Stars align this weekend, as two legends of the Australian wine scene have released their latest sets of goodies, with specials running for the next week and tastings on both Friday & Saturday!
Joined by their talented head winemaker and viticulturist Hugh Mugford, the incredible new flagship Cabernet from the stunning 2023 season and a collection of other tasty Margaret River whites and reds from Moss Wood will bepouring come tomorrow (Friday 1st) between 4:30 and 6:30pm! There are not many other Cabernets one can point to from around our country that carry themselves with the same elegance, lengthy concentration and chocolatey depth as this beloved release from the Mugford family; even right upon release, it's bursting with beautiful pristine fruit and supple oaky hints, with a very long future ahead of it (if one can resist from opening it). Also in the spotlight is their two well-priced Amy's labels (Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc + Cabernet blend), Ribbon Vale Merlot and Chardonnay, textural Pinot Noir, and their full-bodied premium Chardonnay label. Together, they make an outstanding set of wines, and we can't wait to hear your thoughts!
Saturday (2nd) then brings forth the brand new premium label releases from Yalumba, just through our doors from the winery today! Spearheaded by their crown jewel, 'The Caley' now onto its 2021 vintage, and hot off multiple near-perfect scores, the lineup will include what is perhaps Australia's benchmark Viognier, 'The Virgilius', a current/back-vintage pairing of both 'The Menzies'Cabernet and 'The Signature' Cabernet Shiraz, 'Tri-Centenary' Grenache, and'Octavius' Shiraz. Even into their 177th year of operation, standing proud as Australia's oldest family-owned winery, the team at Yalumba still continue to craft, pound for pound, some of the country's finest examples of each respective varietal, and tasting each through back-to-back will prove a glorious testament to their talents and versatility. Catch you then!
Amy's Cuvée Blanc 2025 -
$34 on special this week ($38 RRP)
// 90% Semillon and 10% Sauvignon Blanc
"Light, bright yellow, deeper in colour than most of its age. There is a touch of spicy, toasty oak on the nose that goes with the deeper colour, while the palate is rich and deep, full flavoured and dry with a good backbone of phenolics, the entirety beautifully presented as a full-bodied, powerful, attention grabbing style of dry white wine." - 92 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Amy's Cabernet Blend 2024 -
$35 on special this week ($39 RRP)
// Cabernet Sauvignon 72%, Merlot 11%, Malbec 9% and Petit Verdot 8%
"One of the better Amy’s, maturation was for sixteen months in French oak barriques, but the use of any new oak was avoided. Purple magenta in colour, the nose exhibits notes of black cherries, smoked meats, graphite, plums, soy, cassis and blackberries. There is focus and great length here, with a line of juicy acidity and fine tannins on the finish. The wine maintains its intensity for the full journey. The deft oak handling has really allowed the fruit to shine. A wine which will easily provide pleasure for the next ten to fifteen years. Really impressive stuff." - 95 Points, Angus Hughson, The Vintage Journal
Ribbon Vale Chardonnay 2024 -
$69 on special this week ($79 RRP)
"Pale colour. Intense lemon curd, grapefruit, tropical fruit aromas with ginger/ hint vanilla notes. Generous and creamy with ample lemon glacé, grapefruit, rock melon flavours, fine slinky touch grippy textures, marvellous viscosity and underlying roasted almond, vanilla notes. Finishes bittersweet and minerally. Lovely regional presence and vinosity. Brilliant wine." - 96 Points, Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal
Pinot Noir 2023 -
$75 on special this week ($85 RRP)
"This is one of the finest pinot noirs yet from Moss Wood, delivering a wine of subtlety and power in equal measure. The vintage contributed vibrant colour, floral, cherry and raspberry aromatics, and a sublimely textured, finely integrated palate. Fine acidity and chalkiness complement the bright red fruits, capturing what pinot is all about. A terrific example of the variety and of Margaret River." - 97 Points, Ray Jordan
Ribbon Vale Merlot 2022 -
$75 on special this week ($85 RRP)
// 86% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon
"The 2022 Ribbon Vale Merlot is from a warm, dry and early vintage; the confluence of these climatic conditions has come together as a superb red wine vintage in the region. Aromatically, the wine leads with redcurrant and pomegranate molasses, raw cocoa and tapenade. On the spice register, we see nutmeg, clove, anise and cinnamon. It’s floral, as well. The highlight, however, is undoubtedly the tannins—chalky and ultra fine, pulverized rather than in stratum. Wow. This is excellent, just sheer elegance." - 95 Points, Erin Larkin, Robert Parker Wine Advocate
Chardonnay 2024 -
$96 on special this week ($109 RRP)
"Another superb Margaret River Chardonnay from the team at Moss Wood. Fermentation was completed in French oak barriques, 55% of which were new. Maturation was over a period of a year and a half. Lemon yellow in colour, the wine has a glorious nose, full of notes of mandarins, oyster shells, grilled cashews, stone fruits, ginger, white peaches, lemon curd, florals and citrus. Just stunning. Such a subtle and seductive texture; there is complexity already evident, and an intensity which runs the full length. And what length it is. Always balanced, this is a cracking Chardonnay for drinking over the next ten to twelve years. You know where you can take your similarly priced White Burgs." - 96 Points, Angus Hughson, The Vintage Journal
"Well butter me both sides! I reckon this is a better wine than the 2023. Peach, mint slice, lime, lightly toasty cedar oak, cashew and a little spice. It’s bright and juicy, grilled lime and peach, pastry dough, a lively but settled tang to acidity, mint nougat and floral mouth-perfume, some flinty elements here too, lime and a drizzle of honey on a finish of excellent length. Yum." - 95 Points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 -
Available for $155
(10% off in any six wine purchase)
// 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot
"No doubt many winelovers have been eagerly awaiting this wine, one of the last of Margaret River’s big guns from the stunning 2023 vintage. Deep maroon with a magenta edge, there is such power and finesse in this wine. Balance, length and structure are all world class. A take-me-now-Lord wine if ever there was one. The great 2023 vintage strikes again. Is this the best wine Moss Wood has ever made? It certainly must come very close. The nose reveals aromas of cassis, mulberries, plums, charcuterie, cigar boxes and blackberries. The structure is seamless through to the silkiest of tannins. There is great length and persistence here and the balance is knife-edge. If you doubt me as to the brilliant quality of this wine, please see if you can find a wine from Bordeaux at this price which comes close to this quality. Then we’ll talk. This is just a cracker. Thirty years standing on its head." - 99 Points, Ken Gargett, The Wine Pilot
"This is such a beautiful example of what Moss Wood cabernet is all about. There’s nothing big and brutish here. This is elegance. This is precision. This is brilliance. High-end florals on the nose with traces of violet, red currant, and then on the palate, that beautiful, restrained suppleness that deceived so many people in the early years of Moss Wood reveals itself, and yet as always, there’s a deep and lingering intensity that persists through to an exceptionally long finish. This is simply stunning. I do not believe there has been a better Moss Wood." - 99 Points, Ray Jordan
'The Virgilius' Viognier 2023 -
$49 on special this week ($55 RRP)
"Yalumba's Virgilius Viognier remains a benchmark for the variety in Australia. Expressive but so finely focused and precise, nothing blown out of proportion, no mean feat with this persnickety variety. Tautly stretched citrus fruits with a whiff of apricot kernel and hints of white flowers, crushed stone, almond meal, white flowers, some distant marzipan and clover blossom. Stony-pure on the palate with a lovely bright mineral cadence and a dry, enduring finish." - 96 Points, Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion
$67 on special this week ($75 RRP)
"This is the darkest Lord in the Dynasty of The Signature. It glares at you from the glass, challenging you to approach, inch by inch and dare to take a sip. And it is not easy. It requires commitment and a fair slug of bravery. You must punch into this wine, like a cliff-diver, because that’s the level of fearlessness needed, and when you do, you will plunge into an extraordinarily indulgent abyss of flesh and fruit. Once you take the challenge by the horns, it is sheer hedonism: cavorting fruit, spectacular oak backing singers, swaying rhythmically, hand-clapping this band as it advances on the crowd and swallows up their desires in one fell swoop. This is not a regular Sig, per se, but a swelling riff on the eternal Yalumba love affair with Cabernet and Shiraz!" - 19+/20 Points, Matthew Jukes
$70 on special this week ($79 RRP)
"Long an icon across my memory bank, as well as it still serves me: from my early days in retail to time in New York as a sommelier and even Paris, where it appeared momentarily on the list at Willie’s. A seminal moment when Australian wine got a look in. And now? Classic. In an Australian sense. Lightened up over the years in terms of the oak, but the forcefield of graphite-bitter-chocolate-bouquet grain tannins is the driver. Long. Mulch, red and blackcurrant scents and a swab of olive linger. This is very good, auguring for a long life." - 95 Points, Ned Goodwin MW, Halliday Wine Companion
$70 on special this week ($79 RRP)
"The genius of winemaker Kevin Glastonbury’s bold experimentation with ancient bush-vine Grenache (planted in 1889) is paying maximum dividends in this superior vintage expression. The bravery to pursue 333-day maceration on skins after fermentation in open-top stainless steel tanks enables the most pure fruit expression, while maintaining an especially lean palate line. A pale crimson hue belies its lively aromas and flavours, so fragile they lean towards the ethereal. The extended skin contact draws out sublime nuances of wild raspberry, pulled taut by super-fine tannins. An extraordinary, distinctively original wine. Capturing this under screwcap will ensure its vitality and nervy energy is preserved for a decade in the cellar." - 98 Points, David Sly, Decanter
$85 on special this week ($95 RRP)
"The wine is deeply coloured and actually a little peculiar in that the individual characters of cabernet sauvignon and shiraz are initially hard to find – it more shows aromas of the baked red earths and Terracotta of the Barossa before some leafy cassis slowly awakens matched by youthful oak influence. The palate is then reserved but does show significant mouth-coating tannins seamlessly interwoven with outstanding fruit plus an almost never-ending finish. The overall experience is truly seamless, the wine even and unforced, and is just a great drink showing superb balance; exceptional winemaking from Kevin Glastonbury and his team with fruit in true harmony." - 98 Points, Angus Hughson, Wine Pilot
$155 on special this week ($175 RRP)
"Ink black core, deep ruby and purple tones into the rim. Heady nose of ripe mulberry, ironstone, anise and cedar shavings. The palate fills with plush blue and purple fruits, an instant realisation that many elements are in play, all melded with a seamless purity that impresses. Savoury notes of ferrous minerals, dark spices and mocha all build this wine up whilst fine, gravelly tannins ensure that intensity translates to a driven and incredibly long palate. This is just a pup but so approachable in its texture, will build even more as it ages." - 97 Points, Stuart Knox, The Real Review
Available for $450
(10% off in any six wine purchase - limited availability)
// 74% Coonawarra Cabernet and 26% Barossa Shiraz
"It might be suspicion only but one feels that our venerable old Barossa producer, Yalumba, may have felt that, as impressive as its portfolio of wines is, the world did not see them having a release which challenged the Granges and the Hills of Grace and a surprising number of new releases at ridiculously high and arguably undeserved prices. Enter this wine, although it still sits well below how others when we start talking cost, but then that is only to its advantage. There have been some absolutely superb releases of this wine over the years but for me, none better than this 2021. It is a superstar. Under cork. Gleaming blood red/maroon, the nose reveals notes of bright cherries, tobacco leaves, spices, well integrated oak, plums, blackberries, aniseed, cassis and beefstock. It is subtle and seductive, generous and plush, offering a fine line of acidity in great length. There are silky tannins on the lingering finish. Stonkingly good, if one wishes to get technical. Thirty years with ease." - 99 Points, Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot
"It is a picture of elegance and fruit power in one package. There is a glass-staining deep crimson colour for starters. The fruit, seemingly reduced to an essence, is all blackberry, cassis, black cherry and dark plum. Hints of deep spice, blackforest cake, licorice, cedar, tobacco pouch, bouquet garni, black olive tapenade, pencil shavings, roast beef, earth, veal glace and dark chocolate. The tannins are powdery, layered and in perfect resolution, the oak sitting simpatico with the deep fruit, the finish stretching out for a considerable length of time. The best Caley release thus far for mine." - 99 Points, Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion
If you wish to purchase any of these wines, please use the links above