Dirty and Rowdy, Cuvee Herve, 2018

Cuvee Herve is Hardy Wallace's tribute bottling, a Mourvedre drawn from Dirty & Rowdy's roster of old, organically farmed California sites. Wallace made his name mastering Mourvedre, a grape that's tricky to ripen without going heavy, and his whole answer is whole-cluster fermentation, foot crushing, native yeast and neutral-vessel aging to keep the fruit lifted rather than jammy. It's bottled the way all his reds are: unfined, unfiltered, with just a whisper of sulfur. The result is a Mourvedre that leans pretty and perfumed instead of brooding. A versatile, food-friendly red that loves a short chill.