During a vacation in the early 1990s to Bandol, a wine region in southern France, we were captivated by Mourvèdre's charms. In 1994, we found a Mo (winemaker slang for “Mourvèdre”) vineyard in Redwood Valley, just north of Ukiah. The vineyard was old and weak and consequently had a hard time ripening the fruit. After more than a decade of struggling to make good wine from this field, the vines and winemaker gave up. In 2007, we began producing Syrah and Grenache wines from Dark Horse Vineyards' grapes. A year or two later we discovered that they had a tiny plot of Mourvèdre; so small in fact that in years with a light crop, we had barely enough wine to fill a barrel. In 2012, and again in 2014, the vineyard produced enough crop for a tiny bottling. After fermentation in small bins, the wine was aged in seasoned French oak barrels for ten months. We blended in 12% Dark Horse Syrah for alcohol balance and mid-palate length, then bottled it, unfiltered, to keep the magic “jo” in the “Mo”. Gold Medal winner. Best of Class.