Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2013 Merlot
Wine Facts
| Median Harvest: | Merlot – 12/03/2013 Cabernet Franc – 04/03/013 |
| Bottled: | 01/10/2015 |
| Released: | 18/11/2015 |
| Yield: | Merlot – 5.46 t/ha Cabernet Franc – 5.79 t/ha |
| Baume: | Merlot – 12.6⁰ Be Cabernet Franc – 13.2⁰ Be |
| Alcohol: | 13.5% |
| Vintage Rating: | 10/10 |
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Tasting Notes
This wine has deep brick red colour and is in bright condition.
The nose is a bright expression of Merlot fruit, combining blackcurrant, mulberry and toffee apple. It is also quite complex, with plenty of leather and tar in the background.
A similar theme shows on the palate, with mouth-filling red and black fruits, sitting over full body and firm tannin. There is good length and the tannins are well balanced, with an astringency that gives a bituminous finish but doesn’t leave the mouth dry or gritty.
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2022 Merlot – Ray Jordan, Ray Jordan Wine
A lot of work was put into rejuvenating this vineyard when Moss Wood acquired it, and it has certainly paid off handsomely with merlot in particular. It’s now recognised as one of Australia’s consistently best. This is another cracker combining the suppleness of the fruit with power and poise. You…
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Merlot – Jane Faulkner – James Halliday, The Wine Companion
Deep, intense and richly flavoured, this is no tutti-frutti merlot. The fruit comes encased in earthy, almost peaty flavours with baking spices and fresh herbs. Full bodied with no shortage of oak and tannins – somewhat drying on the finish. But all things considered, this is very good and a…
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 Merlot – Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Deep-ish red-purple colour, bright and fresh; the bouquet is briary, peaty, cedar and savoury forest-floor complexities overlying dark-berry/cassis/mulberry fruit, the palate elegant and intense with lovely depth of flavour and fine, caressing tannins that run the full length of the palate. Lovely wine indeed, and a triumph for a straight…
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2020 Merlot – Ray Jordan, Ray Jordan Wine
When Australia’s finest merlots are discussed this one must be in the mix. Recent vintages have been stunning, and I have to say this one, which combines the concentrated intensity of the small 2020 vintage with such supreme elegance, is as good as any released and that includes the 2018….
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Merlot – Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
Plum, cherry, new leather, choc-hazelnut, tobacco and black olive, a honey/miny/floral top note. It’s medium-bodied, savoury, some tobacco and savoury stuff, a liquorice and nougat flavour, silty and grainy tannin, quite some flesh on its bones, baked raspberry, plenty of chew and succulence with a grainy and saline finish of…
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Merlot – Angus Hughson, Wine Pilot.com
The cool and challenging vintage is on show in this 2021 Merlot. It delivers subtle and pretty aromas of graphite, gravel and just ripened blackcurrant topped by a generous serve of herbs and cedar. Lightly framed and acid driven, fleshy cassis flavours are then backed by heavyset, firm edged tannins…
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Merlot – Ned Goodwin, jamessuckling.com
Mid-weighted merlot, reflective of a cooler vintage. Riffs on dried tobacco, mint and other strewn garden herb shuffling amidst juicy red cherry notes, while segueing to an astringent, sappy finish. This feels almost delicate in a Moss Wood context, suggestive of something from the Loire. It should reward mid-term cellaring….
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2021 Merlot – Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot.com
Aussie Merlot has rarely hit the heights that many once hoped, but there have certainly been some very fine examples and Moss Wood’s has always been among them. A deep garnet hue, the nose gives appealing plum pudding and rich fruitcake notes. A hint of chocolate and dried fruit characters….
Moss Wood Ribbon Vale 2018 Merlot – Augus Hughson, Wine Pilot.com
Moss Wood’s Ribbon Vale vineyard is planted close to the original estate in Wilyabrup although always creates more elegant wines thanks to its slightly higher and south facing vineyards, which is not a bad thing. This is classic merlot in many ways – good colour but not especially deep and…
Vintage Notes
We had a generally excellent growing season and yet we began the 2013 vintage with a degree of fear and trepidation. This was not because of any quality concerns but rather, we’d had a monumental hail storm on 30th November, 2012, the likes of which we hadn’t seen since 1996 and we were worried just how small our yields were going to be. The thing is, it is possible to see the damage but we don’t know the true extent until we actually start picking.
The first of the Ribbon Vale reds to come off was the Cabernet Franc on 4th March and its yield was down by 30%, which wasn’t as bad as expected. When we started Merlot 8 days later, we hoped for the same and yes, we were in luck. That left Cabernet Sauvignon, which started on 27th March and sadly our hopes were dashed - its yield was down by just over 50%. Such is life in agriculture. What did matter was quality and that was very encouraging.
Despite the stormy conditions outlined above, the season was warm to hot, especially at the end of December where we had one day with a maximum of 40⁰C, the hottest day for the summer. January temperatures eased but things warmed again at the beginning of February, although not quite as hot as December. March delivered typical autumn weather, so all the varieties moved gently to full maturity, especially Cabernet Sauvignon.
Production Notes
Cabernet Franc was hand-picked and destemmed into a small, open tank, seeded with a pure yeast culture and allowed to ferment at up to 30⁰C and hand plunged 3 times per day. After 13 days it was pressed to stainless steel, underwent malolactic fermentation and was finally racked to barrel on 13th April, 2013. The casks were all 228 litre French oak.
Merlot was hand-picked and destemmed into static fermenters, seeded with pure yeast culture and allowed to ferment up to 30⁰C and were pumped over 3 times per day. Skin contact time was 16 days, after which the wine was pressed to stainless steel. Malolactic fermentation was carried out by selected bacteria and after MLF the wine was racked to 228 litre French oak barrels on 23rd April, 2013.
The Merlot blend was made up on 3rd March, 2015 and consisted of 92% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc. It was then returned to barrel where it stayed until 14th September 2015 when, after 30 months aging, it was racked to stainless steel. Fining trials were carried out but none improved the wine, so it was left unfined and then sterile filtered and bottled on 1st October, 2015.
The Merlot blend was made up on 3rd March, 2015 and consisted of 92% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc. It was then returned to barrel where it stayed until 14th September 2015 when, after 30 months aging, it was racked to stainless steel. Fining trials were carried out but none improved the wine, so it was left unfined and then sterile filtered and bottled on 1st October, 2015.
Cellaring Notes
The brightness and balance mean this wine lends itself to early drinking and is really quite enjoyable now. However, it will certainly age well and we recommend it for at least 20 years cellaring. This will allow it to build its secondary notes of leather and tar, enhancing and rounding the palate with softer tannins.