Cape Mentelle Zinfandel 2018

Long a curiosity on the Aussie wine scene and a wine that must have appeared in a thousand options games, this is our most famous zin. Deep red, burly with chocolate and cherry notes with serious concentration here. Anyone more familiar with those froth and frivolous Zins from the States will be blown away – there are, of course, plenty of zinfandels from the US which are equally impressive or even more so, but none from downunder match the Cape Mentelle. It comes from the Wallcliffe Vineyard, planted by David Hohnen in 1974. At 15.5%, it is no shrinking violet, but then this wine has never been that with 9% shiraz blended in. 50% new oak which hails 50% from France, 25% American and 25% Hungarian. 

It is perhaps a little more blocky than flowing on the palate with black fruits and liquorice. It is powerful and with good tannins plus plenty of oak, though all are well balanced. This is a really good zin and one of the best I’ve seen from Cape Mentelle.