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NOTES
Jane and Andrew Mitchell established the winery in 1975 on the Mitchell family property in the western hills of the Clare Valley in South Australia. An old sandstone apple store was converted to serve as a rustic cellar door sales area. Continued growth has resulted in further development of the winery buildings and winemaking plant.
The grapes for Mitchell wines come from the company’s four local vineyards. Varieties planted are Riesling, Semillon, Shiraz, Merlot, Grenache and Cabernet. Vine age ranges from as little as five to over fifty five years. Soils are red-brown loam and clay over limestone. The altitude of these vineyards is between 300 and 400 metres and the average rainfall in the vicinity of 600mm, falling mostly in the winter (May–September).
The largest vineyard is located at Watervale, several kilometres south of the winery. This vineyard was acquired in 1995 and is planted with 50 year old dry grown Grenache and Riesling grapes. Set on the exposed eastern slopes of undulating hills, with long rows of vines, this can be a very bleak place in the middle of winter at pruning time. This has led to it becoming known among the vineyard workers as Alcatraz - a place to do penance in the cold, wind and rain of a Clare winter. Alcatraz is particularly suited to the Riesling variety. The other major vineyard is at the winery site at Sevenhill. Planted entirely to red grapes: Cabernet, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, this is the source vineyard for the Mitchell Cabernet.
TASTING NOTES
Mitchell Cabernet Sauvignon is a classic Clare Valley wine. It shows strong ‘berry’ flavours on the nose, with overtones of dusty new French oak aromas. The palate is very full flavoured and the wine has a firm tannic finish. When seen as a young wine it is the potential of the structure which stands out. The essential ingredients - fruit, oak, acidity and tannins - are present in the right proportions. All that is needed is 5 to 10 years (or more) in the cellar to allow these components to harmonise. The result is an elegant wine of great power.
OTHER REVIEWS
Youthful wine, with the cassis and blackcurrant of the bouquet and fore-palate still to mesh with the tannins; will likely be long lived. Screwcap. 91 Points, James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2009
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