Moss Wood 2008 Amy’s
Wine Facts
Blend: 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Petit Verdot, 11% Malbec, 7% Merlot
| Harvested: | 8/3/2008 |
| Bottled: | 23/8/2009 |
| Released: | 27/9/2009 |
| Baume: | 13.60 |
| Alcohol: | 14.00% |
| Vintage Rating: | 9/10 |
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Tasting Notes
Colour and condition: Youthful, deep brick red, in bright condition. Nose: A vibrant nose, with primary fruit aromas of mulberry and red currant from the Cabernet Sauvignon and ripe plum from the Malbec and a jube-like confectionery from the Petit Verdot. In the background there is complexity from charry oak notes, plus touches of leaf, eucalypt and cedar.
Palate: Immediately noticeable are generous red and dark fruit flavours that give the palate a juicy feel. There is full body and good texture but tannins are firm and provide backbone and length. The wine then finishes with soft, charry oak flavours.
Moss Wood 2024 Amy’s – Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
It’s a bold and fruit forward wine offering blackberry, raspberry, dark chocolate, liquorice and a dried flower perfume. It’s fleshy and juicy in black fruit, mocha richness, a grainy grip to tannin, acidity is balanced, maybe has some orange nip to it, and finishes earthy, with a slight chicory bitterness,…
Moss Wood 2023 Amy’s – James Suckling
Perfumed, deeply brooding and floral aromas of crushed blackberries, raspberries, dark cherries and potpourri with blueberry compote, baking spices, bitter chocolate and violets. The medium-bodied palate has a silky texture, finely tuned tannins and real depth of fruit with mineral notes and a vibrant finish. A blend of 75% cabernet…
Moss Wood 2023 Amy’s – Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
The 2023 Amy’s hails from a superb vintage in Margaret River. Mild, dry conditions set the tone for the season, and while many of the wines are yet to be released, the early indications are that this could be one of the most astounding vintages of Margaret River’s modern era…
Moss Wood 2023 Amy’s – Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot
Very much Cabernet Sauvignon dominant (83%), the wine also enjoys contributions from Merlot (5%), Malbec (6%) and Petit Verdot (6%). After fermentation and blending, the wine was returned to the 228-litre French oak barrels, none of them new, for maturation for a year and a half. A purple/maroon colour here,…
Moss Wood 2023 Amy’s – Angus Hughson, Wine Pilot
The 2023 Amy’s blend of Cabernet Sauvignon with Petit Verdot, Malbec and Merlot is highly approachable at this young age with enveloping aromas of blackcurrant and gravel with a strong dark earth component. Excellent upfront impact with a seamless core of dark berry fruits, primed with acidity and underpinned by…
Moss Wood 2023 Amy’s – Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Deep, bright, youthful purple-red colour in the glass; fresh and youthful violet, blueberry, mulberry aromas, very primary and a tad immature, but delightful. Elegance combined with concentration and lovely ripeness. A fragrant and quite beauteous cabernet blend.
Moss Wood 2022 Amy’s – Matthew Jukes
Heaven! I have yet to meet a more ardent fan of Moss Wood wines than yours truly, and this is another epic Aussie wine which is featured in my 100 Best Australian Wines Report 2025. Silky, honed, blackberry-soaked and seamless, Amy’s is one of the most incredible Cabernets on earth,…
Moss Wood 2023 Amy’s – Fergal Gleeson, Great Wine Blog
Amy’s is one of the trio of Moss Wood Cabernets. They are all single vineyard releases. To clarify, Amy’s is about 85% Cabernet with the balance of Petit Verdot, Malbec and Merlot. And you can see the varietal synergies – Petit Verdot adding pepper and spices, Merlot and Malbec bringing…
Moss Wood 2022 Amy’s – Tyson Stelzers, Top 250 Wines of 2024
A beautifully poised and consummately balanced Amys that captures the crunch of red- and blackcurrant fruit and supports it with nicely balanced, high-class, dark chocolate French oak. Bright acidity and fine-grained tannins are neatly resolved, carrying a long finish of undeviating line and length. Drink 2027-2034 October, 2024
Moss Wood 2023 Amy’s – Ray Jordan, Ray Jordan Wine
This is a blend if cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot, malbec and merlot. In a good year like this one, it offers some of the best value classy red wine going around. This is as good as any in this line. Plush red fruit of tremendous intensity. A firm core of…
Vintage Notes
Moss Wood 2008 Amy’s is made up of Montgomery Cabernet Sauvignon
Median Harvest Date – 23rd March 2008 Average Ripeness – 13.4 Baume
Montgomery Malbec Median Harvest Date – 6th March 2008 Average Ripeness – 12.7 Baume
Glenmore Merlot Median Harvest Date – 8th March 2008 Average Ripeness – 12.8 Baume
Bantry Bay Petit Verdot Median Harvest Date – 29th March 2009 Final Blend Average Ripeness – 13.6 Baume
Final Blend Makeup – 71% Cabernet Sauvignon; 11% Petit Verdot; 11% Malbec; 7% Merlot
We experienced something of an early onset of Autumn in February 2008. Mother Nature delivered cool nights and mild, warm days and the ripening rates for all the varieties slowed to a gentle pace. It is often the case that we are frantic during the harvest of Cabernet varieties, especially if the weather is warm. They represent a large portion of our production and we can be hard pressed to process them all on time. However, in 2008 these delightful conditions meant we had the luxury of carefully sampling each block and then picking off each section as it ripened. Overall, it’s probably the most controlled vintage we’ve produced, possibly since 1982. This is probably best illustrated by the fact that the overall ripeness came in at a near-perfect 13.6 Baume. It is also possible to see the results of the mild conditions in the aromas and flavours of the finished wine. In particular, 2008 is a vintage of lifted fruit fragrances and beautifully balanced tannins.
Production Notes
Production technique for the Amy’s is typical Moss Wood. All batches were destemmed into open fermenters and the juice was seeded with pure yeast culture. Once fermentation was underway, the tanks were hand plunged up to 4 times per day and the temperatures were controlled to a maximum of 30C, in the cap. Once each batch reached dryness it was tasted daily for tannin balance and pressed when the optimum had been reached. Skin contact varied from 10 to 15 days. After pressing the wine was racked to stainless steel tank and allowed to settle before being racked off gross lees and seeded for malolactic fermentation. Once this was completed all batches were racked and combined and then the final blend was returned to barrel. We use a smaller percentage of new wood in Amy’s because we prefer the wine to make a clean fruit statement, rather than showing the complexities of oak. With the 2008 we used 25% new barrels and all were French. After a total of 15 months, the wine was racked from barrel and prepared for bottling including fining trials. In the end, the wine received a light treatment with skim milk. It was then racked, sterile filtered and bottled.
Cellaring Notes
It is certainly a wine which can be enjoyed when young because the fruit notes are mouth-filling and so we recommend it for early drinking. However, it will also repay short-term cellaring and can be aged for a further five years.