Vasse Felix
Tom Cullity
Margaret River
2014

The producer

Margaret River is a beautiful area - the coastline of beautiful beaches and fabulous surf rolling in attracted surfers long before it had anything to do with wine; the karri, marri and blackbutt forest attracted those interested in the peace and calm of the land. It was also assessed as perfect for growing grapes for quality wine, and Dr Bill Pannell was one of the first to buy and plant at the northern end of the area in 1969. Quality showed in the early days and the 1975 Cabernet Sauvignon was one of the first wines that had the wine trade sitting up and taking notice of this new, slowly burgeoning area three hours south of Perth.

The wines that followed were a tale of beautiful succulent fruit and elegant balance. Current owners Keith and Clare Mugford arrived as winemaker in 1979 and slowly took control and ownership over the next six years and, with impeccable vineyard management, have produced a range of wines celebrated for their quality and consistency. Moss Wood produce Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Semillon; they also own the Ribbon Vale vineyard.

The wine

Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon is the flagship wine of Moss Wood. Despite producing excellent wines since the mid-1970s, the increase in vine age and a gentle touch in the winery have seen the wines since 2000 elevate to another league altogether.

The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are hand-harvested and carefully selected to ensure only the highest quality fruit is used in the wine. After being fermented in small batches, the wine is aged for up to 20 months in new and seasoned French oak barrels, which imparts subtle notes of vanilla and spice to the wine. The resulting wine is known for its rich, full-bodied flavor profile, with ripe blackberry and cassis fruit flavors, as well as hints of chocolate, tobacco, and earthy undertones.

Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon is known for its exceptional quality and is regarded as one of the top Cabernet Sauvignon wines produced in Australia. It is a complex and well-balanced wine that showcases the unique terroir of the Margaret River region. It is a wine that can be enjoyed now, but also has the potential to age gracefully for many years.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.