David Girard Red Rhone Trio (3)

David Girard Red Rhone Trio
$59.99 $111.00 46% off List Price
2009 Coda Rouge, El Dorado County Red Blend
2009 Mourvedre, El Dorado Estate Vineyard
2009 Syrah, El Dorado County
CT links above

Winery website

Rather looking like pH and TA are reversed on the 2009 Coda Rouge, El Dorado County Red Blend.

Wish we’d tasted these at time2testit’s gathering last weekend. Based on the blends and specs that might have broken the siwbm…

Thanks for spotting the difference! It should be changed soon :wink:

Would it be possible to know if mill bought this? In fact, can that info be given in the daily notes??!!

No Florida, so not yet. Notes on the Mouvedre will come this evening after work

HitAnyKey42 & I just had the Syrah the other day. Quite tasty, and it’s nice to see it up here. Did a pop and pour tasting, but decided it could really have used a Vinturi. We took some notes on it since the winery was a new one to us, so here they are in all their random glory:

Color: Ruby, dark purple. Really pretty, nice clarity

Nose: Very peppery at first, yielding to plum, black cherry, leather, some bark and vanilla.

Palate: Follows the nose, with bacon/smoked meats added to the mix. Good tannin structure, nice acidity balance. Pleasant mouthfeel of medium to full-bodied.

Finish: Smooth with soft tannins, hints of oak with a pleasantly long lasting finish.

Overall: Very good, balanced, well structured wine. Definitely a Syrah with several of the typical characteristics of the varietal. Wants food - forget what we had it with. Also wants air. Absolutely drinkable now, but definitely run it through a Vinturi or a decanter first. Should hold well for a few more years, probably wouldn’t hold it beyond 2020 though.

Hmm there’s a mourvedre in the mix… hey HAK, I know we JUST instituted the WBM after inventorying everything, but mourvedre!

I’m sure there’s some confidentiality thing that prevents that somewhere. But love the thought and the appreciation for mill’s palate.

Yes. It seems I happen to like what he likes!

More often than not, when he does buy he is “first sucker” and as trifecta mentioned, mill is in FL so you can at least know for sure that he has not bought if FL isn’t lit up on the state map.

I’m happy to see such great tasting notes from Wooters! Here is my breakdown of the wines in our Red Rhone Trio:

I picked out our line-up today. I wanted to put our best wines out there, and the trio really represent a broader spectrum of what we grow in the vineyard and what we can make with our fruit.

My VERY general notes on the wines today:

Coda Rouge is a very complex and interesting wine. It is based on the great wines of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, so we use every red Rhone varietal we grow on our property in the mix. It is blended every year with the idea of making a wine that is aromatically intriguing and perfectly balanced, so we always use Mourvedre and Grenache as the core and use Syrah and Counoise to make it more complex and layer in flavor and aromatics. By far our most “intellectual” wine.

Our Mourvedre is like no other Mourvedre or Monastrell you will have had before. With really beautiful and elegant aromatics: lots of floral aromas and black raspberry, beautiful black tea and dried herbs. The palate is more balanced than overwhelming but has great body and depth while the color is misleadingly bright and clear. It’s an elevated style of Mourvedre and one of my favorite wines that we produce.

Our Syrah is everything you could want in a Syrah, bold, ripe fruit without being one-dimensional. The aromatics are earthier, with cedar, mesquite, forest floor and a little dusty, even hints of bacon fat. Really killer Syrah with a great glimpse at the minerality and acid consistent in all our wines.

-Devon, Assistant Winemaker & National Sales Manager

Thanks for joining us, Devon. What is so special about your Mourvèdre that sets it apart from any other Mourvèdre we’ve had before? The tasting notes you provided are helpful but “different than any other” seems a little like marketing hyperbole.

I’m a big Rhone fan (a lot of us here are) so I like seeing a new winery with some Rhone variety offers.

Interested in these, but wishing the 3 pack was in the $50-55 range shipped. The general price bump on most offers here have definitely kept some cash in my pocket.

As a fellow Rhone wine maker, I can attest to the quality of David Girard wines, am a fan, and buy them.

Mari Wells, the winemaker, was one of my early inspirations that Mourvedre doesn’t have to be a dark, brooding or over oaked beast, but can be elegant and finessed.

The soils of El Dorado are an under appreciated asset of the CA wine community - far more complex than much of Sonoma and Napa.

If you are looking for balanced, interesting wines, that aren’t fruit bombs, this is a great deal.

Great question! I think when you pour yourself a glass of our Mouvedre the difference is visible. Many times I have had inexpensive Monastrell, some higher quality ones from Spain, and a few from California that are very concentrated and dark. Ours is clear and bright in the glass, and then the aromatics are pretty and complex, while I usually find other Mourvedres to be earthy, sometimes brambly, dark dark fruit and very concentrated. While I really enjoy that style, the first time I tried our Mourvedre (before I came to work here), I was astonished and had almost a revelation that Mourvedre could be so beautiful and elegant. I had previously catalogued it in my palate memory as a bit of a beast, with its earthiness and dark aromas and flavors. In that way I think our Mourvedre is unique in it’s prettiness and balanced style.

I associate Mourvèdre the same way. I’ve had lighter renditions, but from what I’ve tasted, I like it either as a rosé or as the monster it usually is.

I very much agree. Though DGV is in the middle of the fruit-bomb Zin region of the Sierra Foothills, their wines are light, elegant, and complex. This is a good deal; when I taste there I spend $30-$40 per bottle, happily.

I also like them because they didn’t charge me for the engagement pictures I had taken there this summer with my fiancee. In fact, they gave us glasses of chilled white to accompany our shoot. Good vibes and talented winemaker.

2009 David Girard Mourvedre
30+ min in decanter. In the glass color is very light with great clarity. Picking up light cherry and raspberry as well as some floral (I guess violets from winery provided description is a match) notes. One thing I was surprised about was the lack of noticeable heat on the nose considering the alc%.
This wine is light on the palate, yet has good body and roundness. Black and red fruit mingle on the front of the tongue. Great acid. Tannin has grip, but is mouth drying or chewy, and is in balance. Again, the alc% is not noticeable on the palate. Medium length finish is smoooth (yes, one extra o) and is starting to show some complexity with a hint a spice. Tried with a piece of manchego, but it wasn’t the best pairing. Will set some aside to have with dinner, but this is nice to sip on its own. My SIWBM is in danger here…

I would agree this is nothing like a typical brutish Mourvedre, but after trying this I am a fan of the lighter approach as well.

Dinner ended up being leftovers and not a good match for wine in general. Still a great wine on its own. Really enjoying it. Recommended