2021 Margaret River Chardonnay, Cape Mentelle
Margaret River, Australia
Restrained but smoky aromas with a touch of flinty reduction and rich grapefruit and peach flavours. The complexity is immediately evident with wonderful floral notes, stone fruits, and vanillin oak, all finely integrated. Tropical notes emerge more on the palate than with the aroma. Balanced, finesse, and exceptional length are very much the hallmarks of this stunning Chardonnay. It’s recommended to drink over the next eight to ten years.
For when: you want a white that feels like a deep breath of ocean air.
Pairs with: grilled fish, creamy risotto, or a roast chicken with lemon and thyme.
If this wine were a moment, it’d be the calm before sunset on the coast, golden light, salt in the breeze, and everything in balance.
Cape Mentelle, one of Margaret River’s founding estates, has been refining its Chardonnay craft for over 50 years. The 2021 vintage reflects that legacy, precision winemaking, hand-picked fruit, and subtle French oak shaping a wine that’s both generous and restrained.
Whats in the bottle
 100% Chardonnay
Notable Awards
 95 pts – Decanter
94 pts – James Suckling
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As one of Margaret River’s ‘founding five’ wineries, Cape Mentelle pioneered many of the region’s renowned wine styles and today is a benchmark for the quality of the region’s wines.
The winery takes its name from the nearby Cape, named by the French ‘Baudin Expedition’ which charted the coast of Western Australia in 1801. They named the Cape after two notable French scientists, geographer Edmund and his cartographer brother Francois-Simon Mentelle, who lived in Paris in the early 1700’s.
Wine industry pioneer David Hohnen and his brothers Mark and Giles established Cape Mentelle Vineyards in 1970. Our phenomenal Cape Mentelle journey started small with just 16 hectares of vines planted on what is now referred to as the ‘Wallcliffe Vineyard’. In the early years David Hohnen experimented with grape varieties including shiraz, cabernet, zinfandel, sauvignon blanc and semillon. Many of these original plantings are the source of the distinctive wines that have come to characterise Cape Mentelle. The winery’s flagship Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced primarily from the original Wallcliffe Vineyard.
The Chardonnay is hand-picked with a ‘one plot, one batch’ approach, after picking, the grapes are whole bunch pressed. The juice is transferred to barrel with all the solids, to undergo a wild fermentation. The fruit is sourced from the Crossroads and Chapman vineyards, mostly the Gingin clone. After fermentation, maturation is in French oak (88%) and tank (12%) for ten months. After this, all the finished wines are transferred to a tank for a further five months with monthly lees stirring.
Country	
Australia
Region	
Western Australia
Producer	
Cape Mentelle
Grape	
Chardonnay
Size	
750ml
Sub-Region	
Margaret River
Vintage	
2021
Types	
White Wine
2021 Margaret River Chardonnay, Cape Mentelle
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- Australia