Incredible light nose dusted with sharp fruit and that smoky pepper we all love in the variety. Deep brownish garnet in the glass with Amaro edges–an alarming color but not validated ANYWHERE in the smell or taste. The berry bruised and muddled with cranbery and pomegranate, touches of tertiary polishing all things toward greatness.

Gotta say: I went into this expecting a natty-wine-at-age train-wreck. This was not to be, and it glows with positive greatness throughout.

The mouthfeel is likewise thin and balanced, the beauty of crisp fruit preserved perfectly while rather un-concentrated bearing compared to our France-Sud darlings. But concentration is there, and this wine manifests more in what is NOT said than what hits you in the face like most California offerings. Naysayers will point to the sharp acidity over fruit as 7-year failing, but this reviewer begs to differ. The meager wash of sharp cranberry spells doom for the bigger-is-better crowd: everything firmly in its place and a gorgeous wine throughout feeling almost spritzy how it zigs and zags over the palate. Probably at peak, but speaks tomes to the prowess of this producer.

2016 DONKEY & GOAT ‘Twinkle’ Mourvedre El Dorado 12.1

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