MOSS WOOD Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 750ml

Region: Margaret River, Western Australia.

Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc

Tasting notes: Colour and condition: Youthful and deep brick red. Condition is bright.Nose: the initial impact is one of vibrant red and dark fruits, with ripe red currants and mulberries. There are also complex undertones of earth, chocolate and malt biscuits, combined with camphor and wax. The nose is then completed by an oak combination of toast, vanillin, cedar and lead pencil shavings.Palate: this impact of fresh fruit characters continues on the plate, where the ripe red currant and mulberry provide a sweet mid-palate in particular. The tannins are ripe and provide a long platform for these fruit flavours, with a firm but smooth texture. Complex flavours of chocolate, coffee and cedar fill out across the back palate and then the finish is a combination of oak characters, including toast, cedar and malt.

Production notes: In 2006, the Cabernet Sauvignon averaged 15 days on skins, Petit Verdot was 19 days on skins and Cabernet Franc 12 days.After pressing the wine was settled then racked off gross lees into barrel, where it underwent malolactic fermentation. All barrels were French oak barriques and 65% were new. Once the secondary fermentation was completed, the individual varieties were racked then returned to barrel and kept separate until the 14th November, when all barrels were racked and combined to complete the final blend. The finished wine was returned to barrel, where it stayed until 21st April 2008.Fining trials were then carried out but none offered any improvements in quality so the wine was then sterile filtered and bottled on 30th April 2008.

Alcohol: 14%

Score: 95   Bob Campbell .