Dirty and Rowdy, Mourvedre Evangelho Vineyard, 2019

This is Dirty & Rowdy's single-vineyard Mourvedre from the legendary Evangelho Vineyard, a patch of ancient, own-rooted vines growing in deep Contra Costa sand near the Sacramento River delta. The sandy soils and old-vine age give this bottling a wilder, more perfumed character than the multi-vineyard cuvees, and Hardy Wallace treats it accordingly: whole-cluster fermentation, foot crushing, neutral-vessel aging, then bottled unfined and unfiltered. Mourvedre this site-specific is rare in California, and Wallace lets it speak for itself rather than dressing it up. Decant it or give it a little air, and a slight chill suits it well.