Cape Mentelle Vineyards (commonly referred to as Cape Mentelle) is a wine estate in the
Margaret River region, 274 km, south-west of
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, Western Australia. The winery was founded by David Hohnen, a third-generation farmer who studied wine making and
viticulture
Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...
in California in the 1960s, and his brothers Mark and Giles.
[Halliday, J., 2007. ''Wine atlas of Australia''. Univ of California Press] 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
The Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy is the most prestigious and sought after wine award in Australia. The trophy is a memorial to Jimmy Watson (died 1962), who established the iconic Jimmy Watson's Wine Bar in Lygon Street, Carlton, a suburb of M ...
in 1983 and 1984 for their Cabernet sauvignon.
History
The winery is situated right next to oceanic
Cape Mentelle
Cape Mentelle is a limestone headland on the Indian Ocean coast of south-western Western Australia. It is within the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, just north of the mouth of the Margaret River and west of the town of Margaret River. It l ...
,
[Alonso, A.D. and Northcote, J., 2009. Wine, history, landscape: origin branding in Western Australia. ''British Food Journal''.] which it was named for. It was established by David Hohnen and his brothers Mark and Giles.
The brothers planted the first vines in 16 hectares, now known as the Wallcliffe Vineyard.
David, Mark and Giles experimented in a rammed earth shed for six years until producing their first Cabernet sauvignon in 1976
[Halliday, J., 2019. Cape Mentelle’s wheel of fortune. ''The Australian Newspaper,'' 13 December, p.6.] The brothers worked with Tom Cullity, the founder of the first Margaret River winery
Vasse Felix
Vasse Felix was the first vineyard and winery to be established in the Margaret River wine region of Western Australia. Founded in Wilyabrup in 1967 by Dr Tom Cullity, it is recognised as a pioneer of the region, and also features an acclaim ...
in 1967 to help produce their award-winning Cabernets of 1983 and 1984.
In 1983 and 1984, Cape Mentelle won the Jimmy Watson Memorial Award for the best one-year old dry red wine.
In 1990,
Veuve Clicquot
Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin () is a Champagne house founded in 1772 and based in Reims. It is one of the largest Champagne houses. Madame Clicquot is credited with major breakthroughs, creating the first known vintage champagne in 1810, and i ...
acquired 50 percent of the Cape Mentelle Vineyard, and then in 2000 took 100 percent ownership of the vineyard.
[Jordan, Ray (2002). ''Wine: Western Australia's Best''. Osborne Park, WA: The West Australian pp. 50–99.] In 2002, the
LVMH
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French holding multinational corporation and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. The company was formed in 1987 through the merger of fashion house ...
conglomerate bought Veuve Clicquot and with it the Cape Mentelle Vineyards.
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.
[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.]
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.
In January 2023,
Endeavour Group
Endeavour Group Ltd (EG) is an Australian alcoholic drinks retailer, hotel operator, and poker machine operator that was spun off from Woolworths Group in 2021.
History
In 2019, Woolworths restructured its alcoholic drinks business to form En ...
announced it had made an agreement to acquire Cape Mentelle.
See also
*
Australian wine
The Australian wine industry is one of the world's largest exporters of wine, with approximately 800 million out of the 1.2 to 1.3 billion litres produced annually exported to overseas markets. The wine industry is a significant contributor ...
*
List of wineries in Western Australia
This is a list of wineries in Western Australia, arranged in alphabetical order by name of winery.
See also
* Australian wine
* List of breweries in Australia
* List of vineyards and wineries
* Western Australian wine
References
Exte ...
*
Western Australian wine
Western Australian wine refers to wine produced in Australia's largest state, Western Australia. Although the state extends across the western third of the continent, its wine regions are almost entirely situated in the cooler climate of its sou ...
References
Notes
Bibliography
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External links
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{{Authority control
Wineries in Western Australia
LVMH brands
Margaret River, Western Australia
1970 establishments in Australia
Food and drink companies established in 1970