Reviews

Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2016 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion

Tropical fruit foremost, backed by tangy lemony acidity on the long, well balanced palate, no overt oak.

Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2014 Merlot – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion

Don’t rush this: it needs a few more years to come around. It’s sturdily built for ageing although the fragrance entices now, brimming with red and black currants, black olives and rosemary. The palate is dominated by oak and significant tannins hence leaving it for the time being. The 11% cabernet franc just adds the X-factor.

Moss Wood 2015 Chardonnay – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion

A lot of flavour gets stitched into Moss Wood’s chardonnay, with the new oak adding to the nose and palate as does the complex creamy leesy notes. No shortage of acidity, which is the main driver that keeps this from being just too big. It stays moreish and savoury.

Moss Wood 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion

Moss Wood’s flagship wine is a structured beauty with nothing out of place. The gloss of the colour, the florals, blackberries and mulberries infused with black olives, dried herbs and eucalypt; the French oak and the fine-grained tannins seal the deal. Very even and will reward the patient.

Moss Wood 2016 Semillon – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion

It’s young, vibrant and the long, pure acid line will ensure this keeps going for quite sometime. It’s intensely flavoured with whirls of citrus, lemon grass, Meyer lemon and zest with dried herbs and camomile. Complex and really spunky.

Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2014 cabernet sauvignon – Ray Jordan, The West Australian

Margaret River is now one of the world’s premier regions is in large part down to these early innovators, who forged ahead often in the face of considerable scepticism.

Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2014 cabernet sauvignon

A firm and assertive cabernet. Blackcurrant, with black-olive edginess on the nose. The palate has a firm spine of tannins and oak holding to a long finish. Has that distinctive vineyard stamp. Needs a little more time but there is no mistaking that this is cabernet through and through. 92/100
Best drinking: Now to 2029.

Moss Wood 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon – Will Lyons, London Sunday Times

“Aussie rules the pommy palate”

One of the priciest Australian wines I’ve recommended, but Moss Wood is an all-time great. Deep, velvety
red in the glass, with notes of blueberries, blackberries and violets, it has a rich, generous mouthfeel.

Moss Wood 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon – Huon Hooke, huonhooke.com

Deep red colour with a good tint of purple. The aroma is fresh and clean and loaded with both red and black fruits, with lifted floral/violet nuances. The wine is full-bodied and attractively flavoured, with tight, firm but ripe tannins, good fruit sweetness and a lovely long finish. No sign of greenness. Excellent cabernet.

Moss Wood 2015 Chardonnay – Graeme Phillips, Mercury Hobart

Lots of dried figs and nutty, oatmeal, yeasty flavours plus a touch of woody dryness on a tight palate.

Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2014 Merlot – Fergal Gleeson, The Great Wine blog

Moss Wood make a powerful, concentrated and spicy merlot. It has proper grippy tannins. I recently tasted a wide range of Grand Cru Bordeaux in Sydney.  This Merlot would fit comfortably into that company. Interestingly Clare Mugford, joint owner and winemaker was telling me that Moss Wood sell more of their Merlot in Asia and Europe than in Australia. A prophet unappreciated in his own land? Yes.  This is the equal of their cabernets for which they are better known.  Might well be Australia’s finest merlot.

Moss Wood 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon – Rob Geddes MW

One of Australia’s top wines with a very elegant vintage in 2014. Very good quality colour starts, fresh red fruits with excellent high quality oak all are important elements that help this well balanced and restrained style show it is intense but not heavy.

The fruit aroma is concentrated with finesse showing fruits, minerals, blackcurrant  aromas. The palate is youthful, tight, refined and elegant sweet fruits, soft tannins, red and black fruits fine oak spices very even length of tannins and flavours and has harmony as a young wine with serious aging potential.

Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon – The Drinks Business

Wine pairing with five “bizarre” Chinese dishes

‘Century eggs’ or ‘thousand-year eggs’ or simply ‘Pidan’ in Chinese are in fact not aged for a century or a thousand years. They are preserved eggs made in a saline solution mixed with clay and rice husks for a few months that changes yolk into grey/black colour and egg white into transparent brown/grey jelly. The dish is notorious because of the colour and its pungent smell that compelled Thais to give it another moniker – ‘horse urine eggs’.

Seasoned with soy sauce, chili and spicy green peppers, the dish is often served as a starter to work up your appetite, believe it or not.

Cindy Chan from Summergate opted for a Moss Wood Ribbon Vale Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 .

“Century egg with spicy green pepper is a dish with strong taste, with a bit of spiciness. This pairs well with a red wine that also has strong flavours to balance all the exciting flavours on the palate. Also Cabernet Sauvignon tastes a bit like the green pepper, with the peppery taste,” she commented.

Moss Wood 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon – Tyson Stelzer, Australian & New Zealand wines of the year 2017

Moss Wood 2015 Amy’s – Rod Properjohn, On the vine Autumn 2017

There’s no wonder the Mona Lisa has this bottle carefully cosseted under her arm in this newsletter. It has the classical drying tannic grip of a great red, the inherent blackcurrant and gum leaf of a Margaret River cabernet blend, good length and the finish of a patient master painter. Puts a smile on your face, whoever or whatever you drink it with.

Moss Wood 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon – Gary Walsh, The Wine Front

My favourite vintages of Moss Wood Cabernet since 1996, are 2001, 2005, and 2012: I think this is also right up there.

Boysenberry, blackberry, violets, fennel seed, and that earthy/ferrous thing that Moss Wood often shows. Oak feels pared back and adds a layer of cedar and toast. Medium to full bodied, earthy and savoury, with some new leather too, along with black fruits, mint and spicy toasted oak. Tannin is ripe and sure, acidity fresh and well settled, and the finish shows glimmers of red fruit in with the black, with fleshy tannin shaping and extending the finish. It’s a very strong release from Moss Wood, beautifully balanced, and it feels particularly age-worthy too. Yep.

94+ points

Moss Wood 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon – Graeme Phillips, Wine Picks, Hobart Mercury

Classic blackberry and leafy aromas and flavours with a savoury freshness from a touch of cabernet franc and petit verdot, elegantly structured with smooth, subtle oak and gentle, ripe tannins. Built to last.

Moss Wood 2015 Amy’s – Matthew Jukes, 100 Best Australian Wines 2017/18

Back with a bang, 2015 Amy ’s is a Cabernet, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot blend and it shows firm tannins and impressive structure in this vintage. Perhaps the days of forward-drinking Amy’s are long gone but this is not a problem because it still offers awesome value for money and if you have to cellar it for a year or two then what’s the problem?

Moss Wood 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon – Matthew Jukes, 100 Best Australian Wines 2017/18

The Grand Vin is a very imposing wine with a flavour that drills down deep into the soul of this noble grape variety. Texturally, this is one of the most satisfying Moss Wood Cabernets I can recall. The traction on the palate, made up of sooty tannins and epic skins, is thrilling. The finish is certainly youthful but in no way astringent. The nose heralds the way and points to the future for this wine. It will be a slow-burner, with a long life and along this path it will chant the never-ending song of Cabernet.

Moss Wood 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon – Mike Frost, Courier Mail Brisbane

This Margaret River red is among Australia’s finest and the 2014 vintage does not disappoint. It has concentrated blackcurrant and cassis fruit on the nose and palate, with a touch of floral character in the background, finishing with firm tannins. Try it now with roast lamb but another five years will see it approach its peak.

Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2014 Merlot – Ray Jordan, The West Australian

Another cracking merlot from this now very mature vineyard acquired by Moss Wood a few years ago. This has presence and poise, and shows a structure you often don’t see in Aussie merlots. Firmish tannins with a minerally thread through the smooth, silky fruit. Beautiful oak judgment completes this classy merlot. 96/100 (Best drinking: Now to 2027. Alc: 14%)