In the US, the style of Mourvèdre tends to be less tannic than Old World examples such as Bandols.

The small, thick-skin berries of Mourvèdre are high in phenolic compounds that have the potential to produce a deeply colored, very tannic wine with significant alcohol levels if harvested at high sugar levels.

According to wine expert Jancis Robinson, in favorable vintages Mourvèdre can produce highly perfumed wines with intense fruit flavors and notes of blackberries and gamy or meaty flavors.

In these blends, Mourvèdre often provides color, fruit and some tannic structure to compliment the fruity Grenache and elegant Syrah.

In addition to making red varietal wines, Mourvèdre is a prominent component in " GSM " blends where it is blended with Grenache and Syrah.

The style of wine produced from the grapes varies greatly according to where it is produced, but according to wine expert Jancis Robinson Mourvèdre wines often have wild game and / or earthy notes to them, with soft red fruit flavors.

According to wine expert Oz Clarke, young Mourvèdre can come across as faulted due to the reductive, sulfur notes and " farmyard-y " flavors that some wines can exhibit before those flavors mellow with age.

In winemaking, wines made from Mourvèdre are prone to both oxidation and reductive flavors ( such as hydrogen sulfide ) if care is not taken at the winery.

These wines can be made as a dedicated rosé where the skins are allowed only a brief period of skin contact ( a few hours or a single day ) before they are pressed or as saignée where some of the juice destined for a red Mourvèdre is " bled off " during fermentation creating two separate wines -- a darker, more concentrated red wine and the lighter rosé.

Red, rosé and a few white wines are produced-the reds from Grenache Noir, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Carignan and Cinsaut grapes ; the white are made from a blend of from Grenache blanc and Grenache gris.

Red wines which comprise 95 % of the total production, are made from the principal varieties of Grenache Noir and Syrah ( 10 % minimum ), with secondary varieties of Cinsault, Mourvèdre Carignan.

Red and rosé wines are made from, Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Mourvèdre, and Carignan ( maximum 30 %).

Red wines are made from Grenache Noir ( minimum 40 %), Syrah and Mourvèdre ( minimum of 25 % together ), Cinsault, and Carignan ( maximum 10 %).

Red and rosé wines are made from Grenache Noir, Syrah, Cinsault, Carignane, Counoise and Mourvèdre grapes varieties.

In the red wines the Grenache grape must be present at not less than 50 %, with 20 % Syrah and / or Mourvèdre.

Red wines are made from Grenache Noir and Syrah, 60 %, ( of which Syrah minimum 10 %), Cinsault maximum 20 %, Mourvèdre Carignan, maximum 20 % other accepted varieties are: Counoise, Gamay Noir, Pinot Noir

Syrah is typically blended to provide color and spice, while Mourvèdre can add elegance and structure to the wine.

In Australia and California, many of the oldest plantings of Mourvèdre are bush trained as the vines grows well vertically but the variety can be grown under many different kinds of vine training systems.

One advantage of the thick skins is that Mourvèdre can withstand late harvest rains without the berries swelling and bursting like thinner skin varieties such as Grenache.

Mourvèdre produces medium-size, compact bunches that are usually conical in shape with a small wing cluster that may be discarded during green harvesting.

Since World War II, newer clones and better rootstock have been developed that have allowed Mourvèdre vines to be grafted more easily.

In both Old and New World wine regions, Mourvèdre is a popular grape to be used in rosé winemaking.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape dominated by Mourvèdre tend to be higher in tannin and requiring longer cellaring before being approachable.

The Grenache grape is required to be present at not less than 50 %, with 20 % Syrah and / or Mourvèdre.

The grape clusters of Mourvèdre are relatively compact, enhancing its susceptibility to mildew, with small thick-skinned berries that are high in both color and flavor phenolics, particularly tannins.

* Syrah as a minor blending component for Grenache and Mourvèdre.

Wines of this appellation must have at least fifty percent Mourvèdre grapes, though most have considerably more.

In the Languedoc, the grape is often blended with Cinsaut, Grenache, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Mourvèdre and Merlot.

In Australia it is typically blended in " GSM " blends with Syrah and Mourvèdre.

Today Grenache is most widely planted in the Languedoc-Roussillon region where it is widely blended with Carignan, Cinsaut, Syrah and Mourvèdre.

In Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Grenache noir is the most common variety of the 13 permitted varieties, although some producers in recent years have been using a higher proportion of Mourvèdre.

Depending on the specific AOC rules, grapes blended into southern Rhône reds may include Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Carignan and Cinsault.

Other red grapes include Cinsault, Counoise, Mourvèdre, Muscardin, Syrah, Terret Noir, and Vaccarèse.

In recent years, the trend has been to include fewer ( or even none ) of the allowed white varieties and rely heavily ( or solely ) upon the Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Syrah.

The red wine, which is the best known is made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault, Carignan, Grenache, and Mourvèdre grapes in varying amounts each year.

Mourvèdre ( also known as Mataró or Monastrell ) is a red wine grape variety that is grown in many regions around the world including the Rhône and Provence regions of France, the Valencia and Jumilla denominación de origens of Spain, California and Washington State and the Australian regions of South Australia and New South Wales.

The phylloxera louse that devastated European vineyards in the mid-19th century greatly reduced the number of plantings of Mourvèdre as the vine didn't take well to grafting to phylloxera-resistant American rootstocks.

Most wine historians agree that Mourvèdre is likely Spanish in origin though its exact history is difficult to pinpoint.

The French-adapted name Mourvèdre likely came from Murviedro ( Morvedre in Catalan, nowadays Sagunt ) near Valencia while the Spanish name Mataró likely came from Mataró, Cataluña near the modern-day city of Barcelona.

While it likely arrived earlier, Mourvèdre had a well establish presence in Roussillon region of France by at least the 16th century where it spread eastwards towards Provence and the Rhone.

As the French and other European wine regions recovered from the phylloxera scourge by grafting Vitis vinifera varieties to American rootstock, it was discovered that Mourvèdre vines did not take well to the grafting and many vineyards were replanted to other varieties.

Mourvèdre arrived in California in the 1860s as part of the Pellier collection.

In the late 20th century, interest in Mourvèdre as a premium grape variety picked up as the Rhone Rangers began seeking out old vine plantings of the variety in vineyards Contra Costa County.

According to ampelographer Pierre Galet Mourvèdre thrives in warm climates as the variety has a tendency to both bud and ripen very late.

In addition to a warm climate, Mourvèdre also does best in a dry climate with sufficient wind to protect it from the viticultural hazards of powdery mildew and downy mildew.