Jade Mountain Mourvedre 2003
Varietal: Mourvedre
Vineyard: Jade Mountain
Region: Napa Valley, California
Mourvèdre is an uncomplicated full-bodied wine that reflects its fruit source, so the winemaking is designed to show the best of this 100-year-old vineyard. We briefly soaked the grapes after crushing and the fermentation took about two to three weeks. Following fermentation, we pressed and settled the wine, with malolactic fermentation taking place in barrel soon after. Racking the wine after malolactic finished kept the clear bright fruit up in front. Most of the barrels are three to five years old, so as not to contribute flavors or tannins that could submerge the natural raspberry fruit quality, and it was bottled after about 10 months of aging. It has an intriguing smoky character and a dark chocolate back palate that is less obvious when young, but offers complexity as it ages.
A winemaker's vintage, 2003 was a year where all the components reached perfect ripeness. A long moderate season punctuated by heat spikes lasted well into November without a major threat of rain. For Mourvèdre it was an excellent year with a moderate yield of 2.8 tons per acre.
