2011 d'Arenberg Mourvèdre The Twentyeight Road

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 90.5 points

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  11/25/2017 - forceberry wrote: 92 Points

  Made from foot-trodden grapes fermented in opent-top fermenters. Aged in predominantly old French barrels. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. 14% alcohol, 2,7 g/l residual sugar, 6,3 g/l acidity, pH 3,47.
  
  Somewhat developed, lightly translucent figgy or plummy red color. Very rich and expressive nose with pronounced eucalyptus character, followed by more brooding and robust dark-toned aromas of fresh, brambly dark berries, some ripe boysenberries, a little bit of licorice and a hint of charred meat. Somebody summarized the nose as "chocolate-covered cough drops". The wine feels dry, full-bodied and quite robust on the palate with savory flavors of ripe dark fruits, brambly dark forest berries, meaty tones, some peppery spice and a hint of bitterness. There is a slightest touch of sweetness at the tip of the tongue and the alcohol lends a light touch of warmth to the palate. Overall the wine comes across as pretty structured with quite high acidity for the style with firm, grippy tannins. The finish is very dry and quite spicy with robust, savory flavors of peppery spice, charred gamey meat, brambly blackberries and boysenberries, a little bit of old wood character, a hint of astringent chokeberries and a touch of minty herbal character. The aftertaste is quite tannic and mouthdrying.
  
  A very impressive, classically styled and structured Mourvèdre that nods quite deep to the direction of Bandol - save for the heavily eucalyptus-driven nose, which points instantly to the direction of Australia. The eucalyptus note rendered the wine pretty disagreeable to some tasters, but I had no problems with that particular aroma and found the wine otherwise pretty complex and impressive. Despite its 6 years of age, the wine was still very tightly-knit and seriously structured, so I wouldn't doubt for a moment this wine couldn't age for 15-20 years. Still far from its apogee. Good value at 21,50€.

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  3/27/2016 - jlariviere Likes this wine: 89 Points

  Floral, licorice, fresh and generous aroma. Almost opaque, but sides of the glass let red-purple light through, you can see this one isn't watered down. In mouth, it reveals an intense fruit flavor, with acidity present all along, very pleasant and exciting. This one got everything I expect and am used to get from D'Arenberg wines.

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