Grape variety
Mourvèdre
Mourvèdre, Monastrell in Spain, Mataro in Australia: its origin, Bandol and Jumilla, its powerful style and what to eat with it.
- Colour
- Red
- Origin
- Spain, probably the east coast (Valencia area); the exact place of origin is not settled; the name most likely comes from Murviedro (now Sagunto)
- Main regions
- Spain (Jumilla, Yecla, Alicante), Bandol, southern Rhône, Languedoc, Australia
- Typical aromas
- Blackberry, black plum, game, spice; with age leather and gingerbread
- Classic pairing
- Game stew, leg of lamb with herbs, daube, mature hard cheese
- Synonyms
- Monastrell (Spain), Mataro (Australia, California)
Mourvèdre is a grape with three names: Mourvèdre in France, Monastrell in Spain, Mataro in Australia and California. It comes from Spain, probably the east coast; the exact place of origin is not settled. The French name most likely goes back to Murviedro near Valencia, the old name of Sagunto, and Mataro to the Catalan town of Mataró. Spain still holds the lion’s share: the OIV counted about 56,000 hectares worldwide in 2015, about 43,000 of them in Spain and about 9,000 in France. In Spain Monastrell is the fourth red grape after Tempranillo, Bobal and Garnacha, but its area has shrunk markedly over recent decades. In France it went the other way, from under 900 hectares in 1968 to more than 7,600 around 2000.
Mourvèdre is demanding. It ripens late and needs a great deal of warmth to bring tannins and flavour to maturity; picked too early it gives a thin, herbaceous wine. The bunches are compact, the skins thick, the vine prone to mildew, and the picking window is short: when overripe the acidity drops fast and the fruit turns prune-like. Young wines can be reductive and smell of farmyard or sulphur before they open up; air or a decanter helps.
Its most famous home is Bandol on the coast of Provence, an AOC since 1941. On about 1,600 hectares in eight communes the vines stand on terraces, the restanques, above the sea. The soils are poor, mostly limestone and well drained. Red Bandol must contain 50 to 95 per cent Mourvèdre, completed by Grenache and Cinsault, and age at least 18 months in oak; the rosé contains at least 20 per cent too. In Châteauneuf-du-Pape and the Languedoc Mourvèdre gives colour and structure to the blend, with Grenache and Syrah in the “GSM” that became a classic in Australia’s Barossa. In Spain Monastrell is the grape of Jumilla, Yecla and Alicante, where it grows on hot, dry sites.
In the glass Mourvèdre is dark, dense and rich in tannin, with blackberry and black plum, spicy, meaty notes of game; with age come leather and gingerbread. On its own it is powerful and austere; in a blend it gives the softer Grenache a backbone, and good Bandol keeps for a long time. At the table: game stew, leg of lamb with herbs, a Provençal daube or mature hard cheese.