MOSS WOOD Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 750ml

Region: Margaret River, Western Australia.

Varietal: 86%Cabernet Sauvignon, 8%Petit Verdot and 6%Cabernet Franc

Tasting notes: The Moss Wood 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon has a deep, youthful brick red colour and is in bright condition. On the nose the primary fruit aromas are typical of Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon, showing mulberries, red currants and lifted violets. In the background there are complexities of dark chocolate, coffee bean, earth and cedar.The palate has generous dark fruit flavours of great length and breadth, combined with the classic Moss Wood balance – richness underpinned by rounded tannins. The finish is a combination of cedar and chocolate notes, combined with charry, spicy oak flavours and more ripe tannins.

Production notes: In the winery, the technique of production was “Moss Wood traditional”. The fruit was destemmed and conveyed into open fermenters and seeded for fermentation with selected yeast strains. Temperatures were maintained at around 30°C and the tanks were plunged 4 times per day for colour and tannin extraction. The wine was left on skins for 10 to 14 days and tasted daily to monitor the progress of the extraction. Each batch was pressed when the best tannin and fruit balance had been achieved.The wine was then transferred in its various different batches to barrels where it completed malolactic fermentation, after which it was racked, analysed, adjusted and then returned to barrel for the aging process to do its work. All the barriques used to store the wine are French, 55% of them new and predominately from Tonnellerie Remond in Burgundy. There were also components from Taransaud, Rousseau and Bossuet.At the end of the first year in barrel, the various batches were tasted, the impact of the different oak treatments analysed and noted and then all the different components were blended and the finished wine returned to barrel for the second year of aging.Towards the end of the second year in wood, various fining trials were carried out to assess the final balance. In particular, the team was conscious of the fact that in lower yielding years, Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon can be uncharacteristically tannic and wanted to ensure that this was not the case for the 2003. Interestingly enough, after exhaustive tastings, we concluded that the wine was perfectly fine and didn’t need any adjustment. To finish the process the wine was filtered and bottled in July 2005.

Alcohol: 14.5%

Score: 96    Jeremy Oliver.