twelfth century and gave the area the name Castrum Novum  (New Camp or New Fort).  The village name later became Chateauneuf-Calcernier, which paid tribute to its earlier name as well as the area’s sandy and rocky soil.  It wasn’t until 1893 that the village formally adopted the name of its wine, “Chateauneuf du Pape” as its own name.   After Pope Clement moved the papacy to Avignon in 1308, the area began to be utilized as a summer papal residence.   The castle that subsequently became synonymous with the wine and the village was built by Pope John XXII in 1320.  This Avignon Pope was a promoter of the wines produced there and it was he who first called the wines  “Vin du Pape”, which much later evolved to Chateauneuf du Pape.   

The wines from this region have widely varied in presentation due to the variations in soil conditions, a range of winemaking styles and the wide number of grapes historically utilized.  The AOC regulations in effect today were not established until the late 1930’s and still permit up to 13 red and white varietals to be utilized in the red Chateauneuf du Pape.  Grenache is always dominant and must be 50% of the final product, which must be aged at least one year on oak.  This allows a wide range of expression in the wine.  The Chateauneuf du Pape most often imported to the U.S. is generally a Grenache Syrah and Mourvedre blend.  You may also encounter some utilization of Counoise and Cinsault in these.  The growth in popularity of Chateauneuf du Pape as a French export is largely due to exposure given by two prominent wine critics, Janis Robison and Robert Parker, Jr.  Parker’s promotion of the wine, in particular, gave impetus to a fourfold increase in the average price of Chateauneuf du Pape in this country in a single decade.  (No wonder the Chateauneuf Winemakers Union lobbied to have Parker made an honorary citizen of their village!)

In The Wine Guy's humble opinion, it is the GSM and similar blends in which this wine finds its best expressions.  Complex fruit characteristics, smooth tannins and superb, subtle, lingering finishes abound in the better selections.  Chateauneuf du Pape is a wine well worth exploring!