Zach Kouwe

9.0

Via Brooklyn Wine Exchange: Hardy Wallace is a bit of a superstar in the "New California" wine scene. He began his wine career in Atlanta, publishing a blog on the subject called Dirty South Wines. In 2009, he won a high-profile contest held by Murphy-Goode Winery in Sonoma, called "A Really Goode Job." Hardy beat out 2,000 other applicants for this stunt-job, acting as a sort of social media/pr coordinator for the winery. Upon completion of his six-month contract, he went to work for several legendary winemakers in the valley, including Cathy Corison (Chappellet, Corison) and Ehren Jordan (Turley, Failla). During this time, Hardy and his wife Kate also partnered with friends Matt and Amy Richardson to form a small label called Dirty & Rowdy Family Winery. For their first vintage, they purchased one ton of Mourvredre, the semi-obscure Provencal and Spanish variety that is rarely seen outside the context of a red blend in California.

Knowing that Dirty & Rowdy could distinguish itself in a ocean of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvigon with this curious and brawny grape, Hardy & Co. quickly bet the farm on Mourvedre, as a vehicle to express different styles of winemaking as well as the terroir of multiple regions within California. Flash-forward to current day, where Dirty & Rowdy has become the king of California Mourvedre, bottling multiple cuvees each year that sell out almost immediately.

Dirty & Rowdy is a well-known emblem of the domestic natural wine scene as well. Hardy buys almost exclusively from organic growers, and doesn't filter, acidify, or alter his wines in anyway. Sulfur use is extremely low, and the overall philosophy is to be as hands-off as possible.

That is until 2017. The fact that Dirty & Rowdy has a wine to present at all for this vintage is a miracle. Flashback to mid-July last year. The growing season wasn't going all that well. Tremendous heat spikes created growth problems at almost all the vineyards Hardy sources grapes from. It's hard enough to monitor vine issues on one vineyard, let alone almost a dozen parcles scattered around six counties stretching from the Central Coast all the way out to the Sierra Foothills. A case of shingles went from bad to worse, spreading to his eyes. Hardy completely lost his vision for three days. Kate's brother Angus, a ski instructor and artist from Aspen, drove out to lend a hand with the impending harvest. On his way out, he was involved in single-car crash along a treacherous stretch of interstate and tragically lost his life.

Then the fires started.

Hardy and Kate, like many other producers who make wines in communal "crush" facilities located in urban areas around Sonoma and Napa, had hoped to ride out the fires and continue their wine production. The fires spread rapidly and threatened both their house and their winery, located in Petaluma. They left their wine in the midst of alcoholic fermentation, one of the most crucial and stressful times of the year for a winemaker even in the best of situations. When they were able to return eight days later, the winery was luckily undamaged. The wine, however, didn't fare so well. most vats had experienced "stuck fermentation," meaning that the native yeast died before eating all the sugar. Hardy, like most forward-thinking American winemakers, is a firm believer in natural fermentation. This no-brainer aspect to his wine was now an virtual impossibility. Plus, the vats contained high levels of volatile acidity or "VA," which creates an unfavorable "nail polish" quality in wine. A little bit of VA can give lift and energy to wine. Too much, however, renders the wine undrinkable.

At this point, Hardy thought to sell all the wine off in bulk for pennies on the dollar. Or perhaps create a second label to distance himself from what was surely going to be an atypical wine. Instead, he decided to combine almost every vat of his Mourvedre for the vintage (including lots of his most expensive fruit), and go into the "Unfamliar" territory of interventionist winemaker. Stuck lots were restarted using a variety of methods. When the wines finally fermented to dryness, he borrowed a "reverse osmosis" filtration system, perhaps the most modern of all the modern wine doohickeys. This contraption allowed Hardy to literally suck out the volatile acidity to bring it down to a pleasing level, as well as moderate and stabilize the alcohol. Then he filtered the wine. Basically, he did all the things he never thought he would ever want to do to wine.

The resulting wine is something that we have never seen before, both from Dirty & Rowdy and the Mourvedre grape, in general. Much of the wine fermented carbonically in tank, so the expression is much closer in style to Beaujolais than Bandol. It is so light on its feet, in fact, that Hardy believes this wine could take a serious chill. (Hence the reason we are trying to get you to try a California Mourvedre in the middle of a sweltering summer!) The tannins are pretty much non-existent, and the fruit is pretty and pure. There is a lovely little purple flower note in the middle of the wine, and a hint of smokiness on the finish (smoke taint from the fires? Or is this just some sort of phantom association because of the context? Either way, it adds depth and personality to this gorgeous wine.)

Since their "Annus Horribilis" of 2017, order and peace has been restored in Hardy & Kate's life. Their daughter Maple turns two in a few days. They celebrated the free-spirited life of their brother with scores of his friends and ski students at Aspen Mountain's opening day last November. The motto of the celebration, "Live Like Angus," has inspired hundreds and hundreds of beautiful social media posts. And this year's Spring release of Dirty & Rowdy wines from earlier vintages has quickly sold out around the country, gobbled up by ravenous collectors, restaurants, and retailers (like this one.)

But to Hardy, this "Unfamiliar" wine, which doesn't fit stylistically or financially into the rest of the D&R portfolio, will always represent something completely different: The best of a unthinkably bad situation. "It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get that wine into bottle," Hardy wrote to us, just this morning. "Fortunately, it is fresh, delicious, soulful and somewhat of a Phoenix Rising from 2017. Though it is our least expensive wine ever, it is the wine I am most proud of." — 8 years ago

Tom Towle

8.9

Burgundy night with our "wineaux" buds. This was as good as a $45 entry level Willamette Pinot at a much better price point!! — 9 years ago

Adam Hoogeveen

9.0

CS wines continue to maintain their place among my favorites for the price point. This has the typical peppery, rich, and black fruit characteristics that I've come to enjoy from Washington Cabs and CS Cab in particular. — 10 years ago

with Micaela

Tommy Fogarty

Owner Thomas Fogarty Winery

9.2

Nine-point-one... Eight points for sound old-world fundamentals and "varietal correctness". One point one points for that tasty stank that can't be adequately described... — 11 years ago

with Lily

Ryan Richter

8.9

Higher in price point but a good try. — 8 years ago

with Shannon

Kim Stanbro

9.2

Pinot week. This is weird. Upon opening the bottle it was light- almost weak and watery. Hours later- sniffing and sampling- it’s powerful. Lingering mouthfeel. Never have i preferred Pinot but this week may be a turning point. — 8 years ago

with Dave

Ken Venezio

9.4

This blend comes from three stellar Vineyards. Gap's Crown, Martinelli and Widdoes. The nose has a damp earth feel but it comes together with some plum, fig and plenty of cherry. Offers a long finish of spice, and florals. Another awesome Pinot from Walt/Hall at a very fair price point. — 9 years ago

Ellen Clifford

9.2

Oh mygosh on a scale of one to pastille heaven I might rate this as an eight point nine plus, a few bonus unofficial point stops in a swamp of bramble and raspberry bush. A ripe swamp.,Love it. It could be I am a gamay nut but I dug this heartily. If I were eating steak? Oh no. Not even with a soy sauce-braised tempeh extravaganza. But for sipping, with a pal, with-let me recommend---a nice soft pretzel (welcome to my heavenly LA life) and YAS. That's the stuff — 9 years ago

Rick Baumgarten

9.6

In our blind Chateauneuf tasting, which turned out to be all Pierre Usseglio, this was my number two of eight and the groups' number four. (This is a Parker 100 point wine) — 9 years ago

Megan Long

9.3

I say goddamn! ! Berries, forest floor, funk galore in non-disgorged sparkling Cab Franc custom beauty! — 10 years ago

Randy Fuller

10

The wine has a rich, golden hue and shows an absolutely gorgeous oak effect, just enough to put me in mind of classic California Chardonnay. There is tropical fruit, lemon chess pie and caramel in the whiff as well. The palate is where the old world comes into play. The acidity is right on the money, and only a slight touch of vanilla comforts the apples, pineapple and citrus flavors. The wine is very well balanced and shows great weight, the result of malolactic fermentation which occurred in the barrels and aging on the lees - the spent yeast cells. Eight months of aging in French oak was just right. About a third of that oak was new, the rest neutral. Could be the best Chardonnay I've had. — 11 years ago

Ellen Clifford

9.4

Hard to sing enough praises of Eight Arms. The freshness and salinity of this make you feel like a cucumber skinny dipping in the sea. Or not-cucumbers aren’t quite sexy enough. So mostly you need to know this tastes great (mmm citrus and a little earth and salt) and the acidity is ON POINT. K gonna go mainline some pickles now. — 8 years ago

Tom Riley

9.0

2010. Don’t know the last time I had a wine that punched so far above its price point. Complex, balanced, and damn delicious. Eight years in and just hitting its stride. 73% grenache, 14% mourvedre, 13% syrah. The 14.9% abv is shy, mostly, but shows up before the party is over in a welcome and pleasing way. — 8 years ago

with Mary

Delectable Wine

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9.4

Full red with virtually no amber. Inviting aromas of strawberry, woodsmoke, tobacco and earth, plus a cedary balsamic note. Large-scaled, thick wine with sappy pungency to its flavors of redcurrant, tobacco and saline minerality. The wine's fatness is perfectly cut by brisk acidity. Shows sexy notes of evolution but this grand cru finishes with remarkable energy--in fact even a bit clenched. Fans of fully mature Burgundies might want to wait another six to eight years before pulling the cork. Incidentally, Marie-Christine Mugneret singled out 1999 as the year when the estate's wines began to change, as their vineyard work through the '90s bore fruit. The year also witnessed the estate's longest fermentations to that point, due mostly to very high grape sugars. This wine was de-cuved with ten grams of sugar, and the fermentation finished slowly in barrels. (Stephen Tanzer, Vinous, March 2018) — 8 years ago

Steve Medbery

8.9

Wow, am I really the only one of us who has had a vintage of this before 2015? Strawberry, kirsch, violet. Tannins some have noted in the 2015 are smooth and pleasing in the 2012 at this point. Excellent value. — 9 years ago

Zachary Price

8.9

A 2009 Côtes du Rhône? For 13 bucks? Ok - twist my arm, RiteAid. E. Guigal suggests an eight year max on this one, and yep, still drinking nicely. The blend is a classic GSM, (52% Grenache, 45% Syrah, and 3% Mourvèdre), grown in the Rhône region of France - a hotbed of viticulture since the 1600s. Guigal has been cultivating wine inthe region since ~1940s producing both easily approachable table wine, (like the monsieur pictured here), and high end expensive bottles of pure delicious sunshine. Paired this with a yellow curry and for the price point, it was well worth it. Not sure there are many 2009s still out there - but for the money, you could do a lot worse. ~$13 | #guigal #côtesdurhône #gsm

On the eyes: Ruby with orange tinted rim, med concentration, bright, med stain, med tears, no gas/floc.

On the nose: top notes of violet move through stewed blackberries, a touch of spice and licorice ending in a gravelly earthiness, med alcohol.

On the tongue: med+ acid, med tannin, med+ alcohol, med+ body, mellowed out and round on the palette. Overripe black plum, bing cherry, a touch of spice, and nice mineralty. Not overly fussy, drinks easily. The geezer should breathe a bit before you go, though. — 9 years ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.0

Named in honor of winemakers spouse. A blend of grapes from Landy (23%), Gaps Crown (44%) and Donnelly Creek (33%) and aged in French oak (19%) for 15 months. Medium Ruby with aromas of red fruit, herb and spice. On the palate cherry and ripe strawberry flavors with tobacco and sweet spice tones. Well balanced with smooth fine tannins, lively acidity on a lingering finish. Only 217 cases. Tasting Sample. — 10 years ago

Ryan Carey

Founder Wine Confidential

9.2

The 2010 Estate from Vineyard 7&8 is on point, but needs time. I like it more than the 09. Was initially pretty closed off in the glass, but showing much better after 90 minutes. Tastes of slate and very dark fruit. The tannins are intense, as you need to lay this down for a few more years for it to reach its peak. — 11 years ago

Ronnie Soto

9.4

2004 Kaz Vineyard - Outbound Cabernet Franc

Because this bottle was signed by the winemaker we kept it on the bar counter as decoration, subject to the year round temperature changes. After almost eight years of this abuse we decided to open the bottle half expecting it would have turned. But lo and behold this wine was delicious. It is full bodied with complex fruit yet smooth, light and delicate.

Aromas are tantalizing. Excellent nose with a breadth of wonderful scents. The blend of cab, zin, merlot and petite Syrah is on point.

— 11 years ago