Nose
Abundant blueberry, dark chocolate, star anise and morello cherries.
Palate
A focused blend of inky black fruits and black pepper, overlaid with subtle savoury
oak. It is classically spicy with a long and tightly wound palate rewarding with great
intensity.
Growing Conditions
Th e fruit for this wine was sourced from the Wallcliff e and Trinders Estate vineyards
along with selected growers from the southern half of Margaret River. Th e
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. Th e 2006 vintage in Margaret River was a challenging vintage for many reasons. In
general it was a very cool vintage with a late budburst and restricted early shoot growth
due to a cool and dry 2005 spring. When some warm weather arrived in November
shoot growth accelerated producing strong, healthy canopies with moderate crops. Th e
summer months proved to be unseasonally mild with occasional light rain. Th e result
of the mild conditions was a harvest delayed by up to four weeks across all varieties, the
latest vintage recorded in the region’s forty years of viticultural experience.
Winemaking
Cape Mentelle Shiraz takes inspiration from the techniques and wines of France’s Northern Rhône Valley.
Traditional fermentation and maturation in both large oak vats and small barriques is aimed at retaining
the refi ned fruit and fl oral characters of the variety along with the more savoury, spicy elements derived
from the vineyard.Th e fruit was harvested by hand and machine. Ferments took place in both open and
static stainless steel fermenters and were managed with a combination of plunging
and pump overs. All batches were basket pressed and transferred to large oak vats
for malolactic fermentation. Th e wine was matured for 14 months in predominantly
Burgundian coopered French oak barriques, 30% of which were new, before being
bottled in October 2007.
Appearance
Dark mulberry red with purple hues
Food Pairing
Beijing Duck
