Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Release Date 1st May, 2018
Our Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon will be released on the 1st May, 2018 and we would like to give you a little background to it, how our 2018 vintage is progressing and to encourage you to call Keith or me if you would like to ask us any questions about the wine, its vintage or our current vintage.
Twins - Moss Wood 2014 and 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon
Way back in the 1970’s, there were two vintages that came to define our Cabernet Sauvignon style, 1975 and 1976. As a consequence, we considered them almost like twins. They weren’t identical and each one drew attention because of their quality and style – the older sibling classically elegant and refined, the younger one plump and generous. Much debate has surrounded which was best. In his article in the West Australian, “High Five”, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the modern iteration of Margaret River, Ray Jordan noted the importance of them both but plumped for the ’75, as do we.
The idea of twins has come up again as we reflect on the style and quality of our new release 2015 vintage except this time they’re identical. We keep accurate records of vintage conditions and we have never had two seasons so alike as 2014 and 2015. The similarities between temperature, rainfall, season length and ripeness are remarkable.
2015 Vintage
The 2015 had near-perfect temperatures, with 1029 hours in the ideal range of 18 to 28⁰C. There was just enough extra warmth to really push Cabernet Sauvignon to ripe fruit notes, with mercury spending 35 hours above 33⁰ and with a maximum for the season of 37.3⁰C on 3rd February.
We even got some useful rain in February, something we don’t see too often, when 18mm fell in the first 2 weeks allowing the vines to finish the last 4 weeks of the season without excessive moisture stress.
The 2015 has a predominance of the floral and black fruit notes and a nicely ripened tannin, perhaps slightly better integrated than its older sibling.
During Spring, while Cabernet Sauvignon was flowering we had 70mm rain and 10 nights when the temperature dropped below 8⁰C, both of which disrupted the process, as you will be only to familiar, Mother Nature never lets us have things all our own way. The result is yield was down 41% to 4.31 tonnes/hectare. While disappointing, this was nothing compared to the Petit Verdot which was down a whopping 81% to 0.77 tonnes/ha. Of course, the influence of this variety is barely perceivable in the finished wine, contributing only 0.92%.
Each variety was handled in the same way in what has become our traditional method. We hand-picked, destemmed, sorted and placed into small, open fermenters. Fermentation was carried out by multiple yeast strains and all batches were hand-plunged three times per day and temperatures were set to a maximum of 30⁰C.
The Cabernet Sauvignon batches were pressed after 16 days on skins, the Cabernet Franc after 13 days and the Petit Verdot after 14 days. All pressings were blended in straight away.
After malolactic fermentation all batches were racked to 228 litre French oak barrels, of which 14% were new.
On 29th November, 2016, all batches were racked and blended and the completed wine was returned to barrel, where it stayed until 6th November, 2017, when the final blend was assembled for bottling. The makeup is 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot.Fining trials were then carried out but none of the treatments improved the wine, so it was not fined. It was then sterile filtered and bottled on 14th November, 2017.
| Harvest Dates
Cabernet Sauvignon – 16th March, 2015
Cabernet Franc – 4th March, 2015
Petit Verdot – 21st March, 2015
|
Harvest Ripeness
Cabernet Sauvignon – 13.1⁰ Be
Cabernet Franc – 12.4⁰ Be
Petit Verdot – 15.2⁰ Be
|
Yields
Cabernet Sauvignon – 4.31 t/ha
Cabernet Franc – 3.56 t/ha
Petit Verdot – 0.77 t/ha
|
Climate Data
Growing Season Ave Temperature – 19.92⁰C
Number of hours accrued between 18 and 28⁰C – 1029
Number of hours above 33⁰C – 35
|
Days Elapsed Between Flowering and Harvest
Cabernet Sauvignon – 115 days
Cabernet Franc – 119 days
Petit Verdot - 108 days
|
Alex Coultas
Tristan Mugford
2018 Vintage
……and to 2018 vintage. We are pleased to report the 17/18 growing season has been very good to us. Rain has come at the right times and temperatures have been mild to warm, so ripening has been slow but steady. Springtime flowering conditions were benign, so all varieties appear to have set a good crop. Initially we had problems with bird attack but between the Red Gum blossom and the application of nets, we’re now holding the silvereyes at bay. We’ve got all fingers and toes crossed in the hope the fine weather continues.
We have so far harvested our Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Sauvignon Blanc had slightly above average quantity, which is nice, given the constrained yields of the last several years. Quality is encouraging, with bright, green fruit notes and high acidity. Pinot Noir is now happily fermenting away in its open fermenters and courtesy of small berries, has outstanding colour and we are anticipating good tannin balance. Last week we picked Chardonnay and are delighted with the flavours but less pleasing is the small crop, down a surprising 20%, which is a fluctuation we can’t yet explain. As I write this we have just put out the buckets to pick the first of our Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon for the 2018 vintage tomorrow, 29th March. We look forward to telling you more about this latter this year.
Finally, a bit of trivia for you - Speaking of the 1970’s, 2018 is Keith’s 40th vintage having commenced his career at Moss Wood with the 1979 vintage. He is now saying he is in the veteran category, I, having only joined him in 1984, am only at my 34th, which leads Keith to describe me as a mere whippersnapper, but only when he is feeling very brave!
We will be very pleased to hear from you with any queries you might have about either the Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon or this current vintage.
Press Reviews
Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon – Matthew Jukes, 100 Best Australian Wines 2018/2019
Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon – The West Australian, Angus Hughson
Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon - Ray Jordan, The West Australian
Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon – Fergal Gleeson, The Great Wine Blog
Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon – Bob Campbell, The Real Review
Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon – Huon Hooke, The Real Review
CLARE MUGFORD
Viticulturist, Winemaker &
Proprietor
clare@mosswood.com.au
Mobile: +61 427 170 729
KEITH MUGFORD
Viticulturist, Winemaker &
Proprietor
keith@mosswood.com.au
Mobile: +61 427 556 266
Located at:
926 Metricup Road,
Wilyabrup, Western Australia
Postal address:
PO Box 225, Cowaramup,
Western Australia 6284
AUSTRALIA