Nose
There is considerable volume and the nose presents as a lifted combination of fruit aromas and blossom-like cents, reminiscent of honeysuckle or nasturtium. The aromas are typical Moss Wood, with yellow flesh nectarine, peach and passionfruit. There are also interesting complex notes of malt biscuit, caramel, mature cheese and charry oak and once again, the usual Moss Wood marmalade characters.
Palate
The wine initially fills the mid-palate with generous, ripe stone fruit flavours and these combine with full body and lively acidity to give lifted, juicy mouth feel. There are complex secondary flavours of citrus and oak and roast nut and malt that combine to give an almost lemon meringue pie combination on the finish. Despite the presence of oak, the tannins are in good balance, so the wine has a clean finish, with a smooth texture.
Growing Conditions
Once again we note the 2008/2009 growing season is one of the most even we have had. The summer temperatures gave us consistent warmth but no extreme heat and the vines found it very much to their liking. All varieties respond with correspondingly even ripening and the resulting wines have generous fruit characters and lots of interesting, background complex notes.
Although there were some differences in the growing conditions, we think 1995 is a comparable year, especially for the Chardonnay. So, having seen this comparison, readers may find the following numbers quite interesting. In 1995, the median harvest date for Chardonnay was 19th February whereas in 2009, it was 8th March. So the more recent season was notablely cooler, ripening some 17 days later and 7 days later than the long term average, across all vintages, of 1st March. This means there have only been two later vintages for Moss Wood Chardonnay, the 1989 and 2006, picked on the 19th and 15th March, respectively. Yet the style of wine made in those years was quite different. In 1989, we had very heavy rain in the first week of February when the vines were probably within a fortnight of harvest.
The resulting cool weather and dilution took them several more weeks to make up. In much is cussed 2006, temperatures were very mild and the vines simply didn’t get the heat they needed to maintain good ripening rates. In the end, of course, Chardonnay, an early variety, did not have the difficulties of Cabernet Sauvignon. However, despite reaching full maturity, it made very delicate wine, with a predominance of citrus and minerality not often seen in a Moss Wood. Can we draw any conclusions from all this? Despite the relatively late harvest date, the 2009 doesn’t share much in common with the 1989 or the 2006. So perhaps the key was the consistent, if slightly lower than usual temperatures, which, combined with no interruption from rain, were just right for the vines to maintain slow and steady ripening. In addition, yields were moderate but not excessive. The 2009 crop was 6.89 tonnes per hectare, slightly above the long term average of 6.63. The lack of stress in this environment ensured they also kept a complex flavour profile, or so we think. Whatever the drivers, we are delighted with the result.
