2022 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River

When you’re the flagship, there’s always pressure because you must be the best of the best. Well, take a bow. This harnesses all the power of fruit and winemaking, all seemingly effortlessly, and turns it into an elegant, stunning wine balancing savouriness with fruit. Just the right amount of cassis, mulberries, violets and spicy, cedary oak, nori and menthol and more besides. The palate builds yet stays just shy of fuller bodied with fine-grained tannins, refreshing acidity and superb length. Excellent now and with decades ahead of it. Oh and another accolade, this represents the 50th vintage of the wine. Take another bow.

97 points Jane Faulkner winecompanion.com.au

I taste in batches of six, pouring each glass, gassing the bottles and working my way through the flight. Today, this 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon was poured in glass number five, and so it has had some time to breathe. Upon pouring, the nose was so abundantly, luxuriatingly steeped in graphite, fresh lead pencil (a smell so potent and specific and good), forest floor and pure, summer raspberry. After 20 minutes or so in the glass, the oak has begun to recede, and the fruit is swelling up. The 2022 season in Margaret River was warm, dry and early, and the quality of the Cabernets (particularly) was stellar. While the oak is a feature at this stage, the fruit is so sensationally poised and powerful that this will be a super superstar in the decades to come. We know that the old Moss Woods prevail even now—corks willing—and so aided and abetted by modern screw caps, these wines will patiently plod through the coming decades with ease. This is one of Australia's most collected/cellared premium wines for a reason. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

97+ points Erin Larkin robertparker.com

This stunning Margaret River Cabernet has 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot included. The team talk of some of the difficulties encountered by Margaret River wineries during this year, but everything is relative and a difficult vintage here seems to be the dream of many other regions. It was a year that finished extremely well, though, with a longer than average ripening period. Yields were down but in the end, some stellar fruit was harvested. Maturation was in French oak, 16% new, for around seventeen months. A deep maroon hue, there are notes of spices, herbs, black fruits, cloves, cassis, graphite, chocolate and tobacco leaves. A touch of biscuity oak, very well integrated, this is a wine of focus and intensity, and at all times it is immaculately balanced. Utterly seamless and seductive, there is a line of fine acidity running the full journey and the silkiest of tannins on the finish. This will easily sail through the next fifteen to twenty years, providing immense pleasure along the way. A superb Cabernet.

98 points Ken Gargett winepilot.com

This was a very good vintage in Margaret River after the slightly more challenging ’21. This has the refined elegance and prettiness that is the Moss Wood DNA. The colour is quite pale compared to some previous vintages, but don’t be fooled into thinking this is some shrinking violet. Violets, yes, but plenty more in an engine room that is balanced and poised as the tannins and almost lyrically laid oak harness the exquisitely bright fruit. So well balanced. A wine of immense charm and appeal. I defy you to stop after the first sip.

98 points rayjordanwine.com.au

Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon from Margaret River is one of Australia’s most iconic red wines, a benchmark that has consistently combined power, elegance and age-worthiness since the first vintage in 1973. Planted in Wilyabrup in 1969 by Bill and Sandra Pannell, the vineyard is now run by winemaker Keith Mugford and his wife Clare, who have maintained a meticulous, hands-on approach for over four decades.

The site itself is legendary — gravelly loam soils, cooling ocean breezes, and ideal ripening conditions deliver Cabernet fruit of exceptional intensity and balance. The team harvests block by block at perfect ripeness, ferments in small open tanks, and ages the wine in French oak barrels for close to two years. Attention to detail at every stage results in a wine of precision and depth.

In the glass, Moss Wood Cabernet bursts with blackcurrant, mulberry, bay leaf and graphite, underpinned by cedar, cigar box and hints of violet and cocoa. The palate is full-bodied and finely structured, with silky tannins and a long, polished finish that speaks to its pedigree. This is a wine that can age effortlessly for decades, gaining complexity and grace with time.

Ideal with roast lamb, dry-aged steak, mushroom Wellington or truffled pecorino. Decant when young, or cellar for 20 years or more.