Description

Moss Wood Wilyabrup Chardonnay, Margaret River, Western Australia, 2022

Grape: 100% Chardonnay, hand picked and whole bunch pressed with 16 months in French oak (54% new). Full malolactic fermentation.

Producer Tasting Notes:

The Moss Wood style is to produce a complex wine, rich, with veils of fruit flavours. Chardonnay with a superb ageing capacity. Fastidious viticulture, fermentation & lees ageing in French barriques.

Colour: Medium straw hue with green tints. Bright condition.

Nose: Classic Moss Wood Chardonnay showing bright aromas of peach, white nectarine, rock melon, limes, malt biscuit and roast cashew. The background has multiple components with a touch of minerality as well as caramel, butter, cloves and soft, spicy oak.

Palate: The initial impression is one of freshness, with bright grapefruit, melon, peach and butterscotch flavours, some might say custard tart, sitting over fresh acid and full body, an unctuous combination. The tannin structure is firm but clean, with no bitterness and then there is a spicy, toasty oak note on the finish.

Cellaring: There is much to discuss here but in summary, the 2022 Moss Wood Chardonnay will evolve in the following way. Its youthful brightness means over the first 5 years it will be enjoyable for those who prefer lots of generous young fruit flavours. As it ages through 10 years, this will diminish a little and the bottle bouquet of butter and toast will begin to play a bigger role. Once it reaches 20 years of age, these will be the dominant characters and the wine will be fully mature. However, it should maintain good balance and be enjoyable drinking for at least another decade.

Critics' Tasting Notes:

"A vintage of contrasts but certainly yet another of the seemingly endless procession of superb years in Margaret River. The juice was clarified in stainless steel, seeded with an array of yeasts for a controlled ferment. Racking to oak, 228-litre French oak, 54% of which was new. Full malo, blending of all components and then back to oak for 16 months. Margaret River Chardonnay has firmly established itself as one of the great styles of Australian wines and this is simply yet more evidence. Pale yellow gold hue, the nose offers florals, figs, citrus, a hint of pear and a touch of honey with peaches and an early note of nougat. There is quality oak, giving the character of grilled cashews, but the integration proceeds apace. It seems to me that this vintage of the MW Chardonnay is a little more elegant than is usual. A really impressive, refined wine, exhibiting early complexity with a fine line of acidity and excellent length, balance and an appealing texture. There is room to improve further over the next six to eight years." Drink 2023-2031

94/100 points, Ken Gargett, WINE PILOT, November 2023

"The 2022 Chardonnay leads with a nose redolent of white chocolate praline, roasted/salted/crushed cashews, orange oil, vanilla pod and wafer. In the mouth, the phenolics serve to almost balance the opulent fruit; this is a huge, pillowy wine of substance and volume. It tastes the way custard cooking on the stove smells, warming, soft and rich. The combination of a warm season, with the opulence of the Moss Wood Chardonnay style, has produced a wine of ample, capacious, billowing flavor" Drink 2023-2032

94/100 points, Erin Larkin, WINE ADVOCATE, November 2023

Drink with creamy mushroom and roasted vegetable dishes such as pizza, ravioli and quiche.

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