Cline Small Berry Mourvedre (WE 89)

I had the Cline Small Berry Mourvedre, most recently, last Thursday night. I confess, I adore this wine and used to visit a restaurant that carried it just so that I could drink it on a weekly basis. But, I moved away from that city about a year ago, and had completely forgotten about this little gem of a wine. Until last Thursday. When I saw it on the wine list, I knew we had to revisit it.

When you first open the Small Berry, you get tons of tobacco and leather on the nose. Really heady stuff, so give it a good 30 minutes to decant before proceeding. Then the palate is very cigar box and spicy jam, some raisin and prune hide in there too. The tannins are satiny and elegant, with just enough linger to let you know that you just had something really good.

We had this wine with ostrich and elk and it was fabulous. It really stood up to the gamey flavors of our dishes while not overpowering them. It also went really well with the salty bleu cheeses we had proceeding the meal.

I have only seen this wine in restaurants so far, but I know you can order it from on-line retailers. Every time I check, it is around $30, and well worth it. This wine is easily an 89, every time I have had it, it doesn't disappoint. I think that it is varietal-y correct, consistent and worth a try.