Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon, Wilyabrup, Margaret River, Western Australia, 2019   

Grapes: 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc with 20 months in French oak (15% new), hand picked, unfined

Producer Tasting Notes:

Colour: Deep brick red hue; bright condition.

Nose: Immediate impression is of ripe blue and black fruits combining blueberry, black currant, liqueur cherries and red currant and just a touch of violet-like floral and musk notes.  There are also complex, earthy notes of olive, licorice, leather, pencil shavings and nutmeg-like spice plus a soft oak background of light tarry, toastiness.  The concentration is such it has a distinctive inky note.

Palate: Dark fruits are also strong on the palate where there are concentrated black currant, blueberry, licorice flavours, or perhaps plum pudding and probably a result of the tiny morsel of Petit Verdot, combine with a full body to balance a firm acidity and tannin. The finish combines a both soft toasty oak and Cabernet’s classic, tar and cedar notes.

Cellaring: There is no doubt the 2019 vintage sits right near the top of the Moss Wood quality tree and we have high expectations for its cellaring.  Given its concentration and structure, courtesy of the long slow season and also the relatively small crop, we anticipate it will need at least a decade to show some bottle development.  Somewhere between 10 and 15 years should see some softening of the tannins and the development of the tar and cedar characters.  However, full maturity will require at least 25 years cellaring and after which it should live well beyond 40 years of age.

Critics' Tasting Notes:

"Fine-boned, linear cabernet sauvignon with dark berry, violet, dark chocolate, cedar, new leather and spicy oak flavours. It’s a perfectly-balanced wine with obvious cellaring potential. A complex wine with underlying power."

96/100 points, Bob Campbell, The Real Review

"Concentrated, silky and lingering, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon is elegant and fine with salted licorice, ripe raspberry, dark chocolate and exotic spice. It's a beautiful wine that continues the legacy of Moss Wood Cabernets, albeit with a slightly softer, more lilting voice. Age-worthy in the supreme."

97/100 points, Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate, July 2022