Mourvedre Mencia Robola United States California

Mourvèdre is a fascinating and ancient grape varietal, thought to have been introduced to Spain by the ancient Phoenicians over two thousand years ago. Since then, it has found a home in many regions of France, and has gone on to be a key grape varietal in the New World, where it is often blended with Grenache and Syrah varietals to make a beautifully rounded and balanced red wine. The Mourvèdre grape itself is renowned for holding a complex set of flavours, which are often described as meaty or gamey, with plenty of bramble fruit notes. As such, they are often served with dark meats, and are enjoyed in many countries across the globe. The grapes are not the easiest to cultivate, as they require plenty of sunshine alongside well irrigated soil. However, their quality and unique attributes mean that wineries all over the globe continue to persevere with this special varietal.

In the mountains of Cephalonia, the mineral rich soils assist in the growing of one of the finest of Greece's white grape varietals – the Robola grape. These noble yellowish grapes are notable for the wines they produce, which generally contain summer fruits, peach and citrus aromas, coupled with flavors which extend beyond the usual range of white wines, revealing smoky and mineral notes, and a lengthy, lemony after-taste. These fine characteristics helped the regions it is grown in gain AOC status, and wine-makers in this area have many generations of practice in bringing out the elegant and subtle characteristics of this grape.

Robola, and the other wines of Cephalonia have a long and illustrious history, being mentioned even in ancient epic poems such as Homer's Iliad. However, it was the Venetians who first recognized the great potential of Robola grapes, which quickly became the focus for the areas wine-makers and tradesmen. Nowadays, Robola wines act as an excellent example of a refined Greek dry white wine, which can be either drank as a light and refreshing summer aperitif, or alongside grilled white meats, salads, or white fish. Robola wines, as a rule, do not age particularly well, and it is highly recommended that bottles are drunk young, within two years of bottling. By doing so, you can enjoy the unique characteristics of this remarkable wine, complete with the balanced combination of chalky, smoky citrus flavors and delicate peach aromas which typify the finest examples of Robola varietal wines.

Additional Information on Greek Wines

Greek Wines
Ancient Greek Wines – A Brief History of Wine in Greece
The Myth of Dionysus, Greek God of Wine
What is Retsina?

Of all the New World wine countries, perhaps the one which has demonstrated the most flair for producing high quality wines - using a combination of traditional and forward-thinking contemporary methods - has been the United States of America. For the past couple of centuries, the United States has set about transforming much of its suitable land into vast vineyards, capable of supporting a wide variety of world-class grape varietals which thrive on both the Atlantic and the Pacific coastlines. Of course, we immediately think of sun-drenched California in regards to American wines, with its enormous vineyards responsible for the New World's finest examples of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot based wines, but many other states have taken to viticulture in a big way, with impressive results. Oregon, Washington State and New York have all developed sophisticated and technologically advanced wine cultures of their own, and the output of U.S wineries is increasing each year as more and more people are converted to their produce.

California as a wine producing region has grown in size and importance considerably over the past couple of centuries, and today is the proud producer of more than ninety percent of the United States' wines. Indeed, if California was a country, it would be the fourth largest producer of wine in the world, with a vast range of vineyards covering almost half a million acres. The secret to California's success as a wine region has a lot to do with the high quality of its soils, and the fact that it has an extensive Pacific coastline which perfectly tempers the blazing sunshine it experiences all year round. The winds coming off the ocean cool the vines, and the natural valleys and mountainsides which make up most of the state's wine regions make for ideal areas in which to cultivate a variety of high quality grapes.