Pinot Noir was first planted at Moss Wood in 1973, making it the oldest Pinot Noir vineyard in Margaret River. The first vintage was made in 1977, and the wine has been produced every year since - with the sole exception of 1978, when Margaret River endured its first serious bird attack. The 2023 wine is our 46th release and 45th consecutive, a continuity that has quietly grown into one of the longest-running traditions of Pinot Noir in Australia. Each vintage adds to that story, shaped by the seasons and our ongoing work in the vineyard.

Vintage Notes

The 2022/23 growing season was a reminder of how enjoyable viticulture can be when conditions fall into place. Mother Nature was in a kind mood and delivered a season that was mild, steady and free of drama - the sort of year vignerons look back on with fondness.

For the calendar year 2022, we received 1114mm of rain, around 9% above average. This ensured the vineyard entered the growing season with ample soil moisture, a key foundation for our dry-grown vines. Flowering began on 29th October and lasted for 27 days. While there were five days when temperatures dipped below 8°C, the coldest being 4.6°C, and a modest 35.8mm of rain fell during the period, conditions were generally benign. Importantly, rainfall was light and well-spaced, so fruit set was not compromised. By the end of flowering, we were confident that crop levels would be sound, if slightly below average.

Summer unfolded in similarly accommodating fashion. The average temperature across flowering to harvest was 19.61°C, close to the long-term average. A useful comparison is 2018, when the growing season average for Pinot Noir was 19.25°C - one of Margaret River’s most celebrated years. The vines enjoyed 943 hours in the ideal photosynthesis range of 18–28°C, while hot spells were brief, with only 44 hours above 33°C. This steady, temperate pattern allowed the vines to move gradually through ripening, taking 106 days from flowering to harvest - a slightly extended season by local standards, which often augurs well for flavour complexity.

Harvest commenced on 27th February, six days later than the long-term average, with fruit reaching 13.3° Baume. Yields were 5.15 t/ha, about 17% below average, reflecting the somewhat uneven set but still providing enough fruit to fill the winery with optimism. Crucially, the fruit arrived in excellent condition: no disease, no bird damage, and no sunburn, thanks to a good Marri blossom season and our usual bird nets.

Looking back, 2023 offered Pinot Noir the sort of calm, measured conditions that suit the variety’s fussy temperament. It was a year when patience, rather than intervention, was the key, and the results are wines that balance bright fruit with fine structure, capturing the elegance and finesse of the season.

Production Notes

All fruit was hand-picked and sorted before processing. Approximately 80% of the bunches were destemmed into small, open fermenters, with the remaining 20% retained as whole bunches to bring additional perfume, spice and tannin to the finished wine.

The must was chilled for a 48-hour cold soak and then allowed to warm naturally before inoculation with multiple yeast strains. Ferment temperatures were maintained below 32°C, and each batch was hand-plunged three times daily for gentle extraction. After 16 days on skins, the wine was pressed to stainless steel tanks for the completion of malolactic and primary fermentation.

Once completed, the individual batches were adjusted and transferred to French oak barriques, of which 18% were new. The wine matured in barrel for 18 months before being racked and blended in stainless steel in October 2024. Fining trials showed no improvement, so the wine remained unfined. It was then sterile filtered and bottled on 25th October 2024.