Moss Wood | Cabernet Sauvignon Launch
Hosted by The Mugfords, Owners/Winemakers
Moss Wood is a family-owned wine company and a pioneer of the Margaret River region. Planted in 1969, Moss Wood is an important founding estate of Margaret River. Clare and Keith Mugford, as viticulturalists, winemakers and proprietors, have been tending the vineyard and making wine at Moss Wood since 1984 and 1979, respectively. The Moss Wood and Mugford names are synonymous with uncompromising quality. The cabernets are sublime with a global reputation almost without equal. Pinots can be very good in the right seasons and recent chardonnays have been outstanding. One of the few to make a straight semillon – it’s a beauty.
(Ray Jordan)
Sunday May 4
Lunch: Noon-3pm. Wines & 4 Course Menu, $225
Masterclass: 4-6pm, With Kate Lamont nibbles, $95
Dinner: 6.30pm, Wines & 4 Course Menu, $225
The 2022 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon
Beautiful definition and purity on the nose that shows fresh cassis, blackberries, and black plum, with cedar, pencil shavings, subtle vanilla and mocha nuances. Medium-full, superb freshness and concentration on the palate, dark fruit with a vibrant streak of purple, excellent oak spice, clove and tobacco, firm tannins and vibrant acidity. Structurally this is excellent. Powerful and elegant. A wine that’s begging for decade in the cellar before rewarding in spades over the following 20+. Brilliant.
97 Points, The Cellar Post
94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. Here we have a classic Moss Wood Cabernet, and maybe, though don’t mind me, it puts me in mind of the 2001 for richness and presence. It’s a powerhouse Cabernet and classic Moss Wood in terms of intensity and regal carriage. Black fruit, dried cranberry, cedar, nutmeg, dried flower perfume, tobacco, and damp earth. It sweeps through the palate with grilled nuts, toast, fresh blackberry, a whole lot of sweet grainy tannin and black tea perfume, acidity is balanced and present, and the finish crackles, thunders and goes very long. Quite a wine. Outstanding.
96 Points, Gary Walsh - Wine Front
The Wines & Menu
2023 Moss Wood Semillon , Our Price $39
This is exceptional semillon, made with a stylistic nod to white Grave as much as fealty to Margaret River's oath of immaculate ripeness, melded to a saline pop of freshness. Full-weighted, yet light on its feet. Some unresolved CO2 is as effective as the drag of acidity in promoting freshness. Accents of cut grass, lemon pastille, nettle and mirabelle, with the oak nicely pliant across the long, buttressed finish. Drinkable now, but best from 2026. Screw cap.
93 Points, Ned Goodwin MW - jamessuckling.com
2023 Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 'Elsa' Sauvignon Blanc , Our Price $71
This intriguing interpretation of a sauvignon blanc dominant wine was introduced just a few years ago. I have loved it from the start. Has about 10 per cent semillon in it, but it is the savvy which really dominates. There are the usual tropical, guava and slightly passionfruit lemony characters of sauvignon blanc but then other secondary characters of spices and ginger emerge. Gets a little oak treatment which contributes to its slightly steely linear frame. This is one of the best yet.
96 Points, Ray Jordan Wine
2021 Moss Wood 'Elsa' Sauvignon Blanc , Our Price $65
Young, bright and youthful in the glass. Complex aromas of grilled nuts, white stone fruit, cut grass and a leafy lift. The palate has a firm, creamy oak drive, plenty of nectarine and guava and pointed acidity that presents cut and drive. Plenty going on here, layered and sophisticated 04 JUN 2022 Drink 2022–2029
95 points, Aaron Brasher - therealreview.com
1st Course
2024 Moss Wood 'Ribbon Vale' Chardonnay , Our Price $74
2023 Moss Wood 'Ribbon Vale' Chardonnay
A recent addition to the Moss Wood portfolio showing the great strides that have been taken in managing the Ribbon Vale vineyard. This is probably the best release yet. It was a superb season and its shows in a wine of elegance and refinement, yet with layered complexity and sophistication. Nice lemon scents yield to more lemon zest flavours with a chalky acidity sustaining the finish. Oak has been beautifully integrated. Mighty impressive wine.
95 Points, Ray Jordan
2022 Moss Wood 'Ribbon Vale' Chardonnay
This is a decidedly fresh and fragrant chardonnay that provides quite a point of difference to the standard Moss Wood. It’s made in exactly the same way yet the Ribbon Vale vineyard speaks its individuality. It’s flavoursome with light stone fruit and a more subtle creamy vanilla bean character. The palate is generous and full, yet the nectarine and lime edges provide a tightening and focusing effect to take the wine through to a long finish. A little flick of acid on the finish, and there you have it, a mighty good wine for now or medium-term cellaring.
Cellar: 10 years
94 Points, Ray Jordan WA Wine Review 2024
2023 Moss Wood Chardonnay , Our Price $96
One of the best chardies yet from Moss Wood, and that’s saying something with the quality of wines over the years. The nose is an immediately captivating combo of lemon curd, quince and cashew with just a subtle lift of zest. The palate has a sprightly energy with a crisp chalky acidity sustaining and focussing through to a very long finish, The winemaking approach is fairly simple with no wild yeasts, but the result is outstanding.
97 Points, Ray Jordan
2nd Course
2022 Moss Wood Pinot Noir , Our Price $79
Beautiful definition and purity on the nose that shows fresh cassis, blackberries, and black plum, with cedar, pencil shavings, subtle vanilla and mocha nuances. Medium-full, superb freshness and concentration on the palate, dark fruit with a vibrant streak of purple, excellent oak spice, clove and tobacco, firm tannins and vibrant acidity. Structurally this is excellent. Powerful and elegant. A wine that’s begging for decade in the cellar before rewarding in spades over the following 20+. Brilliant.
97 Points, The Cellar Post
2023 Moss Wood 'Amy's' Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot , Our Price $37
Very much Cabernet Sauvignon dominant (83%), the wine also enjoys contributions from Merlot (5%), Malbec (6%) and Petit Verdot (6%). After fermentation and blending, the wine was returned to the 228-litre French oak barrels, none of them new, for maturation for a year and a half. A purple/maroon colour here, we have a nose exhibiting some of those classic Cab notes with black fruits, truffles, black cherries, cedar, cigar boxes and tobacco leaves, beef stock and graphite. There is deftly handled oak, silky tannins, excellent balance and length. This is a superb Cabernet blend and should drink beautifully for at least the next ten to twelve years. The team talk about it being approachable young and it certainly is, but I also think it has a long future – it simply has such fine balance and so much going on that it can’t miss. This is a stellar Amy’s.
94 Points, Ken Gargett - Wine Pilot
2021 Moss Wood 'Ribbon Vale' Merlot , Our Price $76
Deep-ish red-purple colour, bright and fresh; the bouquet is briary, peaty, cedar and savoury forest-floor complexities overlying dark-berry/cassis/mulberry fruit, the palate elegant and intense with lovely depth of flavour and fine, caressing tannins that run the full length of the palate. Lovely wine indeed, and a triumph for a straight merlot. Drink 2024–2038
95 points Huon Hooke therealreview.com
2012 Moss Wood 'Ribbon Vale' Merlot (Half-Bottle) 375ml , Our Price $19
Mid crimson. Succulent cassis and mint nose. Round and fresh. Nicely mellow and very appetising. Only medium weight. Tannins starting to mellow. Zippy.
17/20 Points, Jancis Robinson
Classy red that’s driven by a strong Cabernet Sauvignon influence to give classic blackcurrant and cedar flavours together with a suspicion of dried herb and olive characters. Best after decanting. Don’t serve the wine too cold.
95 Points, Bob Campbell
3rd Course
2022 Moss Wood 'Ribbon Vale' Cabernet Sauvignon (Pre-Release)
Moss Wood’s most famous wine has always been its cabernet sauvignon from the home vineyard in Metricup Rd, Wilyabrup, planted in 1969. This one, from an established vineyard they bought in 2000, has been getting better and better as time goes on.
Deep, bright youthful purple-red colour with a lovely cassis, mulberry nose of ideally ripened cabernet fruit. The wine is elegant and full-bodied, with richness and flesh, fruit sweetness at the core and plenty of supple, fine-grained, gently persuasive tannins that are perfectly integrated with the fruit. Delicious drinking right now, but surely has many years ahead of it.
Ranked #2 of 61 2022 Cabernet’s from Margaret River
97 points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review
2022 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon (Pre-Release) , Our Price $144
94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. Here we have a classic Moss Wood Cabernet, and maybe, though don’t mind me, it puts me in mind of the 2001 for richness and presence. It’s a powerhouse Cabernet and classic Moss Wood in terms of intensity and regal carriage. Black fruit, dried cranberry, cedar, nutmeg, dried flower perfume, tobacco, and damp earth. It sweeps through the palate with grilled nuts, toast, fresh blackberry, a whole lot of sweet grainy tannin and black tea perfume, acidity is balanced and present, and the finish crackles, thunders and goes very long. Quite a wine. Outstanding.
96 Points, Gary Walsh - Wine Front
Beautiful definition and purity on the nose that shows fresh cassis, blackberries, and black plum, with cedar, pencil shavings, subtle vanilla and mocha nuances. Medium-full, superb freshness and concentration on the palate, dark fruit with a vibrant streak of purple, excellent oak spice, clove and tobacco, firm tannins and vibrant acidity. Structurally this is excellent. Powerful and elegant. A wine that’s begging for decade in the cellar before rewarding in spades over the following 20+. Brilliant.
97 Points, The Cellar Post
2021 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon , Our Price $144
One of Australia’s great cabernets. This from a cooler season highlights and accentuates the typical bright red fruits and blue fruit mix, especially on the nose. It’s aromatic and perfumed with an African violet scent. The palate as always is so exquisitely balanced and refined. Since 1989 the cabernet has been augmented with the floral bright fruit of cabernet franc and the darker robust black fruits of petit verdot. The palate delivers with a gentle restraint yet there is power deep within. The chalky tannins define a long and focussed finish. A deceptive medium bodied wine that will cellar for many years.
97 Points, Ray Jordan
2014 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon
This is such a classic Moss Wood. As elegant and stylishly poised as any I have tasted through the years. Red berry and violets, with distinctive mulberry and cedar perfumes on the nose and that little oak influence. Such gorgeous perfume, which really makes this wine. The palate is balanced and refined with an elegance you only get in the very best of these wines. Wonderful integration of fine-grained, understated oak and fine, chalky tannins. Almost impossible to fault. A truly great wine and the best ever to come out of this magical region. Alcohol: 14%; Best Drinking: 2020-2050.
99 points, Ray Jordan - The West Australian