2004 vintage at Moss Wood

The 2004 vintage was remarkable because every region in Western Australia experienced extremely favourable weather conditions. Atypically, the vintage is likely to produce wines that are very good throughout the vast state. At Moss Wood, Keith believes that although it has been a very good year, it is too early to call it a great vintage. At this stage, he is reminded of 1985 – not that the two vintages were exactly the same. Margaret River’s hottest day ever (41.5?C) came while the Moss Wood team were sampling the semillon in 1985, while the hot spell in 2004 came much later in the season with the temperature on the hottest day reaching 39.5?C.

Good spring rainfall meant that yields were slightly above average for cabernet sauvignon and sauvignon blanc while the merlot, semillon and pinot noir needed to be crop thinned. Even after that the pinot had to be drained off its juices to increase concentration. Chardonnay (at 3 tonnes to the acre) and semillon had average yields, while the small volume of cabernet franc and petit verdot was slightly up in quantity. With overall tonnage up by 5%, Keith described the yields as ?good rather than bountiful?.

The ripening period over summer was cool and mild. The birds made little impact thanks to the marri blossom and netting and disease was not a problem because of the dry conditions. Temperatures rose while the cabernet was in the final stages of ripening. It ripened with a bang and the grapes ended up a touch riper than we wanted. By contrast, in 1985 at that stage of proceedings, rain came along to slow down the vintage and extend the ripening period. The 2004 Cabernet shows the benefits of the mild summer – it has good colour, attractive fruit flavour, ripe tannins and will be enjoyable.