keep the vines "feet" wet without letting it grow its foliage too vigorously. In addition to a warm climate, Mourvèdre also does best in a dry climate with sufficient wind to protect it from the viticultural hazards of powdery mildew and downy mildew. The grape clusters of Mourvèdre are relatively compact, enhancing its susceptibility to mildew, with small thick-skinned berries that are high in both color and flavor phenolics, particularly tannins. Even though the variety ripens late, it has the potential to ripen to high Brix sugar levels which can translate into a high alcohol level during fermentation. The vine can also be very vigorous, producing abundant foliage that can shade the grape clusters, affecting canopy management decisions for growers. In Australia and California, many of the oldest plantings of Mourvèdre are bush trained as the vines grows well vertically but the variety can be grown under many different kinds of vine training systems. The harvest window for the grape tends to be very short once it reaches peak ripeness, with acidity rapidly falling and the grapes soon desiccating and developing "prune-y" flavors. One advantage of the thick skins is that Mourvèdre can withstand late harvest rains without the berries swelling and bursting like thinner skin varieties such as Grenache. In regions such as the Paso Robles AVA of California, it is often one of the last varieties to be harvested sometimes hanging onto the vine until early November. Mourvèdre produces medium-size, compact bunches that are usually conical in shape with a small wing cluster that may be discarded during green harvesting. The leaves often have truncate cuneiform "wedge" shape. Since World War II, newer clones and better rootstock have been developed that have allowed Mourvèdre vines to be grafted more easily. Today many plantings of Mourvèdre are to 110R and 41B rootstocks. Wine regions Spain In Spain, Mourvèdre is called Monastrell and was the fourth most widely planted red wine grape variety with in 2015. Like many other Spanish varieties, its numbers have been declining in recent years (in 1996 there was over 100,000 ha/250,000 of the vine planted in Spain) as growers pull up older plantings and replant them with popular international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. However, the variety still has a strong hold in eastern Spain where it is widely planted in several Spanish wine regions around Murcia and the Valencian Community. Under Spanish