Moss Wood 2021 Pinot Noir – Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot.com

Always a controversial wine, one wonders whether detractors base their dislike simply on a once-prevailing view that Western Australia cannot or should not make Pinot Noir. These days, we have more than enough evidence that good Pinot can most certainly come from the West. Others simply like the wine because it is attractive and enjoyable drinking. The fruit went into small, open fermenters with 8% whole bunches. A controlled ferment and then 17 days on skins. Into French oak for more than a year, 17% new.

Bright crimson in colour, the nose offers spices, animal fur, truffles, red cherries, a little briary note, undergrowth and dry herbs. Lots of flavour on the palate, which really lifts. Good acidity runs the length. This is a seamless style with very good length, the intensity maintained for the full journey. Soft tannins and a lingering finish. This is one of the better Moss Wood Pinots for some time. Now for six years. 

November, 2023

 

92 Points

Rating: Stars
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Moss Wood 2022 Chardonnay – Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot.com

A vintage of contrasts but certainly yet another of the seemingly endless procession of superb years in Margaret River. The juice was clarified in stainless steel, seeded with an array of yeasts for a controlled ferment. Racking to oak, 228-litre French oak, 54% of which was new. Full malo, blending of all components and then back to oak for 16 months. Margaret River Chardonnay has firmly established itself as one of the great styles of Australian wines and this is simply yet more evidence.

Pale yellow gold hue, the nose offers florals, figs, citrus, a hint of pear and a touch of honey. Peaches and an early note of nougat. There is quality oak, giving the character of grilled cashews, but the integration proceeds apace. It seems to me that this vintage of the MW Chardonnay is a little more elegant than is usual. A really impressive, refined wine, exhibiting early complexity. There is a fine line of acidity with excellent length. Balance and an appealing texture. There is room to improve further over the next six to eight years. 

November, 2023

 

94 Points

Rating: Stars
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Moss Wood 2023 Semillon – Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot.com

Always one of the most exciting West Aussie Semillons and this release is no different. The vintage notes from the team at Moss Wood rave about 2023. Cynics amongst might suggest that these guys really wouldn’t know a poor vintage if they ever had the misfortune to encounter one. It seems that Margaret River is destined to have great vintages, year after year, but I guess there are degrees of great. The fruit comes from a 50-year-old dry farmed vineyard. It is whole bunched pressed and fermented in stainless steel. The wine sees no oak.

A very pale gold. The nose is refined, elegant and restrained. This is fresh with notes of lemons, dry herbs, pears and a hint of honey. There is alluring texture, soft and seductive, and the wine is clean and with serious length. Bright acidity. Nothing like the fine Sems we see from the Hunter, but utterly delicious, nonetheless. Enjoy over the next six to ten years. 

November, 2023

 

 

93 Points

Rating: Stars
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Moss Wood 2022 Chardonnay – Gary Walsh, The Wine Front

Gosh, this is a bold one.

Dried pear and mango, mint and butterscotch pudding, biscuit spices, lime rind and cedar. It’s full of flavour, but has a very firm cut of grapefruity acidity through ripe white fruit, with grainy wood tannin adding a drying feel, and a toasty, zesty grapefruit and lime finish of solid length (and tang). It’s not quite cohesive as at now, though it should smooth out with bottle age.

September, 2023

 

90 Points

Rating: Stars
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Moss Wood 2021 Pinot Noir – Gary Walsh, The Wine Front

Poached strawberry, cherry, a little dried rose perfume, cedar and chai. It’s medium-bodied, kind of juicy in red fruit, with a twist of orange peel, a light grainy grip to tannin, a delicate smokiness, with some pomegranate crunch, sap and iodine on a finish of good length. Lots of character. I like it.

September, 2023

93 Points

Rating: Stars
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Moss Wood 2022 Chardonnay – Marc Malouf, Wine Worth Writing About

Pale gold with silver reflections and a floral and zesty nose of citrus blossoms, jasmine, grilled lime, quince, pear and melon with almond nougat, mint, dried galangal, white pepper and toasted spice.
In the mouth it’s mineral, precise, gently curved and intensely flavoured with lime, orchard fruit, white stonefruits and salinity, as well as some brulée and hazelnut notes. Lots of freshness, tension and texture going on. The midpalate’s gripped by chalky tannins that hold alongside the fruit to a long and reaching tail. A killer Chardy for the cellar!

August, 2023

 

Rating: Stars
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Moss Wood 2021 Pinot Noir – Marc Malouf, Wine Worth Writing About

Ruby red with a clearing rim and a complex and Earthy nose of violets, deep red and black berries, dark cherry, plum, fig, beetroot, fresh cream, forest undergrowth, clay and even a hint of blood and bone…this is legit!
The mouth is just as convincing with deeply flavoured, savoury edged fruit and fleshy terracotta tannins. It flows in ribbons and echoes the nose with a core of pure red and black fruit, deepened by sweet tobacco, fig leaf and mace. There’s tension, concentration and structure that is rarely seen in Aussie Pinot. It evolves from the midpalate on and dries up to reveal another side that is quite tight, chewy and angular with notes of lemon pith, cranberry, pomegranate and plum skins. This is seriously delicious and one I would love to watch over the coming years.

August, 2023

Rating: Stars
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Moss Wood 2023 Semillon – Marc Malouf – Wine Worth Writing About

Medium straw with lime reflections and a nose of gardenia, pink rose, floral citrus, Piel de Sapo melon, custard apple, yellow plum, sweet snow peas, white pepper and candied ginger.
In the mouth it’s silky, mineral, vibrant and beautifully sculpted with a delicacy and elegance I’ve not yet seen in a Margaret River Semillon. The balance is stunning. Lime, lemonade, rose, melon, apricot, nectarine and bitter almond show with such purity and freshness of flavour and are gripped with the finest of tannins and sizzling minerality. A welcomed savoury note appears in the midpalate and holds over a long tail that seems to have no end. This wine tells a compelling story of Margaret River Semillon and is an outstanding release in my eyes

August, 2023

 

 

Rating: Stars
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Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Elsa – Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot.com

The third release of this wine that, if you are bored with simple and straightforward Savvys, this is a style which should appeal. Far more interest and complexity than your basic Savvy, it has been deliberately harvested at riper levels than in the past with the grapes given a couple of hours of skin contact. Halfway through fermentation, the juice is racked to oak barrels, 10% of which were new.

Dry herb aromas evident here, with lemon curd notes. Layered and with a lovely creamy stonefruit note – this creamy texture is a highlight of the wine. Stonefruit, citrus and a hint of tropical flavours, it is very well balanced with a finish that really does linger. Drink now for five years, although it would be interesting to see what it looks like even further down the track.

May, 2022

 

93 Points

Rating: Stars
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