David Hohnen, the driving force behind Cape Mentelle and Cloudy Bay, has launched a range of Margaret River wines.

Hohnen – who was with the pioneering wineries from their inception until he left in 2003 – has teamed up with his daughter Freya and brother-in-law Murray McHenry to launch a range of six wines from the Western Australian appellation.

Eighteen grape varieties are planted across the four vineyards, including commercial quantities of formerly experimental varieties such as Mataro, Graciano, Tempranillo, Marsanne and Roussane.

‘If you look beyond the usual Bordeaux varieties and Chardonnay in Margaret River, there are opportunities you could never have dreamed of,’ said Hohnen. ‘If anyone’s going to give these varieties a profile, it just might be me.’

At the bottom of the range are two regional wines, a Shiraz and a Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon, blended from bought-in wine.

The grapes from the family vineyards are used in a Chardonnay (Calgardup Brook), Tempranillo-Cabernet Sauvignon-Petit Verdot blend (Tiger Country), and two Rhône blends under the 3 Amigos label.

Total production in the first vintage, 2004, was 1000 cases excluding the two regional wines. In the future Hohnen plans to add a Zinfandel to the range, and is currently working with seven clones of the variety.

Written by Amy Wislocki

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Amy Wislocki
Amy Wislocki
Magazine Editor

Amy has 30 years' experience in publishing, and worked at a senior level for leading companies in the consumer, business-to-business and contract publishing arenas, before joining Decanter in October 2000 as Magazine Editor, aged just 28. As well as overseeing content planning and production for the print offering, she has also been involved in developing digital channels, Decanter.com and Decanter Premium.