Storytime: In the late 80’s & early 90’s when I lived in NoCal I had a significantly older gentleman who accompanied me on many tasting adventures. One day we happened down Dry Creek Road and headed up the dirt path to Meeker on a whim. This was before the teepee. No TR, no nothing, just an open cellar door with Lynyrd Skinner or 38 Special blaring out of it. No staff, no greeting, we poked our heads in to your average working cellar and a SS counter filled with dirty glasses and a sink. A couple young dudes were like, you wanna taste? Sure, we said. They rinsed out a couple glasses and handed us a towel. The music never skipped a beat. The pour was a full half-Riedel and my buddy was all whoa whoa whoa, just a TASTE! and dude was like, Hey: it’s my wine, I’ll pour you as much as I want. “You need to get the full experience in the glass.” The wines were stunning, and so bagan my love affair with Meeker. Visiting later, the teepee TRIBE tasting area sprang up–which I avoided–and then they moved down to the bank in a little one-stoplight town north of Healdsburg I forget the name of. They might still be there. As we left–backslapping ourselves on this *find* of stellar wines–my rather conservative, white-collar friend remarked, “I think they were smoking something!” Stuff I’ll never forget.
Fast-forward to today, and Mourve in the glass from Lake County. Medium-clear in the glass, that classic burnished nose of tapenade and oiled leather laid thickly on distinct peppery fruit. The sully of France-Sud comes shining through in stellar fashion.
Sharp and acidic on entry, dark chewy fruit coming in second: a granular, gritty presentation of one of my favorite varieties. As they SHOULD be. The purple-blue-clear of the rim defies concentration of body, but there it is. Everything California producers strive for in a Rhone is present in SPADES: chalky, acrid body enveloping generous black cherry and decisive tannin. These people make wines for the long run, and this is a perfect example. A glorious wine, gorgeous throughout, a shouting presentation of Mourvedre in a world where this variety gets short shrift.
2021 THE MEEKER VINEYARD Mourvedre La Sierra Vyd High Valley Lake County 14.7
Stephen McConnell 