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Shiraz

A powerful and elegant shiraz exuding aromas of blueberry and violets with a long, silky palate carrying flavours of ripe plum and spice. Traditional winemaking techniques including gentle basket pressing and maturation in French oak enhance the inherent intensity and character of this wine.

Vintage Notes

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Shiraz 2011

Cape Mentelle Shiraz draws inspiration from the techniques and wines of the Northern Rhône Valley in France. The fruit is destemmed, berry sorted, cold soaked and traditionally fermented. Maturation in both large oak vats and small barriques is aimed at retaining the refined fruit, floral and spice characters of the variety.

Appearance

Inky with purple hues.

Nose

The aromas are deep and penetrating showing rich blueberry fruit with plum skins, aniseed, black pepper and allspice.

Palate

A wine of great depth which has mulberry and blueberry fruit supported by a touch of dark chocolate and liquorice. The structure is fi rm and savoury with the sweet berry fruit balanced by a long, spicy fi nish which is bright, fruit driven and sure to age very well.

Blend

100% shiraz.

Cellaring

Drink now to 2031.

Food Pairing Notes

Wagyu beef tataki served with shitake and enoki mushroom salad and a truffl e mayonnaise.

Show Technical Notes and Reviews

The Vineyard

The fruit for this wine was sourced from Cape Mentelle’s Estate Vineyards in Margaret River, with vines ranging in maturity from 12 - 39 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 Season

The early 2011 harvest in Margaret River was warm and dry and continued an excellent run of recent vintages. Warm nights and above average daily temperatures throughout the growing season led to very early ripening across all varieties, with harvest commencing earlier than any of the last 5 vintages. Ripe and plush with velvety tannins and abundant fruit fl avour are the result of an outstanding vintage.

Winemaking

Fruit was selectively harvested based on fl avour and tannin maturity. After the fruit was destemmed and berry sorted, 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. Following pressing the individual parcels were racked to barriques and large oak vats 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 November 2012.

Analysis

13.5% alcohol, 6.0g/l total acidity, 3.6 pH.

The West Australian Wine Guide 2014

Ray Jordan

Such elegance and style. This is clearly one of the finest shiraz in the state. Spicy plum on the nose is purely enticing. The palate has a delightful dusty tannin influence that sits well with the medium to full-bodied fruit married perfectly with fine grained oak. Intense lingering finish of a wine with great character and complexity.

The Wine Front

Campbell Mattinson

Destemmed, fermented on skins for a couple of weeks, basket pressed and then matured in large oak vats. The pathway to, as it turned out, a superb shiraz release from Cape Mentelle. This is a beauty. Roasted meats, black pepper, some smoky reduction, a plushness and yet, overwhelmingly, a spicy discipline throughout. Completely unafraid of tannin, all peppery and nutty and firm. Black, polished, gorgeous cherries. Black, red and purple notes. Immaculately clean, bossed into shape by all that dry tannin, and yet exciting to drink, smell, revisit.

Australian Wine Companion 2014

James Halliday

Full crimson-purple; the fragrant, almost flowery bouquet is followed by an intense, long and complex medium-to full-bodied palate, reflecting an extended maturation in predominantly used French oak; the plaum and blackberry fruits have a generous sprinkling of spice and pepper coupled with fine, savoury tannins.

The Australian Wine Annual 2014

Jeremy Oliver

A savoury, deeply flavoured and finely balanced shiraz whose dusty, spicy bouquet of blackberries, black jelly beans and dark plums reveals nuances of rhubarb, fresh cedary oak plus hints of clove and black pepper. It’s long and elegant, with a pristine presence of blackberries, blueberries, cassis and dark plums deftly knit with crunchy tannins, fresh cedar/vanilla oak and a delightful acidity.

Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine

Huon Hooke & Bob Cambell MW

This is a full -bodied, powerful but elegant Shiraz which will cellar for many years. les deep, bright red- purple in colour and has a fresh plum aroma with subtle spices. The palate is dense and layered in solid tannins. A serious, generously flavoured red.

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