2019 Zinfandel
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Our founder, David Hohnen, fell in love with this variety whilst studying in the US in the early 70’s. He brought his new discovery home to be planted in 1974 on the Wallcliffe Estate Vineyard. This fickle variety demands great attention viticulturally, requiring a high bush vine trellis with plenty of space and air for the large compact bunches. It has become a cult classic for us, making a powerful yet fresh version of this ancient variety, enticing its followers each year to return and enjoy.
Nose
Exuding rich aromas of Christmas pudding lifted with raspberry and rhubarb, layered with plum, citrus marmalade, cocoa, vanilla and sweet spices - it has it all!
Palate
A generous sweetness on the approach with black cherry preserve and candied orange, then figs, cinnamon and cardamom through the mid-palate. Supple, mouth filling tannins are powerful and bold with lingering redcurrant and bright acidity
Blend
91% zinfandel, 9% shiraz
Cellaring
Ready for enjoyment in its youth, this wine can also be cellared for 10 years and beyond.
Food Pairing Notes
Lamb and pistachio meatballs.
Parmesan stuffed mushrooms.
Apricot tart.
The Vineyard
Zinfandel is known as an iconic wine at Cape Mentelle but an unusual grape varietal for Margaret River. This brings challenges each year for our viticultural team as the large bunches are notoriously thin skinned, potentially creating the risk for disease incidence during cooler vintages. This small block of zinfandel is located on our Estate vineyard, just 4kms from the Indian Ocean. Bush vines demand significant attention to detail with all tasks, such as canopy management, fruit thinning and shoot positioning, all carried out by hand. The aim is to produce fruit with a dense concentration of flavour and powerful expression of place. A ‘vintage made in the vineyard’ could not be more apt for 2019. A comparatively late and a long season, with lower yields than the previous year. With good vineyard management practices, the quality of the resulting wine was a reflection on the pedigree of this site.
Winemaking
Zinfandel was handpicked in early March to capture confectionary flavours from shrivelled berries and bright red fruit flavours from whole berries, along with ripe tannin. The fruit was then fermented in stainless steel tanks with selected yeast. Daily tasting guided extraction and maceration to reach concentration and balance of structure. With careful monitoring batches were basket pressed after 47 days on skins and pressings kept separate. Integrating only the best pressings back to retain the powerful structure of zinfandel, it was matured in barrel for 18 months using 50% new French, American and Hungarian oak building complexity. Requiring no fining the final blend was filtered prior to being Estate bottled.
Analysis
14.1% alcohol
7.27 g/l total acidity
3.47 pH
Suitable for vegans
