x
  • Country ranking ?

    22
  • Producer ranking ?

    1
  • Decanting time

    4h
  • When to drink

    2020-2035
  • Food Pairing

    Lamb

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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The Story

Moss Wood, located in the Willyabrup sub-district of Margaret River – can boast one of the choicest and most beautiful vineyard sites in Australia. The Cabernet Sauvignon – first vintage 1973 - is regarded as one of Australia’s great wines offering elegance, retrained power and site specific aromas and flavours. The wine is extremely perfumed and finely structured with cassis-blackcurrant aromas, hints of cedar and violet. Extended oak aging to 24 months – since 1996 – and the introduction of Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Merlot have made the wine deeper in colour, more aromatic and textured. The oak and fruit are very neatly balanced. The wine develops a touch of earth/demi-glace briar characters on the bouquet, and complexity and suppleness on the palate.

 

Top Vintages 2012, 2010, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2001, 1999, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1987

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Vintage 2018

 Qualité très prometteuse avec les commentateurs les plus optimistes déclarant 2018 grande dans chaque région et pour chaque variété. L’opinion la plus circonspecte est que les gelées précoces ont réduit les rendements, mais que le temps beau et constant tout au long de la seconde moitié de la saison de croissance a effectivement entraîné un grand potentiel.

Barossa millésime 2018 à savourer

Le millésime Barossa 2018 s’est achevé fin avril 2018, avec des viticulteurs et des vignerons satisfaits d’un millésime de grande qualité et de bons rendements.

« Les saveurs et les couleurs des rouges sont merveilleuses, et les acides naturels dans les blancs de l’Eden Valley étonnamment élevés, avec des variétés précoces cette année, notamment le Riesling, le Chardonnay, le Shiraz, le Grenache et le Cabernet », a déclaré Louisa Rose, responsable de la vinification à Yalumba.

La saison de croissance a bien commencé, avec des précipitations d’hiver 2017 supérieures d’environ 10% à la moyenne. Cependant, les précipitations printanières n’ont été que de 78% de la moyenne dans la vallée de Barossa (BV) et de 98% dans la vallée d’Eden (EV), et les précipitations de décembre n’ont été que de 57% de la moyenne en BV (88% en EV).

Des sols plus secs, combinés à des journées d’octobre et de novembre plus chaudes que la moyenne (octobre 2ºC au-dessus de la moyenne en VB (1,8 ºC en EV) et novembre 1,1ºC au-dessus de la moyenne en BV (1,6 ºC en EV), ont permis aux canopées de vigne de croître rapidement, de bien fleurir et de nouer un bon nombre de grappes.

Janvier et février ont été chauds et secs, avec des températures très chaudes en février ralentissant le rythme de maturation. Janvier a été légèrement au-dessus de la moyenne (1,4 ° C pendant la journée mais plus proche de la moyenne la nuit) et février a été à peu près moyen pendant la journée, mais avec des températures nocturnes nettement plus chaudes que la moyenne dans la vallée de Barossa (5,8 ° C plus chaud).

Avec des précipitations estivales de 50 % de la moyenne, les producteurs ayant accès à l’eau, à la surveillance de l’humidité du sol, à une bonne gestion de l’irrigation et à des sols sains ont subi moins de stress – et ont par la suite livré des fruits sains et des rendements constants.

L’été indien de mars et début avril a été « la cerise sur le gâteau », avec des températures moyennes, sans extrêmes, parfaites pour terminer le millésime. Les 28 à 30 mm de pluie des 14 et 15 avril n’ont pas causé de problèmes majeurs pour la cueillette – et ont été un arrosage post-récolte bienvenu pour la plupart des producteurs de Barossa.

Dans l’ensemble, en 2018, Barossa Valley a concassé 56 970 tonnes*, en baisse de 22 % par rapport au millésime 2017, mais de 9 % par rapport à la moyenne quinquennale. En 2018, Eden Valley a concassé 11 593 tonnes*, en baisse de 3 % par rapport à 2017.

La trituration totale de Barossa de 68 563 tonnes* a représenté 9 % du volume total et 25 % de la valeur totale de la trituration en Australie-Méridionale.

Les prix moyens des variétés de la vallée de Barossa sont restés stables en 2018, Shiraz s’établissant à 2252 dollars la tonne, soit une baisse de 1% par rapport à l’année dernière. À Eden Valley, le prix moyen du Shiraz a augmenté de 11% à 2636 $ la tonne et le Cabernet Sauvignon a augmenté de 15% à 2354 $.

*Wine Australia estime que le taux de réponse à la trituration des raisins de cuve en Afrique du Sud est de 85 %, de sorte que le trituration total réel de Barossa est estimé entre 75 000 et 80 000 tonnes.

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Written Notes

Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 – The first boutique winery in Australia was Lake’s Folly in the Hunter Valley. Naturally, its wines quickly became ‘must-have’s’ for those few early wine-obsessed drinkers, who helped drive the transformation in the industry from ‘fortified dominant’ and ‘big producers only’ to what we enjoy today. There were others. Stuart Anderson’s Balgownie Estate was a winery where winelovers lucky enough to be on the mailing list would plead for a bottle or two. So too, Mount Mary. Virgin Hills, anyone? From the West, nothing personified ‘cult’ like Moss Wood. 

These days, some have risen and fallen. Others have stayed the course. We have wineries like Wendouree, Giaconda, Torbreck, Cloudburst, Bindi, Clonakilla and others. Indeed, just what makes, and what is, a cult winery today might make a terrific topic. Over to you, editor? 

Moss Wood. It might have been the famous 1982 and 1983 Cabernets from Cape Mentelle which really put Margaret River on the map, but the wines everyone wanted came from the tiny Moss Wood. It would be fair to say that it has had a few ups and downs over the years but in recent vintages, it has been right on its game, especially with its flagship Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Put simply, if you love Cabernet, whether it be from Bordeaux, the Napa, Margaret River or anywhere, Moss Wood Cabs should be on your radar and in your cellar.

The latest, the 2018, continues its recent run of hot form. 92% Cabernet, 4% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc, it comes from a year the Mugfords, the caretakers of this wonderful estate, claim is a cracker (well, my words but you know what I mean). To be honest, claims of a great year in Margaret River tend to fall on deaf ears. When isn't it a great year there? The day a MR winemaker tells me they had a shocker, that is when I’ll listen.

One sniff of the black/purple liquid swirling in your glass and you know you are looking at a world class Cabernet. Blackfruits, mulberries, cedar, cigar box, coffee beans, dark chocolate. A wine with balance, intensity, elegance and astonishing length. The silkiest of tannins. A sweet core of floral notes and dark berries. The construction is immaculate but not in any way constraining. Sensational stuff. 

Sure, at around $150 a bottle, it is not cheap but compare it with the big guns from the Napa or First and Second Growth Bordeaux, against which it sits comfortably, and this is a steal. 

I looked at this last night and gave it 97. Today, it is an easy 98. Tomorrow? I’ll never know.

98.

  • 98p
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Information

Origin

Margaret River, Western Australia

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