Personalised Moss Wood Ribbon Vale Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 14% 750ml

Personalised Moss Wood Ribbon Vale Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 14% 750ml

Tasting Notes

Appearance
Deep crimson, brick red hue; bright condition.

Aroma
This is dominated by dark fruits - blackberry, mulberry, black currant, and plum, with variations on that theme like blueberry yoghurt, Black Forest cake, dark licorice and jubes. Behind these are the complex notes such as violets, cedar, tobacco, tar and toasty oak.

Palate
The wine has full body, with intense black fruit flavours of blackberry, mulberry, boysenberry, cassis and dark cherry, plus background notes of black olive, licorice, dark chocolate, vanilla custard, tobacco, cedar and dried spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. Tannins and acid are very well balanced, with a presence running through the mid and back palate. Everything is well integrated giving a soft, plush mouthfeel.
cellaring potential
Continuing the comparison with 2008, where the Cabernet Sauvignon aligns even more closely, we certainly encourage those with the opportunity to cellar the 2022 Ribbon Vale. It will take at least 10-15 years to develop some bottle bouquet and a further 10-15 years beyond that to complete the process. Beyond 30 years of age, there will be no rapid decline and it should continue to drink well into its 5th decade.

Vinification
As is always the case, picking was done by hand, then the fruit is delivered to the winery to be destemmed and sorted. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec were transferred to small open tanks and seeded with multiple yeast strains for primary fermentation. Once this was underway each batch was hand plunged 3 times per day and time on skins varied from 13 to 16 days. Temperatures are controlled to a maximum of 32°C. Merlot is treated slightly differently and placed into closed tanks, where it was chilled to 10°C and allowed to cold soak. After 48 hours, the cooling was turned off and the temperature returned to ambient. Once it had reached 18°C the batches were seeded with multiple yeast strains for primary fermentation and pumped over 3 times per day, with temperatures also controlled to 32°C. After pressing to stainless steel tanks, each batch underwent malolactic fermentation and was then adjusted with SO2 and racked to barrel. All barrels were 228 litres French oak barriques and in the Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% were new. In September 2023, all the different batches were racked and blended in stainless steel. The final makeup of the Ribbon Vale Cabernet Sauvignon was 90% of that variety, plus 2.5% each of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. The blended wine was then returned to barrel, for the final period of aging, where it stayed until July 2024. In all, it spent 26 months in wood. It was racked to stainless steel and fining trials were prepared but none of the agents improved the wine and so it remain unfined. It was then sterile filtered and bottled on 2nd August, 2024.

Grape variety
90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2.5% Merlot, 2.5% Cabernet Franc, 2.5% Malbec, 2.5% Petit Verdot

Country: Australia
Region: Margaret River
Vintage: 2022
Variety: Cabernet & Cabernet Blends
Alcohol volume: 14.0
Closure: Screwcap
Volume: 750
Weight: 1.333kg
Wine style: Red (Full Bodied)