Moss Wood Ribbon Vale Cabernet Sauvignon 2023
- 96
- $97
- Drink by: 2026-2046
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Cabernet Sauvignon this Margaret River wine from the Ribbon Vale Vineyard may be, but it is very much the traditional Bordeaux blend, with 2.5% of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot included in the mix. From the 2023 vintage, which continues to grow in reputation with every wine released, this must surely be the best Cab under the Ribbon Vale label yet made. Maturation was for twenty-eight months in French oak barriques, 17% of them new. Dark mauve/crimson with a purple rim, this is both elegant and yet intense. There is incredible length and immaculate balance with serious persistence. The nose offers notes of chocolate, kirsch, tobacco leaves, dried herbs, cocoa beans, aniseed, mulberries and blackberries. Tannins are a mix of silk and gravel, and we see cassis emerging towards the finish. A wine which will provide immense pleasure for at least the next fifteen to twenty years, though winelovers will be raving over well-cellared bottles long after that. Love it.
Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.
