Tannic Teeth

One of the many jewels illustriously studded into the LVMH crown, Cape Mentelle enjoys the cooperate success of being part of something bigger. LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesy) is the world’s largest luxury brand conglomerate owning the likes of the aforementioned also Gucci, Fendi, Tag Heuer, Château d’Yquem, Cloudy Bay and KRUG plus about 51 more iconic brands. This enables a lower revenue enterprise like vineyards and wineries to be propped up by the revenue from an overly priced pair of jeans. No wonder their wines dazzle with technical brilliance from a no expense spared environment.

Cape Mentelle Sangiovese 2006 [Margaret River] Western Australia 13.5%

‘Sangiovese quickly becoming a mainstream wine in Australia, is more approachable than Cabernet at the same age. Generous dark cherry and coffee notes waft from the surface of this wine, at times requiring some coaxing. There is also anise and spice evident on the nose, towards the palate it’s quite full bodied with plenty of guts, making up for perhaps where the nose lacked. Not at all lacking was the tannins, in abundance, but more velvety and of different texture than say Shiraz and Cab. The subtle influence of [stated] French oak edges this wine into chewy territory, the finish being of reasonable length and persistence. Top notch and highly recommended, but overall nothing out of the ordinary here – this is what you would expect when your siblings are d’Yquem and Cloudy Bay.’