Moss Wood 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon – Matthew Jukes, Top 100 Australian Wines 2019/20

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Moss Wood 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon – Matthew Jukes, Top 100 Australian Wines 2019/20

Rating: Stars

I was explaining the flavour of this wine the other day to a good friend in the wine trade and, because I was in a rush, I shortened my elucidation to, ‘It’s more Margaux than Pauillac’! This chap being a Bordeaux expert got my drift but to those of you for whom this means nothing here is a more detailed reasoning.
In broad brush terms Pauillacs (Châteaux Lafite, Latour, Mouton and the like) are powerful, long-lived and brooding red wines, while Margaux (Châteaux Margaux, Palmer, Brane-Cantenac and the like) are fresher, lighter and no less serious, just more pliable, and fruit-forward. 2016 Moss Wood Cabernet is a honed, delicious, succulent wine and with a sensual texture and serious length and so, unlike recent vintages, I described it as Margaux-like. Lazy I know, but certainly memorable, this term says so much more than just a word and 2016 Moss Wood carries so much more than just one descriptor. It is a fabulous wine and another 2016 in the winery is also a star