Moss Wood 1989 Cabernet Sauvignon
Wine Facts
| Harvested: | 29/3/1989 |
| Bottled: | 30/6/1990 |
| Released: | 30/6/1991 |
| Yield: | 7.90 t/ha |
| Baume: | 13.20 |
| Alcohol: | 13.50% |
| Vintage Rating: | 5/10 |
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Tasting Notes
The 1989 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon has brick red hue with good density and a perfumed bouquet dominated by ripe, raspberry and mulberry aromas. There are hints of leafy, minty characters and toastiness from the charred vanillan oak on both the nose and palate with the wine displaying richness of fruit, cabernet berry flavours and sweetness from extract and alcohol. The acidity is well-balanced and the tannins are firm but not bitter.
This is a rich, generous wine which is supple, has intense flavours, and a long, lingering aftertaste. It is surprisingly attractive drinking for such a young Moss Wood Cabernet, yet it will gain complexity from age.
Vintage Notes
1989 was the first of three late vintages at Moss Wood and produced a rich, ripe Cabernet. It was a similar year to 1982 both in terms of the amount of rain which fell and the timing of the vintage. The experience of a wet harvest in 1982 enabled the Moss Wood team to be better organised in 1989.
Production Notes
We were able to get more tannin and to produce a better structured wine. In order to get adequate extraction and colour and to bolster the structure, half (rather than the usual one-third) of the wine was given extended skin contact during fermentation. As well as this, forty percent (rather than the customary thirty percent) of the 1989 Cabernet was matured in new oak for twelve months.
As a result, the 1989 wine has the soft, round berry flavours similar to the 1982 Cabernet.
Cellaring Notes
Structure to cellar well and should be kept for at least five years, although it will be attractive drinking for at least fifteen.