Overview
Rated 10/10 by the winery, the 2014 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon is a highly acclaimed expression of the estate’s flagship Margaret River red. Cabernet Sauvignon blended with equal proportions of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot delivers ripe dark fruit, layered savoury complexity and concentrated yet rounded tannins, supported by 28 months in French oak.
Vintage
An excellent growing season provided fully mature Cabernet fruit with depth, perfume and balanced structure. Careful vineyard management and selective hand harvesting preserved the quality of each variety as it reached optimum ripeness.
Winemaking
All fruit was harvested by hand, destemmed and transferred to small open fermenters. Each parcel was fermented with a selected yeast culture, hand-plunged three times daily and retained on skins for 16 to 19 days according to taste.
After pressing and malolactic fermentation, the wine matured for 28 months in French oak barriques, of which 17% were new. Fining trials offered no improvement, so the finished wine remained unfined before filtration and bottling.
Producer Tasting Notes
The colour is deep brick red and condition is bright. On the nose the wine displays the full range of Cabernet fruit aromas – blueberries, blackberries and red currants, plus lifted perfumes of violets and pomegranate. As pretty as these characters are, underneath there are layers of leather, cedar and tar reminiscent of years like 1975 and 1995, adding significant complexity.
The palate is similarly a rich expression of Cabernet Sauvignon, with the full array of ripe mulberries and cassis, giving rich fruit depth and length. The acidity gives the flavours vibrancy and the tannin is concentrated but rounded, so the effect is one of smoothness and length. The finish is soft oak, leather and tar.
Critic Reviews
97 Points – Robert Parker Wine Advocate
Tasted October 2025
Drinking Window: 2029–2054
95 Points – Jeremy Oliver
Tasted January 2015
Drinking Window: 2034–2044
94 Points – The Wine Front
Tasted May 2017
Specifications
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Vintage: 2014
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Producer: Moss Wood
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Blend: 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot
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Region: Margaret River, Western Australia
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Country: Australia
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Winemakers: Clare and Keith Mugford
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Harvest Dates: Cabernet Franc – 4 March 2014; Cabernet Sauvignon – 16 March 2014; Petit Verdot – 22 March 2014
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Yield: Cabernet Sauvignon – 7.07 tonnes per hectare; Cabernet Franc – 4.84 tonnes per hectare; Petit Verdot – 6.38 tonnes per hectare
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Baumé: Cabernet Sauvignon – 13.6°; Cabernet Franc – 13.1°; Petit Verdot – 13.8°
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Skin Contact: 16 to 19 days
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Maturation: 28 months in French oak barriques, 17% new
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Alcohol: 14%
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Bottled: 21 November 2016
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Released: 17 March 2017
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Vintage Rating: 10/10
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Suggested Drinking Window: 2017–2054
