Moss Wood 2024 Semillon
![03_20240705_Semillon_Label 03_20240705_Semillon_Label](https://www.mosswood.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/03_20240705_Semillon_Label-scaled.jpeg)
Wine Facts | |
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Median Harvest Date | 13th February, 2024 |
Mean Harvest Ripeness | 13.9°Be |
Yield | 4.97 t/ha |
Growing Season Ave Temperature | 20.84⁰C |
Number of hours accrued between 18 and 28⁰C | 942 hours |
Number of hours above 33⁰C | 89 hours |
Days Elapsed between Flowering and Harvest | 97 days |
Bottled | 1st July, 2024 |
Released | 29th August, 2024 |
Alcohol | 14.0 % |
Wine Facts
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Median Harvest Date
13th February, 2024
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Mean Harvest Ripeness
13.9° Be
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Yield
4.97 t/ha
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Weather Data
Growing Season Ave Temperature – 20.84⁰C
Number of hours accrued between 18 and 28⁰C – 942 hours
Number of hours above 33⁰C – 89 hours
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Days Elapsed between Flowering and Harvest
97 days
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Bottled
1st July, 2024
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Released
29th August, 2024
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Alcohol
14.0%
Vintage Notes
The 2023/24 growing season saw old hands, Clare and Keith, carried back in time, all the way to 1994/95. The ‘95 and ‘24 vintages are nearly identical and characterised by warm, dry conditions. For the former, we don’t have temperature information because it pre-dates our weather station by 5 years. However, we can say with certainty 2024 is the warmest since 2007, with a series of warm nights in February.
At Moss Wood we love the warm, dry seasons because they deliver reliable quality, courtesy of a relatively disease-free crop and comfortable attainment of full ripeness in the grapes. While there are concerns with lower rainfall, our dry-farmed vines have some resistance to drought. For confirmation of this, look no further than the fact 1995, also a lower rainfall year, is considered one of Margaret River’s finest years and we’re confident 2024 is on the way to similar status.
Nevertheless, the season caused some discussion amongst the wider wine community and this is understandable. For Clare and Keith, as much as they hate to admit it, the wisdom of years means they’ve seen this before but any vineyard managers and winemakers who have recently joined the industry, will not have experienced these conditions and may consider them atypical. Indeed, this will have been amplified by the impact of 2017, 2019 and 2021, each of which were very mild and quite different to 2024.
Returning to the discussion of 23/24, it started in a boringly normal fashion with Semillon commencing flowering 6 days earlier than average on the 30th October and lasting for a very prompt 18 days. No rainfall was recorded during the period and the temperature never dropped below 6.6°C. Conditions were ideal and allowed the Semillon to set it’s fruit in near-perfect weather.
The calendar year 2023 brought 880mm of rain which was 13% below average. This alone wouldn’t necessarily be an issue for the vines; however, the timing of the rain is important. Just 10mm was recorded from when the vines began flowering at the end of October until harvest on the 13th February. This lack of rainfall is apparent with the yield of just 4.97t/ha, some 63% below average.
The fruit was in fantastic condition and the flavours were excellent when we harvested it on 13th February, 3 weeks earlier than average. The vines had enjoyed 942 hours in optimal ripening range of 18-28°C, as well as 89 hours above 33°C.
Production Notes
The hand-picked fruit was delivered to the winery where it was hand-sorted and whole-bunch pressed. It was then clarified in stainless steel tank by flotation after which the clear juice was racked to stainless steel and inoculated with multiple yeast strains for primary fermentation. This was controlled to a maximum of 18°C and lasted for 11 days before all of the sugar was depleted. Once the wine reached dryness, it was racked off fermentation lees and prepared for bottling. We undertook fining trials and determined that none improved the balance and the wine remained unfined, apart from with bentonite for protein stability. After cold stabilisation and sterile filtration, the wine was bottled on 1st July, 2024.
Tasting Notes
Colour and condition:
Bright condition, medium straw with green tints.
Nose:
Lifted primary aromas of lemon rind, sherbert, fig and quince. This is followed by hints of more complex aromas of honey, lanolin and gingerbread biscuits.
Palate:
The palate has a zippy acidity that integrates with fresh primary characters of lemon, fig and green apple. The mouth-filling primary characters are combined with fine tannins to give a long finish. There is a pleasant lanolin-like oily texture in the mid-palate which gives the wine generosity and a smooth finish.
Cellaring
The 2024 Moss Wood Semillon is a beautiful young wine that's ready to be enjoyed now, and we’re pleased to recommend it to those who appreciate vibrant, youthful wines. For those willing to wait, however, this Semillon has the potential to age gracefully for decades. We suggest cellaring it for at least 10 years to develop its bottle bouquet. Even after this time, it will still be maturing and may need another decade to fully reveal its exceptional quality. These Moss Wood Semillon wines have proven themselves to live to 30 years plus, as great toasted and honeyed wines, even with a cork sealing them, which is what they had prior to 2005, if not cork tainted.