Cape Mentelle is one of Margaret River’s founding labels, its estate vineyard dating to the pioneering Hohnen plantings of the 1970s. Chapman Brook came a generation later, planted during an era when sauvignon blanc-semillon blends were produced at scale and defined the regional offering. The region has shifted considerably since then – toward site-driven winemaking, premium chardonnay as the flagship white, and a more nuanced reading of what each block within a property can express. Chapman Brook’s ongoing redevelopment is a direct response to that evolution: more than a quarter of the property has been replanted since 2018, with a further 13 hectares of chardonnay to be completed by the end of next year, positioning the site squarely around Cape Mentelle’s three wine pillars – chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and shiraz. “Hopefully someone will look back on these new blocks,” says Angland, “as we do on the original 1970 Hohnen vines out in front of the winery – the vines which provide the backbone to our flagship wine.”
The two Cape Mentelle properties are distinct in almost every meaningful way. The Estate vineyard in Wallcliffe – one of the founding vineyards of the Margaret River region, planted from 1970 – sits around 5 kilometres from the Indian Ocean, on the classic free-draining lateritic soils with high ironstone gravel content that define the Wallcliffe subregion. It is red wine country: cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, shiraz and zinfandel, the Bordeaux varieties David Hohnen planted because the site so closely mirrors the climatic conditions of that region. Chapman Brook, by contrast, is located 16 kilometres inland in the southern half of the appellation, near the headwaters of its namesake brook and the hamlet of Witchcliffe. Here the maritime influence is gentler, arriving later in the afternoon and producing a wider diurnal temperature swing through summer. The soils – sandy loam over ironstone pockets rather than the heavy gravel of Wallcliffe – drain freely but retain more moisture, and the combination of greater sun exposure, extended hang time and cool nights makes the site a natural fit for white varieties: chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and semillon above all. Where the Estate is the heartland of Cape Mentelle’s red wine identity, Chapman Brook is where its white wine ambitions are being realised. “We feel very grateful to be able to look after the sites that we have at Cape Mentelle,” says Angland, “with both properties having a long history with the brand – the Estate and Chapman Brook vineyards have been 55 and 33 years respectively within our portfolio.”
The replanting has not been a simple reset but an opportunity to apply three decades of accumulated site knowledge. Soil sampling has guided matching of varieties and rootstocks to specific soil profiles. Vine density has been increased – new blocks planted at 2m x 1.2m or 2.5m x 1.2m, closing the gap along the wire to better match vigour and improve efficiency. New trellis infrastructure using recyclable Ecotrellis posts replaces old pine. Valve locations and irrigation splits have been redesigned from the ground up. The Gingin clone of chardonnay – a cult favourite in the region, with its characteristic hen-and-chicken berry formation concentrating flavour intensity – features prominently in the new plantings. “We have had the opportunity to reshape these blocks, figuratively and literally, to how we think they can best be set up to not only grow great fruit, but also handle the challenges of a changing environment,” says Angland.
The site’s water security is a genuine asset in a region increasingly aware of climatic uncertainty. The Chapman Brook itself runs through the property, with winter flow pumped into turkey nest dams to supply irrigation through the growing season. Permits to pump are secured for the next ten years. But the approach to how that water is applied has been significantly refined. Athena infrared sensors now track vine stress rather than soil moisture alone – measuring the plant’s actual physiological response rather than a proxy for it. The MAIT automated valve system schedules irrigation overnight or in the early morning for maximum efficiency. A Scholander pressure bomb has been used alongside the Athena sensors for stem water potential readings. “We aren’t looking to treat everything the same year after year,” says Angland. “We look to be reactive rather than prescriptive, and look for these areas of personality that create beautiful and expressive wines.”
That search for personality within a large site demands an unusually detailed understanding of its variation. Physiocap vigour mapping, EM38 electromagnetic scanning, drone imagery and ongoing phenology tracking have been layered over years to build a picture of which blocks behave how, and when. The result is a vineyard managed in fine-grained units – blocks sectioned by vigour profile, with harvest timing, nutritional inputs and canopy management adjusted accordingly. Soil organic matter above 10 per cent across key areas of the site is, Angland notes, a reflection of long-term management that predates her tenure. “The more we invest into our properties with a long-term focus on soil and vine health, the better our wines seem to be. This comes down to nutritional decisions, spray programming, even how we travel through our sites during wet periods.” Cover cropping runs on a rotational plan incorporating twelve-species green manure blends – four clover varieties for nitrogen fixation, alongside legumes and brassicas – building organic matter, soil moisture retention and habitat for beneficial insects. Compost made from winery grape marc is returned to the vineyard. Unnecessary tractor passes during wet periods are avoided to protect soil structure.
At scale – nearly 50 hectares, six permanent staff and seasonal contractors – the discipline required to maintain this standard of management is considerable. Spray units across all sites are fitted with FMR recycling systems that capture and return any product that moves beyond the canopy target, eliminating drift waste. The irrigation upgrade, replanting program and technology investment are all oriented toward the same long-term objective: a vineyard that can sustain itself and its quality across the next 30 to 50 years. A biodiversity assessment with Nature Conservation Margaret River is planned to better understand and protect what the surrounding native landscape contributes. “MR is such a rich region in terms of biodiversity,” says Angland, “and we ensure we highlight this with our annual plans across operations and certifications.”
The wines produced from Chapman Brook span a considered range – from the entry-level Cape Mentelle Sauvignon Blanc Semillon ($30), Chardonnay and Shiraz ($60 each) through to the Wallcliffe White ($49), Heritage Shiraz ($98), Heritage Chardonnay ($105) and the recently released Block 10 Single Site Chardonnay ($89), which has been the most visible expression yet of what specific parcels within the vineyard can achieve when isolated and bottled on their own terms. Its success has reinforced the direction of the chardonnay investment. Chapman Brook, as the winemaking team sees it, produces fruit of beautiful tension, precision and fruit purity – characters that Angland traces directly to the site’s diurnal range, its sandy loam structure and the incremental gains in soil health that make the difference between fruit that is clean and fruit that genuinely communicates place. “If we can provide healthy fruit to the winery that showcases beautiful characters, directly linking to a sense of place, with vibrant varietal expression,” she says, “we have succeeded. There should not be any sign of our influence on the fruit, apart from helping it along the way.”
That ambition – for the vineyard to speak and the viticulturist to be invisible – is one that takes both deep skill and deliberate restraint to achieve at the scale Chapman Brook operates. It is also, as a statement of purpose, entirely consistent with what the best sites in Margaret River have always asked of the people who tend them.
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