Moss WoodA new label for the 2005 vintage (of which you can read more about in the excellent Moss Wood newsletter here), and while I miss the old one, the contents of the bottle more than adequately compensate for the loss of gold trim; this is easily the best since the mighty 2001 vintage. The oak is less obvious and it’s more refined and balanced (and less warm and chocolaty) than some of the more recent vintages. I tasted it alongside the soon to be released Vasse Felix Heytesbury of the same year, and while they are quite different wines and hard to separate qualitatively, it was the svelte charm of the Moss Wood that tipped the scale. A style preference in more ways than one.

A gorgeous smelling wine that immediately pulls at the purse strings of the Cabernet enthusiast - it offers mulberry and dark fruit, a violet perfume, spice, fine cedar oak and that gravel and wet cement aromatic that is so typical of the region (at least for me). In the mouth quiet authority and grace is the order of the day with ultra fine mouth coating tannins, ripe fruit, oak and alcohol all in perfect balance. It’s appropriately dry and savoury but not at the expense of bright fresh Cabernet fruit flavours. Long and satisfying this is a wine of rare balance and significant ageing potential. Certainly one of the finest Moss Wood releases to date.

Other vintages : 2001, 1999

Rated : 96 Points
Tasted : May08
Alcohol : 14%
Price : $100
Closure : Screwcap
Drink : 2015 - 2025+
Source : Cellar Door
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