2012 Cape Mentelle Cabernet Sauvignon
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
Vivid ruby-red. Ripe cherry and dark berry liqueur aromas, along with suggestions of cedary oak, pipe tobacco and vanilla. Sweet and focused on the palate, offering intense, nicely concentrated (but in no way heavy) blackberry and cherry-vanilla flavors that pick up a smoky nuance with aeration. Closes spicy and very long, with a lingering dark berry quality and even tannins that come in late. There's Old World elegance and balance here, which should appeal greatly to those who tend to be wary of most Cabernets from, say, the Barossa Valley.
Critic scores
Josh Raynolds
Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Bigger, richer and rounder than the elegant, streamlined 2011, Cape Mentelle's 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon reveals herb-inflected notes of cassis and vanilla on the nose. It's medium to full-bodied, with hints of bay leaf and sage layered over dark fruit and an undercurrent of earth and pipe tobacco. The tannins are still prominent but fine-grained and look sure to evolve toward silken savoriness within another couple of years, after which it should drink well for at least a decade.