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Wine Of The
Month
Cape
Mentelle, established in 1970 is today a partnership between
champagne house, Venue Clicquot Ponsardin and the winery’s
co-founder, David Hohnen.
One of
the first vineyards in the Margaret River region, Cape Mentelle
farms eighty hectares of vines at two sites. The original estate
and winery are located between the township of Margaret River
and the cape from which it takes its name. A second vineyard has
been developed sixteen kilometers to the south at Chapman Brook.
The
winery incorporates current technology with the time-honoured
vinification methods appropriate to each variety.
The
Margaret River region lies at the confluence of the Indian and
Great Southern Oceans, on the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge. Rising
from an ancient granite landmass, its undulating hills surround
the water courses that drain the ridge. The soils of decomposed
granite, weathered to ironstone gravels over friable clay,
support the tall stands of Marri and Jarrah trees depicted on
the Cape Mentelle label. |
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The climate,
categorized ‘west coast Mediterranean’, features mild, wet winters
and warm to hot summers, with a profound maritime influence providing
humidity and cooling breezes in the height of summer.
The Wines of Cape Mentelle
| Cabernet
Sauvignon |
Zinfandel
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| Cabernet
Merlot ‘Trinders Vineyard’ |
Semillon
Sauvignon |
| Shiraz
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Chardonnay
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Cape Mentelle
and its sister winery Cloudy Bay in Marlborough, New Zealand share a
commitment to ‘wines of region’. Emphasis is placed on varietal and
regional character with a recognizable estate style.
The Margaret
River wine region is located 280km south of Perth, Western Australia at
latitude 34os. The
vineyards of Cape Mentelle lie in the heart of this world renowned
region, where over one thousand hectares of vines flourish under sunny
Australian skies.
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Semillon
Sauvignon 1999
Cyclonic
weather activity jeopardised vintage but fruit eventually
achieved full ripeness and was harvested in excellent condition.
Winemakers
Notes
Focused, intense aromas of lantana, passionfruit and lemon rind
with just a hint of spicy oak, lead into this lively wine. The
palate follows with the same clean and refreshing flavours
together with a complex structure of great harmony and symmetry.
The finish is defined by persistence and length.
Grapes
are sourced from both estate and contract growers in the
Margaret River region. Gravel laterite soils predominate in most
of the best vineyards with some sandy loam soils in other
vineyards. A range of canopy management strategies are employed,
all with the objective of maximising sunlight into the fruiting
zone. The most favoured technique is vertical shoot positioning
which improves sunlight exposure, thereby enhancing fruit
flavour development. Irrigation is used judiciously to maintain
balanced vine growth and a steady rate of ripening.
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Season
A
cold, wet winter with heavy rains until September
preceded a mild spring with fine weather and light
winds. This led to a late but prolific bud-burst and
flowering, promising high yields. Early summer provided
just enough sun and rain to accelerate vine growth after
the late veraison, but vintage still started late
because of the extra crops the vines had to carry. The
slower ripening however, ensured good fruit intensity
and balance. Heavy rain and some cyclonic activity
threatened vintage but after some worrying moments, it
was eventually completed successfully. Bird damage was
minimal this year due to an excellent harvest of marri
blossom during February and March. |
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Harvest
The most drawn out vintage for our white varieties ever
experienced in Margaret River. Harvest commenced on March 6th
with some sauvignon blanc and ended on the 7th April with some
more sauvignon blanc. Constant monitoring in our vineyards and
the weather charts were the key to bringing in clean,
flavoursome, fully ripe fruit this year. Average ripeness for
the Semillon was 22.5 brix and 6.2g/l acid, while the average
ripeness for our sauvignon was 22.9 brix and 6.8g/l acid. |
the location of Cape Mentelle |
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Vinification
Fruit was machine harvested at night to ensure its arrival at
the winery in cool condition. A small amount of s02 and a
pectolytic enzyme is added to the fruit before crushing/destemming
and transfer through a must chiller to a tank press. The juice
is gently expressed from the skins with some batches of semillon
receiving extended skin contact for further flavour extraction
and to facilitate presssing. The juice was racked off gross lees
and fermented at 15 degrees Celsius in stainless steel tanks
with 30% of the blend fermented in new French and American oak
barrels and left on lees for 3 months. All batches were
bentonite fined and filtered before blending the batches judged
to be our best. Bottling took place in August/September, 1999. |
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