Cape Mentelle's Cabernet Sauvignon under the guidance of Rob Mann has become one of Australia's most prestigious Cabernet's. Sourced from what many believe to be the true home to Cabernet in Australia, the Margaret River, Cape Mentelle produce a wine that has a plush full-flavoured palate of concentrated blackcurrants and mulberries with a minerally spine. Richly textured and vibrant the palate finishes long with fine yet firm gravelly tannins. A superb candidate for some medium to long term cellaring.

This wine shows the style of the vintage and quite likely the impact of the small crop. In such years, Cabernet Sauvignon in particular, has a complex but somewhat subdued nose, where the wine hints of the underlying power and complexity but takes years to reveal its true colours. So here we see smouldering red currant, black currant and mulberry, with a floral, violet lift, sitting over cedar and tar. On the palate there is concentration and length - dark fruits combining with firm tannin and leather and tarry notes.

Colour and Condition: Deep brick red hue; bright condition. Nose: A really youthful appeal, with an immediate impression of dark fruit aromas black berries, mulberries and black currants. A second viewing shows the beginnings Merlots darker side, with tar, leather and earth just starting to add complexity into the background. Palate: The classic Merlot palate, with rich, dark berry flavours like black jubes filling the front and mid palate. Firm tannin then takes over and gives the wine a linear, astringent but not too aggressive finish, which is juicy and concentrated.