Zinfandel 2016
Presumed to have originated in the Balkans, zinfandel was introduced to the estate vineyard from California in 1974. Zinfandel is a particularly demanding variety to manage in the vineyard where it is prone to unruly behaviour. The rewards are reaped in the cellar, where we honor its Northern American heritage with traditional long maceration techniques and spicy oak to produce this uniquely rich and generous wine that has been a favourite of Cape Mentelle followers for years.
Nose
Delicious notes of Christmas cake, glazed
cherries, raisins, orange peel and lots of jammy,
red fruit. Wild strawberry compote characters
are combined with subtle aromas of sous-bois
(forest floor), clove and vanilla caramel oak.
Both immediately friendly and inviting at
first whiff, the nose is seriously complex and
opens to intricate spice and oak characters
that magnify the unmistakable, ripe, varietal
zinfandel fruit notes.
Palate
Similar to the nose, the flavour develops
through a ‘yummy’ fruit sweetness to an intense
complexity and tannin structure. The fruit is
opulent and framed by long supple but focused
tannins, giving the wine a very serious direction
and exceptional length, this zinfandel claims its
Croatian origins as well as its American style
generous winegrowing.
Blend
Zinfandel 85%, Shiraz 15%
Cellaring
This wine will continue to develop complexity over many years. 10-25 years recommended.
Food Pairing Notes
Not just for barbecues, this wine matches
perfectly generously intense flavours such
as a wood-fired pepperoni calzone, pepper-
crusted Tomahawk steaks, osso bucco or a
wild mushroom ragu.
The Vineyard
The fruit for this wine is sourced from our
original block of 1974 elongated bush vines,
planted at the western edge of the Estate
property but also includes a small parcel of
zinfandel planted by our founders at their
Burnside vineyard a short distance away.
All operations are conducted manually
throughout the season as this fussy variety
requires enormous care, although it remains
one of the team’s favourite ‘unruly children’.
The Season
After a dry winter Margaret River experienced
a moderately warm summer punctuated by
unusual rainfalls in the second half of January
delaying the first harvest picks by about 10
days. Moderate daytime and low overnight
temperatures followed, allowing exceptional
preservation of the varietal aromas and a long
harvest period to pick each small parcel of fruit
at optimum conditions. In the third week of
March the zinfandel was handpicked into small
crates with a capacity of only 6.5kgs, for the
short transfer down the hill into the winery.
Winemaking
After destemming and a very light crush, the
must was allowed to soak at cool temperatures
for several days prior to fermentation to
naturally rehydrate the raisins - so typical
of this variety. The wine steadily fermented
to dryness prior to basket pressing directly
to oak barriques for malolactic fermentation
and maturation. We used around 50% new
oak with a combination of origins (French,
American and Hungarian) to highlight the
multiple facets and origins of this variety, for
a total of 18 months.
Analysis
14.2% alcohol, 5.9 g/l total acidity, 3.6 pH
