Cape Mentelle - Products - 2018 Heritage Shiraz Singapore

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2018 Heritage Shiraz

"A daring and powerful Shiraz abundant with diverse dark fruits. An alluring wine promoting curiosity!" Coralie Lewis, Senior Winemaker

Representing our finest selection of Shiraz from our estate vineyards expressing clearly varietal and vintage, and only made in the best of years, this wine is the pinnacle for us of this noble grape in a cool elegant corner of Australia. Bearing the dark spice and forest floor characters which are hallmarks of Margaret River, wrapped in a fine textured umami envelope of goodness, this wine takes us on a wonderful journey, of which we are merely taking our first steps.

Appearance

Dark garnet with a ruby hue.

Nose

A powerful bouquet of blood orange, coco and dark plums is followed by dried lavender, spice and smoky-toasty barrel nuances.

Palate

The palate is opulent and bold with wide shoulders. Black cherry, dark soy sauce and forest floor mingling with some dry bush herbs. Tannins are softening nicely with a silky texture while the finish is persistent, with cigar and grilled almond characters.

Blend

98% shiraz 2% viognier

Cellaring

Up to 15 years

Food Pairing Notes

Texan style pork ribs with smokey barbecue sauce. Tomato, date and chickpea tagine. A simple platter of bresaola.

Show Technical Notes and Reviews

The Vineyard

Shiraz is the only red variety planted at all of our estate vineyard sites, ripening at different times and giving us a myriad of complexity and blending options. Heavy winter rains recharged soil moisture levels and led into a calm, settled period for fruit set to give moderate crop levels. The growing season progressed quickly with warm conditions and low rainfall in November. Vineyard crews focused their efforts of canopy manipulation across summer to ensure sunlight penetration and airflow into the canopies. The abundance of Marri tree blossom kept the birds occupied, allowing the grapes to ripen in perfect health and fully balanced maturity. Harvest began mid-February following a cooler end to the summer period. The resulting fruit quality was good, with teams hand harvesting our top blocks during early mornings to preserve quality. Harvest conditions proved to be ideal with the usual heavy, late season rains holding off until the last of the fruit was picked.

Winemaking

The fruit was destemmed and lightly crushed to open fermenters, with the Crossroads Vineyard fruit receiving 2% viognier for co-fermentation, elevating aromatics and deepening colour. The ferments proceeded with wild yeasts, utilising punchdowns, pump overs and delestage (juice removal then pumped over the top for aeration and extraction purposes). In total, the Trinders fruit spent 44 days on skins, while the Crossroads fruit spent 33 days developing optimum balance of tannin, fruit and colour. Light basket pressing followed with malolactic fermentation taking place in French (86%) and Hungarian (14%) oak barriques (71% new). The wine was aged on lees for 7 months, before being racked off lees and aged a further 12 months before it was blended and bottled with no fining.

Analysis

14.7% alcohol 5.33 g/l total acidity 3.73 pH Suitable for vegans

The Real Review

Stuart Knox

#2 of 26 MR Shiraz 2018

Deep ruby red with pepper spices, red berries, and a beef stock aromatic profile. Medium to full bodied with dark spices, blue fruits and a savoury beef and vegetable savoury element. Great length and persistence that is caressed by fine tannins and a hint of acidity. All the components have come into harmony, and it is a pleasure to taste.

Halliday Wine Companion

Jane Faulkner

This is no wallflower. It’s voluminous, full of ripe, plump tannins and lots of cedary oak adding to its structure and flavour. There’s also a core of good fruit and layers of savouriness – tobacco, woodsmoke, beef stock and all manner of spices. It’s persistent on the finish, detailed and will have a big fan base.

Wine Pilot

Ken Gargett

From a mix of vineyards – Trinders, Crossroads and Chapman – the wine has 2% Viognier included, which was co-fermented. It also includes 14% 2019 material (perfectly legal, of course, and designed to add complexity and freshness). Native yeasts used. Maturation was for a total of 19 months, in 86% French oak and 14% Hungarian, 71% was new.
This is a powerful, concentrated wine. Inky dark maroon in colour, we have notes of dark chocolate, beefstock, smoky black fruits, most especially black currants. Finely focused, the finish exhibits tannins, lots of them, but silky. Really good length here. Notes of roast meats on the palate. Give it five years and then revel in a cracking Marg River Shiraz for the following ten to fifteen years.