Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon
Wine Facts
| Blend: | 94% Cabernet Sauvignon 3% Cabernet Franc 3% Merlot |
| Median Harvest: | Cabernet Sauvignon – 27/03/2015 Cabernet Franc – 04/03/2015 Merlot – 12/03/2015 |
| Bottled: | 29/08/2017 |
| Released: | 19/10/2017 |
| Yield: | Cabernet Sauvignon – 3.55 t/ha Cabernet Franc – 5.79 t/ha Merlot – 5.46 t/ha |
| Baume: | Cabernet Sauvignon – 13.7⁰ Be Cabernet Franc – 13.2⁰ Be Merlot – 12.6⁰ Be |
| Alcohol: | 14% |
In the wine industry we have to be patient. To draw an analogy from cricket, winemaking is more Matt Renshaw than David Warner and very little happens quickly. It’s now more than 17 years since the Mugford family purchased Ribbon Vale vineyard, in March 2000. Although it was fully established and producing good wine, we were determined to put our own stamp on it. With the release of the 2015 red wines, of which we are very proud, we thought a review is timely.
Progress has been steady and each vintage has added to our understanding of the site and how it performs. Ribbon Vale is a unique environment and learning how this differs from Moss Wood has proven a fascinating exercise.
The two vineyards offer an insight into the French concept of “terroir”. The same people manage the two locations and their resulting wines, with identical techniques but the wines are not the same, despite there being barely more than one kilometre between them. They even have very similar soil types. However, Ribbon Vale is an elevated location, with aspects out to the south and west, is therefore cooler and ripens more slowly. Moss Wood looks out to the north and east, is more sheltered and commensurately warmer. We’re now getting the hang of what that means for ripening times and fruit flavours.
Improvement in the Ribbon Vale style have also been driven by upgrades we’ve made to the property. Most notable amongst these are the improvement of the trellising by the introduction of the Henry system and also the introduction of the Houghton Cabernet Sauvignon clone.
How far have we come? Well, of course, it’s up to you, the customers, to make this judgement and we welcome your feedback. Nevertheless, our view from the inside is Ribbon Vale is finally delivering the style and quality we are aiming for. Can we give ourselves a pat on the back?
Tasting Notes
The colour is a very youthful brick red and the condition is bright.
This wine shows the style of the 2015 vintage and quite likely the impact of the small crop. In such years, Cabernet Sauvignon in particular, has a complex but somewhat subdued nose, where the wine hints of the underlying power and complexity but takes years to reveal its true colours. So here we see smouldering red currant, black currant and mulberry, with a floral, violet lift, sitting over cedar and tar. On the palate there is concentration and length - dark fruits combining with firm tannin and leather and tarry notes.
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon – Ray Jordan, Ray Jordan Wine
This is one of the best cabernets yet released from this vineyard. It’s a gracefully presented wine of elegance and poise from the fine chalky tannins through to the energised finish. Blackcurrant and savoury plum notes with a light bay leaf and black olive nuance. The palate is so tightly…
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – Cassandra Charlick, Decanter
Ripe fruit. Nose is resplendent with mulberry, cassis, dried florals, sappy hints, green peppercorn, black earth and nori flecks. Supple, energetic palate follows the nose, with a jumble of red fruits and graphite. Fine, firm tannins and fresh acidity, the union of the two producing an energetic and elegant wine….
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion
An elegant and immediately appealing Ribbon Vale offering a light spray of red fruits, leafy freshness, Moroccan mint, tobacco and cedary oak. It’s medium bodied with supple yet restrained tannins, pops of sweet fruit across the palate and fine acidity keeping this light on its feet. August, 2024
WA Wine Review 2024
Ray Jordan “Moss Wood is a family-owned wine company and a pioneer of the Margaret River region. Planted in 1969, Moss Wood is an important founding estate of Margaret River. Clare and Keith Mugford, as viticulturalists, winemakers and proprietors, have been tending the vineyard and making wine at Moss Wood…
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Medium-deep red-purple with a briary, tomato-bush and angelica bouquet, the palate medium-full bodied and lively, intense, fine and focused, with bright and attractive cabernet cassis/raspberry fruit backed by fine, persuasive yet supple tannins. Fine, elegant cabernet, worth cellar space. February, 2024
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon – Ray Jordan, Ray Jordan Wine
Another stunner from the 2020 vintage. This vintage shows slightly more sweet fruit than some previously, yet the firm tannin core remains a structural feature that is part vineyard and part season. Plenty of dark fruits woven with a trace of black olives, bay leaf and oyster shell minerality. So…
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
Red and black fruits, cedar, some dried flowers and mint, blonde tobacco. It’s medium-bodied with an understated claret-like charm, and don’t mind me, but there’s a distinct flavour of honey glazed ham in the mix, along with tobacco and dried herbs. The tannin offers a light grainy grip, and the…
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – Angus Hughson, Wine Pilot.com
There is much to enjoy in this 2021 Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon which shows the elegance of the vintage. It opens with layers of graphite and pure cassis which are well backed by finely balanced French oak. Mid weight and vibrant with tannins already showing good integration behind a streamlined and…
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – Ned Goodwin, jamessuckling.com
A savory, mid-weighted expression from a cooler year, making for effortless early to mid-term drinking. Better tended parcels of cabernet performed well. And it shows. Pointed aromas of redcurrant, dried sage, graphite and judicious oak. Classy and fragrant, this makes for delicious drinking. Drink or hold. Screw cap. December, 2023
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon – Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot.com
The classic red variety from Margaret River, this wine is a deep, shining red. The nose is blackberries, delicatessen meats, spices, tobacco leaves and an ever-so-slight oaky note, but it is well integrated and merely adds to the complexity evident here. Attractive dark cherry touches. Fine tannins, a hint gravelly….
Vintage Notes
Ripening Time from Flowering to Harvest
2015 Ribbon Vale Merlot – 118 days
2015 Ribbon Vale Cabernet Franc – 118 days
2015 Ribbon Vale Cabernet Sauvignon – 125 days
Before we get too carried away, we must acknowledge the sheer quality of the 2015 vintage. While we lay claim to being competent grapegrowers and winemakers, it’s all easy-peasy when Mother Nature serves us up a year like this, one that will likely to join the ranks of Margaret River’s finest.
All the numbers speak to the quality. During calendar year 2014 we had 1244mm of rain, around 25% above average, so our unirrigated vineyards were well watered. The temperatures during the growing season were consistently warm, without extreme heat. There were 33 hours when the temperature exceeded 33⁰C and the hottest day was only 37.3⁰C - the sort of conditions where the Bordeaux varieties move steadily to full flavour ripeness.
For all its greatness, 2015 had a down side - yield. Cabernet Sauvignon cropped at a pitiful 3.55 tonnes/hectare, 50% below average and Merlot and Cabernet Franc continued the theme. The former produced 5.46 t/ha, down 33% and the latter 5.79 t/ha, down 30%. Our best explanation for this lies with inclement conditions during flowering. Over the 6 week period when the Cabernet varieties bloomed there was 70mm rain and 15 days when the temperature dropped below 8⁰C, so fruit set was poor and bunches were around 30% lighter than usual.
So, to the harvest. The Cabernet Franc came off on 4th March at 13.2⁰ Baume, the Merlot on 12th March at 12.6⁰ Baume ripeness, and Cabernet Sauvignon on 27th March at 13.7⁰ Baume.
Each batch was hand-picked, destemmed then transferred to small open tanks for fermentation and hand plunged 3 times per day for extraction of colour and flavour.
Production Notes
The Cabernet Sauvignon was on skins for 15 days, the Merlot for 15 days and Cabernet Franc for 14 days. After fermentation the Cabernet Sauvignon was racked to barrels on 27th May 2015, the Merlot on 13th April 2015 and Cabernet Franc on 31st March 2015. All the barrels were 228 litre French oak and the Cabernet Sauvignon received 19% new and the Merlot received 9%.
In December 2016 all the batches were racked to stainless steel for blending. After blind tastings, the Cabernet Sauvignon was blended with 3% each of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The finished wine was then returned to barrel.
On 21st August 2017 the wine was racked to stainless steel in preparation for bottling. Fining trials were carried out but none improved the wine, so it was then sterile filtered and bottled on 28th August 2017.
Cellaring Notes
It is most definitely a candidate for cellaring and will need at least 10 years to develop some mature characters and then a further 10 years to reach full maturity. However, its generous young fruit characters will definitely provide enjoyable drinking in the short term.
Our new Ribbon Vale labels
If there is any subject capable of causing healthy debate in the Mugford family its wine label design. In many ways, opinion about labels is something akin to opinion about art in general and we all know, beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. Despite the difficulty of getting 6 people to agree, we were able to arrive at a change which we hope will take Ribbon Vale out of the shadow of its older sibling, Moss Wood. We have endeavoured to keep with our tradition of using simple layouts, although for the first time there is a stylised image, which we hope captures something of the natural beauty of the vineyard and the Wilyabrup valley. We hope you like it.