Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2023 Elsa

VINTAGE NOTES

2023 Ribbon Vale Vintage

The 2022-23 growing season was a very good one, potentially great! The vines enjoyed a solid winter of rainfall with 1114mm falling for the calendar year 2022, 9% above average. This level is optimal for our unirrigated vines as their deep root systems are able to access this soil moisture throughout the summer and avoid stress as the grapes begin to ripen.

We’re a bit fussy about when we want the rain to fall… lots through the winter, but once the vines begin flowering, we like the weather to turn mild and dry. Chardonnay, in particular, is extremely susceptible to inclement conditions which can result in below average yields. Readers can draw their own conclusions as to whether we’re asking for too much of mother nature. Fortunately, she looked after us in late 2022, with just 23mm falling during the Chardonnay flowering period and 8.6mm falling on the Sauvignon Blanc. All in all, conditions were fantastic and we were hopeful of solid crops.

We didn’t have it all our own way, however, as after the 9^th of December, the tap pretty much turned off, with no rain recorded again until the 15^th of March. Once again, if we’re being picky, we like to see some rain falling during December and January as these little top ups can help sustain the vines. Nevertheless, the drought wasn’t a problem and this became clear when we harvested. Both Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc produced good yields. Chardonnay came in at 5.72 tonnes/hectare, 19% above average, and Sauvignon Blanc registering 10.8 tonnes/hectare, 1% above average.

Temperatures were ideal, with Chardonnay recording an average growing season temperature of 19.96°C and Sauvignon Blanc 20.21°C. For context this puts 2022/23 as slightly cooler than 21/22 (21.01°C) and slightly warmer than 20/21 (19.43°C). These differences may seem small, but they’re responsible for perceivable stylistic variations in the wines.

Ultimately, the season unfolded smoothly, characterised by warm, rain-free days. The vineyard was free of disease and the fruit was in immaculate condition. Sauvignon Blanc was picked on the 14^th March, about 2 weeks later than average, and Chardonnay coming off on the 24^th March, 2 days later than average.

Since we now have two Chardonnay wines, it allows us to reinforce a very important part of the Moss Wood Philosophy. The Moss Wood and Ribbon Vale vineyard wines are all from single vineyards. We see this as an expression of the individuality of both sites.

This being the 3^rd vintage of Ribbon Vale Chardonnay, we now have a small sample to compare with the Moss Wood Chardonnay. Ribbon Vale is a cooler location than Moss Wood by virtue of its aspect and altitude and, despite the vineyards only being one kilometre apart, this leads to slower ripening.  Unsurprisingly then, stylistically the two wines are different and we are happy they complement each other nicely in our stable of wines. Ribbon Vale Chardonnay displays more of the lime, white peach and grapefruit characters, whereas Moss Wood Chardonnay tends more into the yellow peach, marmalade and cashew nut spectrum. It is very interesting to observe these differences, given that the vineyard and winery techniques are identical.