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Saint Clair continue to deliver Marlborough's most internationally lauded Sauvignon Blanc. The winemaking team are on a perpetual odyssey, to isolate and retain Marlborough's finest harvests, capable of producing wines with intense regionality. Saint Clair» |
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Tim Knappstein began his apprenticeship under the family owned Stanley Wine Company. Within a decade, Tim had won more than 500 show awards, gold medals and trophies for the premium Leasingham range. Riposte» |
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The five most most exclusive parcels of old vine Shiraz, a secret component of the Barossa's most memorable vintages, hand picked off the De Fazio and Hillview vineyards at Belvidere and Moppa. Batches are crushed into traditional open top fermenters for a week of pumpovers, gently pressed into an extravagantly high proportion of new French oak hogsheads for two years maturation, followed by the final assemblage, unfiltered and unfined. Pirathon» |
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Given the scarcity of Best's prestige, limited release, old vineyard icons, Bin #1 affords enthusiasts their first taste of the Great Western Shiraz style and leaves them eager to discover more. A classic, cool climate, aromatic wine, floral and spicy, peppery and elegant, retaining vital Great Western fruit character. Bests» |
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Named for a rare grasshopper Sigaus childi, found only at Central Otago within the Earnscleugh gold mine tailings, just across the road from Grasshopper Rock vineyard. The site is fortuitously harsh and sufficiently challenging to make the vines work their hardest. Grasshopper Rock» |
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Enthused by a consuming desire to make great wine, Andrew Nugent honed his craft as viticulturalist and winemaker amongst the vines of McLaren Vale before returning to the Adelaide Hills, where he established his very own wineworks at Woodside. Hand crafted from fruit grown to mineral rich soils above the historic Bird in Hand gold mine, a pure Pinot Noir with superb effervescence, dominated by red berry characters, adorned by a lift of stonefruits and floral.. Bird In Hand» |
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Stoney Rise is all about drinkability, the creation of complex, fully approachable food friendly wines, without any excessive oak or uber ripeness. Pinot Noir goes into the oldest barrels available to soften the tannins and refine textures without overpowering the sensual fruit characters. Stoney Rise» |
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The quality of Shiraz grown to parched vineyards in Victoria's rugged western districts, has been well known throughout the world of wine since the days of gold rush and early settlement. Taltarni have since established an enviable reputation for vintages of powerfully structured, statuesque red wines, fully exploiting the soft spoken majesty and graceful intensity of Pyrenees Shiraz comes naturally. Taltarni» |
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The top cut, off a mere four hectares Pinot Noir, eighteen different rootstock and clone, all picked by hand and separately fermented. Parcels are treated to minimalist vinification and the extravagance of a Vaslin Bucher basket press, followed by a year in the finest French oak barriques and three years cellaring before release. Pressing Matters» |
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Adam Jackson bought the first blocks of land at the heart of Marlborough and took up farming in 1855. His wife planted a gumtree along Jacksons Road, it remains a regional icon and can be seen on the Jackson estate label. Jackson Estate» |
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The enthusiastic maritime climes of Martinborough are heaven sent for a style and quality of Sauvignon Blanc to rival the world's finest. Mother nature sets the stage, but ultimately it is the thoughtful viticultural practices of the Palliser Estate team, which ensures a harvest of ripe and intensely flavoured Sauvignon Blanc at every vintage. Palliser Estate» |
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Elderton Cabernet was winner of the prestigious Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy in 1993, the following years it claimed back to back Gold and Trophy at the Barossa Wine Show. The 1994 vintage gave Elderton its first international Gold medal in London, an unbroken tradition of remarkable vintages have embossed the Elderton Estate name as a national champion, being chosen by Qantas for service in first class. Elderton» |
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About Moss Wood - the Winery
Moss Wood
Moss Wood is a premium wine producer located at Margaret River, highly regarded as one of Australia's best wine producing regions
A study by viticulturist, Dr John Gladstones, first drew attention to the suitability of the Margaret River region for making wine. Gladstones believed that the soil found in the area, clay subsoil covered by gravelly loam, was ideal for viticulture. He compared the Margaret River climate with that of Bordeaux, indicating that both had an average rainfall of over 1000mms and an absence of temperature extremes, because of the influence of the sea on three sides.
One of the first to be influenced by Gladstones' theory was Bill Pannell who spent six months searching the Margaret River area for ideal land for a vineyard. He chose a site at Wilyabrup and persuaded the owner, Jack Guthrie, to sub-divide his land and to sell the block, which became Moss Wood.
Bill and Sandra Pannell commenced work on the Moss Wood Vineyard in 1969 at the same time as the Hohnens were developing Cape Mentelle and just two years after Dr Tom Cullity began the first vineyard in the area at Vasse Felix. A nursery for Cabernet was established in 1969, and the next year, two hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon were planted. The first vintage took place in 1973 when 250 dozen bottles of Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon was made. The Moss Wood Pinot Noir was first produced in 1977
Semillon was the first white wine planted at Moss Wood because suitable cuttings of Chardonnay did not become available in Western Australia until 1976. The first crop of Semillon was harvested in 1976, although a commercial release was not possible until the next vintage. Similarly, the first vintage of Chardonnay, in 1980, was not released commercially and as the next two crops were destroyed by bad weather, the public did not see a Moss Wood Chardonnay until the 1983 vintage.
In 1978, Roseworthy graduate, Keith Mugford, was employed to run the winery and in 1985 Keith and Clare Mugford purchased Moss Wood. The past decade has seen significant developments including re-trellising, in line with new developments in vine management in Australia, and the planting of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot for blending with the Cabernet Sauvignon.
A belief that the quality of the wine is largely determined in the vineyard means that continual efforts are made at Moss Wood to improve viticultural techniques. This can be seen in the changeover to the Scott Henry trellising system for the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and the adoption of the similar Te Kauwhata Two Tier system for the recently planted Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. These changes have reduced the density of the foliage and exposed the grapes to more sunlight. Not only has this improved quality and crop yield but also it has made picking, pruning and spraying easier and quicker. Experimentation in the vineyard has been matched at the winery and the wines have undergone subtle refinements over the past decade. Two factors have resulted in the production of Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon, which are more complex and have greater finesse. The wines are given longer skin contact time during fermentation and small amounts of Cabernet Franc (5%) and Merlot (0.05%) are now included in the blend. From the 1995 vintage onwards, Petit Verdot has contributed 5% to the wine. The benchmarks for the Moss Wood style, however, remain the Cabernet Sauvignons made between 1974 and 1977.
Burgundian influences have seen new techniques used in the production of Moss Wood Pinot Noir: the addition of whole bunches of grapes to the crush, longer skin contact time during fermentation and hand and feet plunging to mix the skins while the must is fermenting. These refinements in winemaking have been responsible for an improvement in the quality and consistency of the style. Keith and Clare Mugford enjoy the challenge of consistently producing high quality wines at Moss Wood. By striving to implement appropriate viticultural and vinicultural advances, they aim to further improve their understanding of premium wine production and enable Moss Wood to maintain its position as a leading Australian winery.
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