The sun-drenched grape in spicy, powerful Provençal and Spanish reds is a perfect match for roasted or slow-cooked red meat
WORD ON THE VINE Mourvèdre
THE GRAPE
This dark red, thick-skinned, tannic grape forms the backbone of Châteauneuf-du-Pape but plays a supporting role to grenache and cinsault in the Rhône. Mourvèdre reaches its finest expression in the single-varietal wines of Bandol, east of Marseille, and lends heft to Languedoc blends too. In Spain, where it is called monastrell, it is the country’s second most important red grape variety. Mourvèdre was formerly known as mataro in cheap blends from California and Australia, but it’s increasingly used in both to produce Rhône-style wines of finesse.
THE TASTE
Full-bodied, spicy and powerful, the bottle-aged wines of Bandol drip with a spectrum of inky, purpley flavour: blackberry, liquorice and violet, plus meat so gamey it might be road kill. The grape’s intense flavour can be softened by being blended with merlot and syrah, as is often the practice in Spain.
THE PAIRINGS
The meaty reds of Bandol are possibly the last thing one would wish to drink on a scorching afternoon on the Côte d’Azur (mourvèdre rosé is rather more appealing in the heat) but, transplanted to a chilly day in the UK, these are classic coolweather wines. Think red wine to go with red meat and you won’t go wrong: roast lamb, medium-rare sirloin, pasta in a rich ragù or something provincial, French and slow-cooked from Elizabeth David: daube de boeuf, perhaps. Nice with a barbecue too.
THE VINES
Mourvèdre needs hot summers to ripen reliably – which is not an issue on the south-facing slopes of Bandol, where many vineyards are planted on terraces basking in the shimmer of the Mediterranean, and the warmest plots of the Languedoc. The late-ripening grape also thrives on the sun-drenched Spanish coast between Valencia and Alicante known as the Levante.
THE BOTTLES
Four full-bodied mourvèdres to try this spring
2021 ORGANIC MONASTRELL, CASTILLO DE ZALIN, JUMILLA, SPAIN
Enjoy Châteauneuf-du-Pape but don’t have a Vatican bank account?
Spanish monastrells such as this organic version, grown on rocky, limestone soils, offer great value and all of mourvèdre’s full-bodied, spicy bramble. coop.co.uk
2019 ORGANIC BANDOL, LA BASTIDE BLANCHE, BANDOL, FRANCE
Intense black fruit, savoury tannins and spicy herbs hit the Bandol bull’s-eye at a price that, while hardly bargain bin, is an approachable entry for one of southern France’s most evocative appellations. waitrosecellar.com
2019 CUVÉE CLASSIQUE, DOMAINE TEMPIER, BANDOL, FRANCE
Domaine Tempier is the signature vineyard of Bandol, and the Peyraud family’s wines conjure the promise of sea breezes and sunlight as powerfully as they taste of dark fruit and dried lavender. A bottle costs as much as an EasyJet flight to Marseille, admittedly, but is a lot more enjoyable. leaandsandeman.com
A N D I F Y O U WA N T T O S P L A S H O U T
2015 BANDOL, DOMAINE DE TERREBRUNE, BANDOL, FRANCE
With 10 per cent grenache and 5 per cent cinsault, this mourvèdredominant blend displays an appealing delicacy, with fragrant rose and strawberry notes softening the meaty intensity, and a clean finish of chocolatey mint: like eating steak followed by an After Eight. Easydrinking now but could last another 30 years. haywines.co.uk