Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon Margaret River 2021

Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon, Wilyabrup, Margaret River, Western Australia, 2021  

Grapes: A blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc, hand harvested, aged 20 months in French oak (16% new), bottled unfined

Producer Tasting Notes:

Colour: Deep brick red hue; bright condition.

Nose: An intense array of primary fruit notes, including blueberries, raspberries, red currant, mulberry, plum and musk, as well as a touch of nutmeg, cinnamon and clove spices. Cabernet Sauvignon’s classic floral note of violets adds volume.  The complexities in the background include cedar, tobacco and tar, the “cigar box” combination, plus some light toasty oak.

Palate: The theme of the red and dark fruits continues, with black currant, cherry, blueberry, mulberry and dark jube flavours filling the mouth.  They sit over a medium to full body, with bright acidity and soft, well integrated, svelte, almost chocolate-like, tannin. The wine is long and finishes with cedar and toasty oak, with perhaps a touch of star anise.

Cellaring: The recommendations for cellaring the Moss Wood 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon are very simple and in the classic tradition of this wine. Given the nature of the season, it is very appealing now, with lifted fruit notes and soft round tannins and can certainly be enjoyed as a youngster. However, it will repay long term cellaring and it's suggested that this wine receives a minimum of 10 years to allow it to develop some bottle bouquet. For those who wish to see it at its peak, it's recommended ageing it for at least 20 years

Critics' Tasting Notes:

"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 leaf, black florals and red berries. Plenty of cedary fine oak and delicate spice makes this hard to resist – pure seduction. Beautiful fruit bursts forth on the palate, fine and layered. Salted red plum, tomato strap, red cherries, sweet wooded spice, crushed aniseed and caraway, chocolate dust and savoury tones of just-pulled root vegetables. Black fruited and wet earth spice sit at the core. A cabernet in the delicate end of the spectrum, fine boned tannins that are silky, silty and abundant. Acidity is spirited, dancing along to a light hearted jig. There’s a fluidity to the shape of this wine on the palate, and the effect is mesmerising. A wine to draw you down the garden path with intrigue and length for days."

96/100 points, WINEPILOT, September 2024

"The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is from a milder year in Margaret River, one that experienced plentiful and intermittent rain during the growing season. The wine in the glass today is eminently more black fruited than the 2022 tasted alongside; here, we see notes of clove, aniseed, violet, dark cocoa and blackberry fruit. The wine is elegant and refined and looks better today than it did on release. Everything here suggests it will continue to improve in bottle over time, justifying the "+" after the score"  Drink 2025-2046

95+/100 points, Erin Larkin, WINE ADVOCATE, October 2025

"Full screwcapped bottle just 1,280 g. 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot. Hand-picked mainly in early April. Macerated for 13–16 days. Malolactic conversion was carried out in stainless steel and once completed all batches were racked to 228-litre French oak barrels, of which 16% were new. The various batches were blended for the first time in December 2022, and the finished wine was returned to barrel for the last period of ageing. The final racking took place at the beginning of October 2023 and fining trials were conducted on the finished wine. None improved the tannin balance and so it remains unfined. It was then sterile-filtered and bottled on 30 October 2023. Amazing amount of detail on their website!
Transparent ruby. Mellow nose that smells more evolved than the John Riddoch 2018! Relatively light-bodied with markedly soft tannins. Fresh and already approachable with marked acidity on the end. Agreeable mouthwash! Needs food. A very delicate hand made this. "  Drink 2025-2035

17.5/20 points, Jancis Robinson, JancisRobinson.com, October 2024