Life Style / Wine Grapes / Mourvèdre: Robust mediterranean hot climate grape variety widely grown in the southern Rhone region of France and mainly used to introduce color and body to the red wine blends. Normally ripens in mid-October, ie. a week or so after Carignan. Select limited plantings occur in California where the variety is often called the Mataro, a relationship recently confirmed (3/98) by DNA analysis at UC Davis, and are used to produce a wine that sometimes develops the 'green tea-like' herbal character that Rhone region french growers refer to as 'animal?'. Common false aliases, probably due to early mis-identification, in Australia are Mataro, Morrastel and Graciano. The cultivar known as Monastrell that is grown in Spain and previously thought to be identical is not related.
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