Domaine Mourchon Grande Reserve Cotes du Rhone Villages-Seguret 2006 - Wine Spectator 91 Points

by Cynthia Hurley

Walter in his hilltop vineyards at Domaine Mourchon

A Wine Spectator "Insider" wine of the week. In my preview copy of the Wine Spectator "editors' most exciting new wines" I spotted one of our favorites: Domaine de Mourchon Cotes du Rhone Villages Seguret Grande Reserve 2006.

"91points. Very dark, showing fig and currant paste notes, but very racy, with graphite, freshly drawn espresso, bittersweet cocoa and black tea notes helping to extend the long, alluring finish. Nice underlying grip. Drink now through 2011." -Wine Spectator

Robert Parker (91 points) chimes in on this one as well:

"The 2006 Grande Reserve tastes more like a great Chateauneuf du Pape than a Cotes du Rhone- Villages Seguret. There is plenty of tannin, earth, garrigue, spice box, and pepper characteristics as well as oodles of black cherry and black currant fruit. This beautifully complex wine with tremendously expressive aromatics cuts a broad, full-bodied mouthfeel, but do not think it can't age as it possesses plenty of structure and tannin. It should hit its stride in two years, and last for a decade thereafter.

"One of the reference point estates in the southern Cotes du Rhone, Domaine de Mourchon is situated in the charmingly beautiful Provencal hilltop village of Seguret. This is a tour de force in winemaking from the Cotes du Rhone-Villages of Seguret. Kudos to Domaine de Mourchon! These splendid cuvees are all worth buying by the caseload.

"All of this can be attributed to Englishman Walter McKinlay, who purchased 40+ acres in 1998. It is amazing how quickly he has become a superstar in Seguret. The aging process here is relatively simple, with the wines kept in both concrete vats and oak casks. There is 100% destemming." -Robert Parker

You really must go and visit Walter and Roni McKinlay at Domaine de Mourchon. It's a heavenly place. I was there not too long ago. I remember sinking into a chair on Walter and Ronnie's terrace, taking in my Rhône surroundings and finally closing my jaw, which had been hanging open. The vines were slightly below us in soldierly rows and stretched into the distance on gently rounded hills. The vines seemed far away and, at the same time, seemed all-enveloping. There were rows upon rows and hills upon hills, all frosted in a sagey hue.

Walter and Roni McKinlay have owned Domaine de Mourchon since 1998 when Walter, a Scotsman sold his computer business and decided he wanted to own a vineyard. Sometimes, he pulls a long face and leans in conspiratorially to share that owning a vineyard was perhaps more work than he had initially had in mind, but how can I really ache for him when he has made such a stunning success of it all?

Domaine de Mourchon is behind the village of Séguret about 300 meters up on a twisty little way. The winery will be on your left. It is a modern beauty with shiny stainless steel tanks configured in a circle in one room. This winery is state of the art with table de tri for sorting every grape carefully to make sure there are no inferior ones in the final blend, and is designed to use gravity to pamper the grapes as they transfer to vat.

Then there is the tasting room, which is sun-splashed and painted in Provençal hues of dusty pinks and earthy tones. It's very hard to leave this place. Waves of relaxing Provencal welcome wash over you as you stand with your glass of minerally and dark-hued Cotes du Rhone Villages Seguret Grande Reserve in your hand. The cherries, black and red, waft from the glass.

The cepage of the wine is 65% Grenache and 35% Syrah. The vines are 60 years old. The yield is an astonishingly low, 20 hectoliters per hectare. 40% of the wine receives oak barrel-ageing for nine months.

One glass and you'll be headed to Provence. Cynthia Hurley

Domaine de Mourchon Côtes du Rhône Villages Séguret Grand Reserve 2006 This wine has an intense deep purple colour with a nose suggesting spices, liquorice, cooked red fruits. The palate is concentrated, complex and rich with elegant fruit intensity, some spice and harmonious tannins and finishes ... more BN#266756 $34.99 On Sale $27.99 SKU02145