The return of a tightly-allocated fan favorite from last year – a Mourvèdre based on Fred’s Home Block (among the oldest Mourvèdre vines that I know of in the state and previously the backbone of Randall Graham’s Cigare Volant) with the award for Best Supporting Actor going to none other than Evangelho Vineyard, in this case. The 2018 Fred’s Home Block Mourvèdre was our highest-scoring red with Antonio Galloni, which I’m particularly proud of because it validates the mission behind the Experimental Series – to put wines into bottle that are simply too good not to bottle, regardless of whether or not they fit the bill for our vineyard designate series. Each Experimental Series wine is consecutively numbered and necessarily very small in production, with bottles individually numbered. Someday maybe some of the Experimental Series wines will join the regular cast on a recurring basis, but in the meantime each wine is one that we bottle for our own pleasure and to drink fondly for many years in the future. 

Like the 2018 Fred’s Home Block Mourvèdre, the 2019 Fred Rides Again Mourvèdre was fermented with 30% whole cluster for 30 days in tank (we typically drain and press our Evangelho Carignan around 18-21 days) and raised in a single neutral 600L barrel. The wine smells like our local Watmaugh strawberries baked in a cobbler, with orange citrus and a hint of Mourvèdre’s distinctive gaminess. The inclusion of Evangelho in the blend adds a bit of tension and minerality to the flesh of Fred’s Home Block on the palate, with additional spice and red fruit in the glass.