Wine Reviews
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Merlot – Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
Plum, cherry, new leather, choc-hazelnut, tobacco and black olive, a honey/miny/floral top note. It’s medium-bodied, savoury, some tobacco and savoury stuff, a liquorice and nougat flavour, silty and grainy tannin, quite some flesh on its bones, baked raspberry, plenty of chew and succulence with a grainy and saline finish of…
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Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
Red and black fruits, cedar, some dried flowers and mint, blonde tobacco. It’s medium-bodied with an understated claret-like charm, and don’t mind me, but there’s a distinct flavour of honey glazed ham in the mix, along with tobacco and dried herbs. The tannin offers a light grainy grip, and the…
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Moss Wood 2022 Chardonnay – Angus Hughson, Wine Pilot.com
This intensely aromatic and bold 2022 Margaret River Chardonnay delivers powerful almond, nectarine peach skin fruit with a rich spicy French oak backbone. An impressive package follows with zesty acidity, rich compact fruit and taut oak providing immediate impact before more floral and citrus tones begin to emerge. Young and tight,…
Read ReviewMoss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Merlot – Angus Hughson, Wine Pilot.com
The cool and challenging vintage is on show in this 2021 Merlot. It delivers subtle and pretty aromas of graphite, gravel and just ripened blackcurrant topped by a generous serve of herbs and cedar. Lightly framed and acid driven, fleshy cassis flavours are then backed by heavyset, firm edged tannins…
Read ReviewMoss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – Angus Hughson, Wine Pilot.com
There is much to enjoy in this 2021 Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon which shows the elegance of the vintage. It opens with layers of graphite and pure cassis which are well backed by finely balanced French oak. Mid weight and vibrant with tannins already showing good integration behind a streamlined and…
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Moss Wood 2021 Pinot Noir – Angus Hughson, Wine Pilot.com
This gently fragrant 2021 Pinot Noir offers up fleshy aromas of raspberry compote, tobacco and spice, nicely framed by French oak. Dry, and mid weight, layers of red licorice and raspberry flavours rise up on a supple palate with commendable length. Very approachable to enjoy now and over the medium…
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Moss Wood 2023 Semillon – Angus Hughson, Wine Pilot.com
Immediately engaging thanks to excellent upfront volume of hay and honeydew melon with touches of lanolin which offer an impressive start. It then delivers a nicely textured and weighty expression with finer acidity than usual, but impresses with sheer power and youthful energy. An excellent vintage for this Margaret River…
Read ReviewMoss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – Ned Goodwin, jamessuckling.com
A savory, mid-weighted expression from a cooler year, making for effortless early to mid-term drinking. Better tended parcels of cabernet performed well. And it shows. Pointed aromas of redcurrant, dried sage, graphite and judicious oak. Classy and fragrant, this makes for delicious drinking. Drink or hold. Screw cap. December, 2023
Read ReviewMoss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Merlot – Ned Goodwin, jamessuckling.com
Mid-weighted merlot, reflective of a cooler vintage. Riffs on dried tobacco, mint and other strewn garden herb shuffling amidst juicy red cherry notes, while segueing to an astringent, sappy finish. This feels almost delicate in a Moss Wood context, suggestive of something from the Loire. It should reward mid-term cellaring.…
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Moss Wood 2021 Amy’s – Ned Goodwin, jamessuckling.com
A looser knit equivalent of a second wine at this address. Lovely, savory drinking. Mid-weighted and beautifully scented, with crystalline redcurrant rolled in sage and green olives. A sappy, verdant edge, unravelling across the seams. Nothing intrusive, mind you. Drink or hold. June, 2023
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Moss Wood 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon – Ned Goodwin, jamessuckling.com
A legend of the Australian fine wine scene, with an enviable track record of ageable grandeur. Full-weighted, to be sure, yet far from obvious as the pummel of classy mocha oak and impeccably gleaned grape tannins expand and recoil with air. All class. Detailed, fine boned and juicy. Currant, bay…
Read ReviewMoss Wood 2023 Semillon – Ned Goodwin, jamessuckling.com
This is exceptional semillon, made with a stylistic nod to white Grave as much as fealty to Margaret River’s oath of immaculate ripeness, melded to a saline pop of freshness. Full-weighted, yet light on its feet. Some unresolved CO2 is as effective as the drag of acidity in promoting freshness.…
Read ReviewMoss Wood 2022 Chardonnay – Ned Goodwin, jamessuckling.com
This is a large-framed chardonnay, trying its best to burst from a mid-weighted corset of tension. The oak is lustrous, while the creamy core is generous, indelibly stamped with nougatine and toasted nuts, as one would expect from a more bumptious expression. Yet the tension remains. The belt of cedar…
Read ReviewMoss Wood 2023 Semillon – Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
Gee, they’ve turned out an excellent Semillon in 2023. No oak employed here. Ripe green apple, quince, lime leaf, citrus blossom, a little spice and jalapeño. It’s flavoursome, but balanced, with a fine grip, green melon and citrus, arrowroot biscuits, and a bright and long finish offering lime zest and…
Read ReviewMoss Wood 2021 Pinot Noir – Andrew Caillard, Wine Pilot.com – The Vintage Journal
Medium deep crimson. Very attractive strawberry pastille, red cherry, chinotto aromas and flavours, fine slinky textures, lovely mid palate viscosity and underlying roasted walnut notes. Finishes chalky and minerally with seductive sweet fruits. Early to medium term drinking wine. Drink now – 2027 September, 2023
Read ReviewMoss Wood 2023 Semillon – Andrew Caillard, Wine Pilot.com – The Vintage Journal
Pale colour. Lifted grassy, lemon curd hint marzipan aromas with hints of aniseed. Attractive lemon curd, tropical fruit marzipan flavours, fine chalky textures, impressive mid-palate volume and well balanced linear fresh acidity. Generous and richly flavoured wine with lovely fruit definition and impact. Delicious to drink now but should keep…
Read ReviewMoss Wood 2022 Chardonnay – Andrew Caillard, Wine Pilot.com – The Vintage Journal
Medium pale colour. Beautiful grapefruit, melon aromas with marzipan vanilla notes. Generous and creamy with ripe yellow fruits, melon, white apricot flavours, fine supple textures, superb marzipan vanilla oak notes and fresh long indelible acidity. Lovely viscosity and mineral length; the oak in perfect symmetry to the fruit. A lovely…
Read ReviewMoss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot.com
The classic red variety from Margaret River, this wine is a deep, shining red. The nose is blackberries, delicatessen meats, spices, tobacco leaves and an ever-so-slight oaky note, but it is well integrated and merely adds to the complexity evident here. Attractive dark cherry touches. Fine tannins, a hint gravelly.…
Read ReviewMoss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Merlot – Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot.com
Aussie Merlot has rarely hit the heights that many once hoped, but there have certainly been some very fine examples and Moss Wood’s has always been among them. A deep garnet hue, the nose gives appealing plum pudding and rich fruitcake notes. A hint of chocolate and dried fruit characters.…
Read ReviewMoss Wood 2021 Pinot Noir – Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot.com
Always a controversial wine, one wonders whether detractors base their dislike simply on a once-prevailing view that Western Australia cannot or should not make Pinot Noir. These days, we have more than enough evidence that good Pinot can most certainly come from the West. Others simply like the wine because…
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