Out Of The Bottle
With David Ellis
Capel Vale 2010 Chardonnay & Mandala Wine Pinot Noir 2010 Vintage
Western Australia’s Capel Vale has come a long way since Perth
medico, Dr Peter Pratten and his wife Elizabeth were the first to
recognise the potential of the quiet banks of the Capel River for
cool-climate viticulture, planting their first vineyards there back in
1974.
And an interesting new release from their still
family-owned Capel Vale is a Debut label 2010 Chardonnay that’s
made from fruit that’s largely from vines that were first planted as
Riesling and Gewurztraminer, and cut-back and grafted-over to
Chardonnay in the late 1970s.
This buy-now, drink-now wine has
lovely tropical pineapple aromas together with some peach, apple and
melon, and on the palate displays plenty of fresh varietal citrus and
stone-fruit characters.
Pay $18 and match it with pan-fried baby snapper served with baked eggplant, tomato and a sprinkling of basil. One For Lunch
Victoria's Yarra Valley maker Mandala Wines has released a more-ish
Pinot Noir from the excellent 2010 vintage, after skipping a year in
2009 because of climatic problems that owner Charles Smedley did not
want to see impact on the company’s show-case reputation.
“The
2010 vintage was outstanding with warm and mild conditions allowing for
a long and gentle growing season,” he says. “And particularly good was
rain that came at exactly the right time, negating the need for
irrigation and thus expressing our cool climate sites to their very
best.”
Here’s a Pinot Noir from vines that were both fruit- and
shoot-thinned to lower yield and maximise flavour, and which is
reflected in the beautifully forward ripe red-berry fruit on the
palate. Pay $28 and embrace this one with duck confit or a cold
charcuterie platter.
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