Moss Wood 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon
Wine Facts
| Harvested: | 24/3/1994 |
| Bottled: | 31/12/1994 |
| Released: | 23/7/1996 |
| Yield: | 8.89 t/ha |
| Baume: | 12.80 |
| Alcohol: | 13.50% |
| Vintage Rating: | 8/10 |
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Moss Wood 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – Matthew Jukes
I love the 2021 vintage of this Margaret River standard bearer Cab. Made from 95% Cabernet Sauvignon (all Houghton Clone), 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot from 52-year-old vines, this is as pure, deep and ripe-fruited as any Moss Wood in years gone by and with only 16% new…
Moss Wood 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon – Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon leads with spiced maple and star anise, pomegranate molasses and blood plum. It is inky without being dense or heavy and uncoils out through a long and undulating finish. There are notes of red toffee apple and coffee beans, raspberry pip and nori, bay leaf and…
Moss Wood 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon – Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon is a child of the 2020 season, which was warm, early and low yielding, and the wines from the area have been decidedly structural, lushly fruited and powerful. All in all, they are excellent quality across the board, and this wine here is no exception. Dense…
Moss Wood 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon leads with raspberry and red gravel, cassis, cocoa and tobacco, with layers of red apple and licorice, all of it shaped by warm-biscuit oak. The palate has gentle clarity: the length of flavor is very long, but the intensity of this vintage has been turned down….
Moss Wood 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – Tyson Stelzer, Top 250 Wines of 2024
A singularity of black- and redcurrant and cassis defines a monumental Moss Wood of stellar definition and endurance, yet somehow at the same time alluringly silky, slippery and polished to the nth degree. Super-fine tannins unite top shelf fruit with classy oak structure, impeccably resolved, carrying a finish of effortless…
Moss Wood 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Medium-deep and very bright red with a strong tinge of purple, but it’s not a very deep colour for cabernet. The bouquet is fresh and red fruit driven with mulberry, violet aromas, mixed dried herbs and fragrant spices. The wine is medium-full bodied, not big but supremely elegant and fine-boned….
Moss Wood 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – Cassandra Charlick, Wine Pilot
95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot, with a detailed French oak regime. I can resist everything but temptation, or so said Mr Wilde. Place a glass of this in front of you and resistance is futile. Juicy and jewel like, the nose leaps with dusty rose, raspberry…
Moss Wood 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – Cassandra Charlick, Decanter
Vibrantly perfumed, with rose petal jam and bright red primary fruit fringed with dried eucalypt, sage, sea spray, clove, delicate spices and lightly toasted oak. Impressive fruit weight. Hums with energy. Tannins are ripe, firm, fine, almost silky. Acid is balanced and lifted. Lacks classic Margaret River Cabernet characters, but…
Moss Wood 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion
There’s as much a Moss Wood DNA thumbprint as a regional one here. This shows off violets, cedary/toasty oak (thankfully not too much), chocolate and a slight ironstone character. Fuller bodied yet the palate is smooth and contained with fine-grained, almost silky tannins, plus dabs of sweet mulberries and blackberries…
Moss Wood 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – Sam Kim, Wine Orbit
A wine of stunning presence, the engaging bouquet shows dark berry, thyme, star anise, rich floral and cedar characters. The palate is both concentrated and seamless with outstanding weight and depth, wonderfully framed by finely infused chalky tannins. This is symphonic with grace and style, promising to evolve magnificently. At…
Tasting Notes
The wine has lifted ripe, mulberry, blackcurrant and cedary oak aromas while on the palate it is initially soft and generous with impressive weight, intense cassis flavours with lightly earthy overtones, big but supple and well-balanced tannins on a long, lingering aftertaste. It is was surprisingly approachable on release and could be enjoyed for its intense fruitiness and power. We believe it will eventually be ranked with the 1991, 1990, 1985, 1983, 1980, 1976 and 1975 wines.
Vintage Notes
The 1994 vintage at Moss Wood produced a crop that was ever so slightly larger than average. The growing season had been particularly good with consistently mild weather in the months before February which was quite warm and ripened the Cabernet nicely. Picking of this variety started on time on 18th March (at 12.7 beaume) and finished on 14th April (at 13.7 beaume) giving the wine an alcoholic content of 13.8%. Picking can be a juggling act at Moss Wood between the competing demands of finding space in the winery and beating the marauding birds. Prior to 1994, the old block had been the last area pruned each year and, because of its south-east aspect, it had been the slowest to ripen. An experiment to prune this Cabernet block first during the preceding winter enabled the grapes to ripen earlier than usual, before the birds did any damage. The later pruned sections, more isolated from the birds, ripening later and with less damage, allowed us to make more of the precious Cabernet. It is such a pleasure not to waste it on birds. This same action produced similar results for 1995 and 1996.
Production Notes
The 1994 has maintained good colour since early in the fermentation process. The wine was left in contact with its skins for nine days during which time it was hand plunged three or four times a day. All pressings were included in the blend which was aged in 55% new French oak for a year. After this it was given a light, egg-white fining, then filtered and bottled.
We like the wine very much and are particularly taken by its ripe, generous characters and the way the oak sits softly under the powerful fruit.
Cellaring Notes
Like all Moss Wood Cabernets, it will improve over the next seven years and can be cellared for between ten and fifteen years.