Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon

Wine Facts

Harvested: Cabernet Sauvignon – 16th March, 2015
Cabernet Franc – 4th March, 2015
Petit Verdot – 21rst March, 2015
Blend: 95% Cabernet Sauvignon
4% Cabernet Franc
1% Petit Verdot
Bottled:  14/11/2017
Released:  16/03/2018
Yield: Cabernet Sauvignon – 4.31 t/ha
Cabernet Franc – 3.56 t/ha
Petit Verdot – 0.77 t/ha
Baume: Cabernet Sauvignon – 13.1⁰ Be
Cabernet Franc – 12.4⁰ Be
Petit Verdot – 15.2⁰ Be
Alcohol:  14%
Vintage rating:  10/10

Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon – James Halliday Wine Companion, Top 100 Wines 2018

The bouquet shows the first signs of development via nuances of spice and earth. The palate is still bracing and fresh, cassis and redcurrant on the same page. These different personas are simply an intermediate stage before the wine moves on to a lingering plateau measured in decades not years. James Halliday is an unmatched…

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Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon – Thebuyer.net, Roger Jones

The 2015 (…) is a marvel, a light toasty cedar wood nose, blackberry and cherry announce themselves with aplomb, then there is an expensive, silky, complex wine that is fighting to come out. This will age for decades – a stunning wine. Published November 22, 2018 Source

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Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon – Cameron Douglas MW, camdouglasms.com

Powerful, sophisticated and elegant bouquet of Cabernet. A distinctive fruit maturity is evident from the first intake of aromas. Dark forest berries with blackberry and plum pie then an abundance of oak spices – clove, vanilla and nutmeg; complex and alluring. Dry, full-bodied, rich in flavour and texture. Ripe dark berry fruits stand on a…

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Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon – Fergal Gleeson, Margaret River Region Magazine Winter 2018

Moss Wood cabernet sauvignon is one of the region’s most famous wines. The 2014 vintage achieved stellar scores from wine critics. I think the 2015 is an even better wine. “There’s a strong olive and black fruit presence in the 2015,” says proprietor and winemaker Keith Mugford. “It has floral notes and a nicely ripened tannin.” Keith is…

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Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon – The Australian, Wish Magazine Angus Hughson

A classic Moss Wood cabernet in its reserved, understated style showing ripe mulberry and blackcurrant fruits supported by gravel and cedar complexity and complimented by well integrated new oak. The palate is savoury and well structured, supported by excellent acidity with lovely balance of sweet fruit and tannins.

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Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon – Matthew Jukes, 100 Best Australian Wines 2018/2019

The word that best sums up 2015 Moss Wood Cabernet is ‘suave’. This is an exceptionally beautiful wine with less exuberance and fruit intensity than the thrilling 2014 but, perhaps, more in the way of fine detail and restraint. Made from 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot and only utilis­ing 14%…

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Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon – Ray Jordan, The West Australian

I have been having a lot of fun lately. No surprise really, because this is the time of the year when some of the big names start to strut their stuff and I get to taste some of the great wines -not just of Australia but of the world. One of the most Interesting is…

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A bevy of beautiful cabernets – Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon – Huon Hooke, The Real Review

The latest Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon, 2015, is one of the best I’ve ever seen from this exalted winery. Is it the best? Not easy to say, as we have to rely on memory for that, but I do think it’s one of the best in recent years and Moss Wood seems to have moved…

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Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon – Bob Campbell, The Real Review

Serious cabernet sauvignon with intense cassis, dried berry, cedar, spice, liquorice and new leather flavours. A firm backbone of ripe tannins suggests good cellaring potential. Slightly closed right now but showing plenty of promise. Published 14 April 2018 – Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon top rank, #1 of 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon from Margaret River.

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Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon – Huon Hooke, The Real Review

Deep red/purple colour, with a lightly toasty bouquet featuring some smoky oak, quickly giving way to violet and blackberry aromas with a sprinkling of dried herbs; the palate intense and fresh, clean and lively, with brilliant depth of dark and red berry fruit flavours. The acidity is refreshing on the finish and the tannins are…

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Moss Wood 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon – Fergal Gleeson, The Great Wine Blog

Magnificent Cabernet from one of the Margaret River region’s greatest wineries. Winemaker and proprietor Keith Mugford is in his 40th vintage. That’s consistency! For me the new release is even better than the celebrated 2014. Just about perfect balance of fruit & savoury character and well integrated tannin. Drinks very well right now though many…

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Vintage Notes

Climate Data

Growing Season Ave Temperature – 19.92C
Number of hours accrued between 18 and 28⁰C – 1029
Number of hours above 33⁰C – 35

Days Elapsed Between Flowering and Harvest

Cabernet Sauvignon –  115 days
Cabernet Franc –  119 days
Petit Verdot  -  108 days

Way back in the 1970’s, there were two vintages that came to define our Cabernet Sauvignon style, 1975 and 1976. As a consequence, we considered them almost like twins. They weren’t identical and each one drew attention because of their quality and style – the older sibling classically elegant and refined, the younger one plump and generous. Much debate has surrounded which was best. In his article in the West Australian, “High Five”, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the modern iteration of Margaret River, Ray Jordan noted the importance of them both but plumped for the ’75, as do we.

The idea of twins has come up again as we reflect on the style and quality of our new release 2015 vintage except this time they’re identical. We keep accurate records of vintage conditions and we have never had two seasons so alike as 2014 and 2015. The similarities between temperature, rainfall, season length and ripeness are remarkable. Down the track, it will be interesting to see who of the keen judges will be able to tell them apart in blind tastings.

As with human twins, their parents can usually tell them apart and we have some tips about the key things in the 2015 season which may help.

Most noteworthy is 2015 had near-perfect temperatures, with 1029 hours in the ideal range of 18 to 28⁰C. There was just enough extra warmth to really push Cabernet Sauvignon to ripe fruit notes, with the mercury spending 35 hours above 33⁰C and with a maximum for the season of 37.3⁰C on 3rd February, if you’re interested.

We even got some useful rain in February, something we don’t see too often, when 18mm fell in the first 2 weeks. The Cabernet varieties can benefit from that sort of top up, which allows them to finish the last 4 weeks of the season without excessive moisture stress.

The clue here is the ’15 has a predominance of the floral and black fruit notes and a nicely ripened tannin, perhaps slightly better integrated than its older sibling.

Mother Nature never lets us have things all our own way. During Spring, while Cabernet Sauvignon was flowering we had 70mm rain and 10 nights when the temperature dropped below 8⁰C, both of which disrupt the process. The result is yield was down 41% to 4.31 tonnes/hectare. While disappointing, this was nothing compared to the Petit Verdot which was down a whopping 81% to 0.77 tonnes/ha. Which is, of course, the next clue, because the influence of this variety is barely perceivable in the finished wine, contributing only 0.92%.

Tasting Notes

Colour and condition:
Deep, brick red, in bright condition.

Nose:
Initially there is a real impact of bright, fresh fruit aromas, dominated by the black fruits like blackberry and cherry, something we normally associate with Cabernet Franc, plus, of course, blueberry, red currant and the perfumed notes of violets. There are soft oak notes in the background that combine with some tobacco and tarry notes that Cabernet Sauvignon builds with long term barrel age.

Palate:
This theme of lively fruit notes continues on the palate, where the generosity of the red and black fruit provides fleshy mouthfeel. This layer of red currant and blackberry flavours balances what is for Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon, quite a firm structure, with bright acidity and firm tannin. On the finish there is just a suggestion of toasty oak, tar and leather, giving the wine good length and persistence.

Production Notes

Each variety was handled in the same way. The fruit was hand-picked, destemmed, sorted and placed into small, open fermenters. Fermentation was carried out by multiple yeast strains and all batches were hand-plunged three times per day and temperatures were set to a maximum of 30⁰C.

The Cabernet Sauvignon batches were pressed after 16 days on skins, the Cabernet Franc after 13 days and the Petit Verdot after 14 days. All pressings were blended in straight away.

After malolactic fermentation all batches were racked to 228 litre French oak barrels, of which 14% were new.

On 29th November, 2016, all batches were racked and blended and the completed wine was returned to barrel, where it stayed until 6th November, 2017, when the final blend was assembled for bottling. The makeup is 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot.

Fining trials were then carried out but none of the treatments improved the wine, so it was not fined. It was then sterile filtered and bottled on 14th November, 2017.

Cellaring Notes

For those with a cellar or wine fridge, this wine is a worthy addition and will definitely match its Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon siblings for longevity. The fruit depth and structure will ensure the 2015 will follow the classic pathway. It will need 10 to 15 years cellaring to ensure the development of some bottle complexity but will reach full maturity between 20 and 25 years of age. After that, it should give at least 2 more decades of drinking pleasure.

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