Nose

Vibrant blueberry, red berries and violets
in the forefront, enticingly supported
by complex cured meat notes and hints
of cracked black pepper and dark olive
tapenade.

Palate

Intense mouthful of red fruits and dark
savoury pepper and cardamom spices, well
framed by integrated oak that take the
experience to a long, round and savoury
finish

Growing Conditions

The fruit for this wine was sourced from
Cape Mentelle’s Estate vineyards from
Margaret River ranging in age from 13
to 40 years. The soils are predominantly
deep, sandy loams with high lateritic gravel
content over clay. Shoot and leaf removal
techniques were used to ensure a balance
between fruit exposure to light whilst
providing protection from the midday sun.The lead up to harvest experienced a wild,
cool and windy November which interrupted
flowering and fruit set and ultimately
resulted in the lowest yields for a decade.
The summer leading into the 2013 vintage
recorded temperatures well above average
with perfect ripening conditions with white
fruit harvested quickly and early in February
and red fruit benefiting from a cool and mild
March allowing extended ripening and full
tannin maturity. Another great vintage for
Margaret River.

Winemaking

Fruit was selectively harvested based and
flavour and tannin maturity. After the fruit
was destemmed and berry sorted, some
berries kept whole to amplify the crunchy
fresh fruit characters. Individual vineyard
batches were fermented on skins for up to
15 days. At the desired balance of fruit and
tannin extraction, each batch was gently
basket pressed, with harder pressings kept
aside. The individual parcels were racked
to barriques and large oak vats following
pressing for malolactic fermentation.
Regular rackings over a 14 month period
ensured the individual wines were at their
best prior to blending. The wines were
matured in selected Burgundian coopered
barriques of which 20% were new, before
being bottled in September 2014.

Aging

10+ years

Appearance

Inky with purple hues.

Food Pairing

Well-marbled Wagyu burger, cherryglazed
duck magret and fresh roasted baby
vegetables. For dessert, the 2013
Cape Mentelle Shiraz would be well
complemented by a fresh forest berry tart
with a dollop of spiced cream.