“So what’s with the Mourvèdre?” That’s what a friend recently asked after I shared some data on the average grape price for our region. Indeed, the average Mourvèdre prices for California District 10, the official agricultural region that includes Placer, Eldorado, and Amador counties, has risen 14% year over year 2016 to 2017 according to the most recent USDA report.
According to the California Department of Agriculture District 10 crushed a total of 316.4 tons of Mourvèdre, down from 372.2 tons crushed in 2016. In 2016, the average price per ton was $1,684.11 and rose 14% to an average of $1,961.02 according to the preliminary data on the USDA site, quite a leap.
The reduced supply is only a partial explanation for the increase. My theory is that the 2017 rosé craze is equally responsible. While you can make a rosé from just about any red wine, Rhone varieties like Mourvèdre and Grenache are particularly popular. Grenache rosé is more in keeping with the Provencial style while Mourvèdre rosé is much more in keeping with the Bandol style.
In support of this theory, in 2016 503 tons of Grenache were crushed with an average sale price of $1,673.80, and in 2017 a similar tonnage of grapes were crushed at an average selling price of $1,837.68 a 9% increase. Not as much as the Mourvèdre, but still more than the rest of the red grape varieties even though the total tonnage remained comparable.
Of course the Sierra Foothills GSMs are also on the rise with wineries like Keplinger and Favia continuing to get excellent reviews from the Spectator and others, but still I can’t help but think that the rosé craze that has swept the nation is fueling the rise.
Whatever the reason, Mourvèdre is on the rise. Personally I’d like to see some more single variety Mourvèdre wines made. In any case, we’ll keep on growing it.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.