Cape Mentelle Vineyards

Cape Mentelle Vineyards (commonly referred to as Cape Mentelle) is a wine estate in the Margaret River region, 274 km south-west of Perth, Western Australia. The winery was founded by David Hohnen, a third-generation farmer who studied wine making and viticulture in California in the 1960s, and his brothers Mark and Giles.[1] Cape Mentelle is one of the ‘founding five’ wineries in Margaret River, was established in 1970, and came to prominence by winning the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy in both 1983 and 1984 for their Cabernet sauvignon.[1]

This article is about the winery. For the limestone headland, see Cape Mentelle.

Cape Mentelle Vineyards
Location331 Wallcliffe Road, Margaret River, Western Australia 6285, Australia
Coordinates33°58′03″S 115°02′16″E
Wine regionMargaret River
Founded1970 (1970)
First vintage1976
Parent company
  • Estates & Wines
  • (owned by LVMH)
Known forCape Mentelle Cabernet Sauvignon
VarietalsChardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon blanc, Semillon, Shiraz, Zinfandel
DistributionInternational
TastingOpen to public
Websitecapementelle.com.au

History

The winery is situated right next to oceanic Cape Mentelle,[2] which it was named for. It was established by David Hohnen and his brothers Mark and Giles, and they planted the first vines in 1970.[2] The brothers planted the vines in 16 hectares, now known as the Wallcliffe Vineyard, renowned for producing their classic Cabernet.[2]

David, Mark and Giles experimented in a rammed earth shed for six years until producing their first vintage of Cabernet sauvignon in 1976[3] The brothers worked with Tom Cullity, the founder of the first Margaret River winery Vasse Felix in 1967 to help produce their award-winning Cabernets of 1983 and 1984.[3] In 1983 and 1984, Cape Mentelle won the Jimmy Watson Memorial Award for the best one-year old dry red wine.[3]

In 1990, Veuve Clicquot acquired 50 percent of the Cape Mentelle Vineyard, and then in 2000 took 100 percent ownership of the vineyard[4] In 2002 the present owners, LVMH group bought Veuve Clicquot and with it the Cape Mentelle Vineyards.[4]

In 2010, Cape Mentelle was the first winery in the Margaret River to attain the Entwine accreditation (total sustainable winegrowing Australia). This requires the winery to report annually and continue to minimise their impact on the surrounding environment.[5]

In 2020, Cape Mentelle had their 50-year anniversary and celebrated it by having Ocean Photographer Eugene Tan (Aquabumps) take photos of the Cape and vineyard to document the Margaret River's 50th year as a wine region.[5]

Geography

The Margaret River is positioned in the South West of Western Australia, 277 kilometres south of Perth. The river itself is located 9 kilometres inland from the Indian Ocean, with the area having an annual average rainfall of 1,130 millimetres. In the summer months the average day temperature is 26 °C, whilst in the winter months the average day temperature is 17 °C

This Mediterranean style climate, lacking extreme summer and winter temperatures, provides an ideal temperate climate for producing wine with minimal risk of flooding or frost.[6] With available water from Margaret River and adequate exposure to sunlight this area is able to produce great Cabernet and Chardonnay wines.[6]

The Margaret River region has undulating ironstone gravel soils, with Eucalyptus callophylla growing, which Gladstone indicated would yield prime vineyard soils.[6] The climate of the region suggests season parallels to Bordeaux, instructing the first houses to plant and produce classic cabernet and merlot wines.[6] This is what lead David and his brothers to plant and produce their award-winning Cabernet back in 1983 and 1984.

See also

References

Notes
  1. Halliday, J., 2007. Wine atlas of Australia. Univ of California Press
  2. Alonso, A.D. and Northcote, J., 2009. Wine, history, landscape: origin branding in Western Australia. British Food Journal.
  3. Halliday, J., 2019. Cape Mentelle’s wheel of fortune. The Australian Newspaper, 13 December, p.6.
  4. Jordan, Ray (2002). Wine: Western Australia's Best. Osborne Park, WA: The West Australian pp. 50–99.
  5. Ball, J. and Stolle, M., 2019. Cellar doors: The impact of cellar doors: Design, experiences, and maximising customer relationships. Wine & Viticulture Journal, 34(4), p.60.
  6. Tile, P.J., Stuart-Street, A. and Gardiner, P.S., 2020. Geology, soils and climate of the Margaret River wine region.

Bibliography
  • Halliday, James (1985). The Australian Wine Compendium. North Ryde, NSW: Angus & Robertson. pp. 473–477, 490–507. ISBN 0207151377.
  • Halliday, James (2008). James Halliday's Wine Atlas of Australia (rev. ed.). Prahran, Vic: Hardie Grant Books. pp. 234–239. ISBN 9781740666855.
  • Jordan, Ray (2002). Wine: Western Australia's Best. Osborne Park, WA: The West Australian. pp. 50–99. ISBN 0909699887.
  • Scott, Jane; Negus, Patricia (2011). Stories from the Cellar Door: Fifty Margaret River Wineries Tell Their Tales. North Fremantle, WA: Cape to Cape Publishing. pp. 26–27, 106–110. ISBN 9780980333763.
  • Wiltshire, Trea (2000). Margaret River. Australian Wine Regions series. Singapore: R. Ian Lloyd Productions. ISBN 9810426747.
  • Zekulich, Michael (2000). Wine Western Australia (all new ed.). Perth: St George Books. pp. 122–235. ISBN 0867780614.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.