Wine Reviews
Moss Wood 2025 Amy’s Cuvee Blanc – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion
Mostly semillon with a glug of sauvignon blanc, and in the glass it’s a light straw gold. Flavourful with toasty oak, nutty lees and plenty of zippy acidity. It’s refreshing, yet there’s definition across the palate, so it feels rich and ripe with a tug of phenolics on the otherwise…
Read Review
Moss Wood 2024 Semillon – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion
A warm, riper vintage; this an expression of the season – rightly so. Plenty of acidity nonetheless corrals melon, stone fruit, citrus and creamy lees flavours. It’s a little smoky, with more richness and texture than usual. August, 2024
Read Review
Moss Wood 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion
When you’re the flagship, there’s always pressure because you must be the best of the best. Well, take a bow. This harnesses all the power of fruit and winemaking, all seemingly effortlessly, and turns it into an elegant, stunning wine balancing savouriness with fruit. Just the right amount of cassis,…
Read Review
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2022 Merlot – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion
Merlot with decent glugs of cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon; aged 26 months in French oak barriques, 21% new. It comes across as detailed, structured and fuller bodied but not weighty. While its core is all dark fruits with baking spices and licorice, it’s savoury with tobacco, peat and roasted…
Read Review
Moss Wood 2023 Pinot Noir – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion
This outsider, as in pinot noir in Margaret River, has been part of Moss Wood’s landscape since the ’70s, so it has its own DNA. Lots of strawberry conserve and macerated cherries, all sprinkled with dried mint. Angostura bitters, loads of spices and some nutty, nice oak. It’s refreshing, with…
Read Review
Moss Wood 2024 Amy’s – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion
The combo of varieties turns out at 72/11/8/9% cabernet/merlot/malbec/petit verdot, and as is the Amy’s way, this is meant to be enjoyed with youth on its side. However, an extra year or so in bottle will see this come together better. Now it’s all upfront cassis and blackberries, pepperberry and…
Read Review
Moss Wood 2024 Autrement Pinot Noir – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion
A new wine with fruit off an established site in cool Karridale, and given Moss Wood has been an early adopter of the variety, with its estate plantings beginning in ’73, it made sense to craft this. More savoury and tannic than the estate, with wafts of brown spices, warm…
Read Review
Moss Wood 2024 Chardonnay – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion
So intensely flavoured, I had to sit down to take it all in. Starting out all toasty and richly fruited with grapefruit and yellow peaches, buttered toast, lime curd and glacé citrus. As usual, a full-bodied, powerful wine with lashings of oak, yet lots to enjoy and consider, with the…
Read Review
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2025 Chardonnay – The Wine Advocate, Erin Larkin
The 2025 Ribbon Vale Chardonnay opens with white flowers and nuts, pineapple, white peach and brine. In the mouth, the wine is powerful, saline and nutty, with a creamy middle palate and bright acidity. The divide between malolactic fermentation characters and acidity feels balanced and harmonious, while the fruit is…
Read ReviewMoss Wood 2024 Amy’s – Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
The 2024 Amy’s is supple, succulent and ultra-attractive. The season was hot, but those who managed it diligently have had good results, as this shows. The wines may not have the longevity of great vintages like 2023 or 2018, but they offer tremendous pleasure early. There are notes of raspberry…
Read Review
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2023 Merlot – Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
The 2023 Ribbon Vale Merlot is gorgeous. It is silky, red-fruited and spicy, with chalky tannins and freshness through the finish. It is light and herbal, without any mintiness or green edges, and the length is laden with paprika dolce and redcurrants. There is also a note of sweet pouch…
Read Review
Moss Wood 2024 Botrytis Semillon – The Wine Advocate, Erin Larkin
The 2024 Botrytis Semillon leads with honey and lemon curd, honeycomb, pineapple, cut grass and brine-laced acidity that weaves its way in and out of the folds of sweetness. This is very pretty and quite sweet—no surprise, but here I refer to the balance of fruit and acid rather than…
Read Review
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2025 Elsa – The Wine Advocate, Erin Larkin
The 2025 Elsa is verdant and grassy on the nose, with a framing of toasty, vanilla-bean oak. In the mouth, the wine is rich, powerful and weighty on the palate, with a warming lift of alcohol through the finish that sinks hand-in-glove into the fruit. The acidity feels racy and…
Read Review
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon – Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I was excited about tasting these Moss Wood 2023 releases today. The season in Margaret River was sensational—truly. It was mild and long, with rain at all the right times. There was a spot of rain about at the end of the…
Read Review
Moss Wood 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon – The Wine Advocate, Erin Larkin
The 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon is powerful and layered, with a long finish. The tannins are firm, abundant and tightly knit, and they wrap around a core of dark fruit. As the wine sits in the glass longer, the tannins begin to soften and gain suppleness, allowing the fruit and other…
Read Review
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2025 Elsa – Gabrielle Poy, The Real Review
Sweet scents of honey and vanilla mix with lemon meringue pie and roasted fennel on the nose. A luxurious swirl of vanilla, nutmeg and lemon tart (with a dollop of cream) combine on the palate, with subtle savoury notes of leather and fennel joining in too. Its viscous texture tails…
Read ReviewMoss Wood Ribbon Vale 2023 Merlot – Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Deep, bright red-purple colour; cedary oak, briar and pencil-shavings aromas overlie tobacco varietal cues, while the palate is medium-full bodied and well-balanced, with harmonious supple tannins and lovely early drinking qualities and … ageing potential. Oak is quite evident but it’s a very smart merlot
Read ReviewMoss Wood Ribbon Vale 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon – Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Deep, bright purple-red colour; smoked meats and mulberry, a hint of humus on the nose. Very bright and lively on the palate, fresh and zesty with crisp acid/tannin structure and lots of appeal. Will become softer with age but right now its bouncy liveliness would go well with food. 2026–2038…
Read ReviewMoss Wood Ribbon Vale 2023 Merlot – Winsor Dobbin, Wine of the Week
Many merlots in Australia are made in a soft and simple style; as easy quaffers. Not so his one from the cabernet masters at Moss Wood in Margaret River. It is full of verve and texturally complex, a nod to the great merlot-led wines of Bordeaux’s right bank. More structured…
Read ReviewMoss Wood 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon – Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Deep purple-red colour, smoky, broken-rock, pencil-shavings aromas and the palate is full-bodied and densely textured with deep flavour and length. Traces of smoked meats. A firm and upright cabernet with masses of chewy but supple tannins that endure long on the follow-through. A high-potential cabernet that has everything ahead of…
Read ReviewWine Reviews
Moss Wood 2025 Amy’s Cuvee Blanc – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion
Mostly semillon with a glug of sauvignon blanc, and in the glass it’s a light straw gold. Flavourful with toasty oak, nutty lees and plenty of zippy acidity. It’s refreshing, yet there’s definition across the palate, so it feels rich and ripe with a tug of phenolics on the otherwise…
Read ReviewMoss Wood 2024 Semillon – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion
A warm, riper vintage; this an expression of the season – rightly so. Plenty of acidity nonetheless corrals melon, stone fruit, citrus and creamy lees flavours. It’s a little smoky, with more richness and texture than usual. August, 2024
Read ReviewMoss Wood 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion
When you’re the flagship, there’s always pressure because you must be the best of the best. Well, take a bow. This harnesses all the power of fruit and winemaking, all seemingly effortlessly, and turns it into an elegant, stunning wine balancing savouriness with fruit. Just the right amount of cassis,…
Read ReviewMoss Wood Ribbon Vale 2022 Merlot – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion
Merlot with decent glugs of cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon; aged 26 months in French oak barriques, 21% new. It comes across as detailed, structured and fuller bodied but not weighty. While its core is all dark fruits with baking spices and licorice, it’s savoury with tobacco, peat and roasted…
Read ReviewMoss Wood 2023 Pinot Noir – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion
This outsider, as in pinot noir in Margaret River, has been part of Moss Wood’s landscape since the ’70s, so it has its own DNA. Lots of strawberry conserve and macerated cherries, all sprinkled with dried mint. Angostura bitters, loads of spices and some nutty, nice oak. It’s refreshing, with…
Read ReviewMoss Wood 2024 Amy’s – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion
The combo of varieties turns out at 72/11/8/9% cabernet/merlot/malbec/petit verdot, and as is the Amy’s way, this is meant to be enjoyed with youth on its side. However, an extra year or so in bottle will see this come together better. Now it’s all upfront cassis and blackberries, pepperberry and…
Read ReviewMoss Wood 2024 Autrement Pinot Noir – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion
A new wine with fruit off an established site in cool Karridale, and given Moss Wood has been an early adopter of the variety, with its estate plantings beginning in ’73, it made sense to craft this. More savoury and tannic than the estate, with wafts of brown spices, warm…
Read ReviewMoss Wood 2024 Chardonnay – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion
So intensely flavoured, I had to sit down to take it all in. Starting out all toasty and richly fruited with grapefruit and yellow peaches, buttered toast, lime curd and glacé citrus. As usual, a full-bodied, powerful wine with lashings of oak, yet lots to enjoy and consider, with the…
Read ReviewMoss Wood Ribbon Vale 2025 Chardonnay – The Wine Advocate, Erin Larkin
The 2025 Ribbon Vale Chardonnay opens with white flowers and nuts, pineapple, white peach and brine. In the mouth, the wine is powerful, saline and nutty, with a creamy middle palate and bright acidity. The divide between malolactic fermentation characters and acidity feels balanced and harmonious, while the fruit is…
Read ReviewMoss Wood 2024 Amy’s – Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
The 2024 Amy’s is supple, succulent and ultra-attractive. The season was hot, but those who managed it diligently have had good results, as this shows. The wines may not have the longevity of great vintages like 2023 or 2018, but they offer tremendous pleasure early. There are notes of raspberry…
Read ReviewMoss Wood Ribbon Vale 2023 Merlot – Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
The 2023 Ribbon Vale Merlot is gorgeous. It is silky, red-fruited and spicy, with chalky tannins and freshness through the finish. It is light and herbal, without any mintiness or green edges, and the length is laden with paprika dolce and redcurrants. There is also a note of sweet pouch…
Read ReviewMoss Wood 2024 Botrytis Semillon – The Wine Advocate, Erin Larkin
The 2024 Botrytis Semillon leads with honey and lemon curd, honeycomb, pineapple, cut grass and brine-laced acidity that weaves its way in and out of the folds of sweetness. This is very pretty and quite sweet—no surprise, but here I refer to the balance of fruit and acid rather than…
Read ReviewMoss Wood Ribbon Vale 2025 Elsa – The Wine Advocate, Erin Larkin
The 2025 Elsa is verdant and grassy on the nose, with a framing of toasty, vanilla-bean oak. In the mouth, the wine is rich, powerful and weighty on the palate, with a warming lift of alcohol through the finish that sinks hand-in-glove into the fruit. The acidity feels racy and…
Read ReviewMoss Wood Ribbon Vale 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon – Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I was excited about tasting these Moss Wood 2023 releases today. The season in Margaret River was sensational—truly. It was mild and long, with rain at all the right times. There was a spot of rain about at the end of the…
Read ReviewMoss Wood 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon – The Wine Advocate, Erin Larkin
The 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon is powerful and layered, with a long finish. The tannins are firm, abundant and tightly knit, and they wrap around a core of dark fruit. As the wine sits in the glass longer, the tannins begin to soften and gain suppleness, allowing the fruit and other…
Read ReviewMoss Wood Ribbon Vale 2025 Elsa – Gabrielle Poy, The Real Review
Sweet scents of honey and vanilla mix with lemon meringue pie and roasted fennel on the nose. A luxurious swirl of vanilla, nutmeg and lemon tart (with a dollop of cream) combine on the palate, with subtle savoury notes of leather and fennel joining in too. Its viscous texture tails…
Read ReviewMoss Wood Ribbon Vale 2023 Merlot – Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Deep, bright red-purple colour; cedary oak, briar and pencil-shavings aromas overlie tobacco varietal cues, while the palate is medium-full bodied and well-balanced, with harmonious supple tannins and lovely early drinking qualities and … ageing potential. Oak is quite evident but it’s a very smart merlot
Read ReviewMoss Wood Ribbon Vale 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon – Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Deep, bright purple-red colour; smoked meats and mulberry, a hint of humus on the nose. Very bright and lively on the palate, fresh and zesty with crisp acid/tannin structure and lots of appeal. Will become softer with age but right now its bouncy liveliness would go well with food. 2026–2038…
Read ReviewMoss Wood Ribbon Vale 2023 Merlot – Winsor Dobbin, Wine of the Week
Many merlots in Australia are made in a soft and simple style; as easy quaffers. Not so his one from the cabernet masters at Moss Wood in Margaret River. It is full of verve and texturally complex, a nod to the great merlot-led wines of Bordeaux’s right bank. More structured…
Read ReviewMoss Wood 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon – Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Deep purple-red colour, smoky, broken-rock, pencil-shavings aromas and the palate is full-bodied and densely textured with deep flavour and length. Traces of smoked meats. A firm and upright cabernet with masses of chewy but supple tannins that endure long on the follow-through. A high-potential cabernet that has everything ahead of…
Read Review