If you enjoy powerful, full-bodied, high-tannin red wines, Mourvèdre is a grape well worth your attention. You may already know it, though perhaps under a different name. Mourvèdre is the French name for this variety, and in France it is best known as a component of the famous southern Rhône blends, commonly referred to as GSM blends—after the first letters of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre. It is also the backbone of the powerful red wines of Bandol in Provence. Under this same name, the variety is now known in the United States, South Africa, and several other countries. In Spain, the grape’s homeland, it is called Monastrell. In Portugal and Australia, it goes by the name Mataro. And these are only the three most widely used names—this variety has an astonishing number of synonyms, as if it were deliberately hiding that it is the same grape. Indeed, for centuries Mourvèdre / Monastrell / Mataro lived in the deep shadow of other, more fashionable varieties. Only now is it gradually stepping into the light.
Continue reading Mourvèdre, Monastrell, Mataro — a grape of many names
