OK, Moss Wood Chardonnay is a very expensive wine. However, the reason I’m highlighting it here is quite simple. Being a Margaret River wine, it’s frequently compared to the neighbouring wines made by Leeuwin Estate, Cullen and Pierro, each of which are perhaps more widely and highly regarded. My message is that Keith Mugford, owner and chief winemaker for Moss Wood, has been working very hard in recent years with his Margaret River Chardonnay, and the results are there for all to see in the 2004 vintage. Made in a significantly more adventurous and hands-free style than most others in the region, Moss Wood’s Chardonnay has in recent years expressed a significant measure of reductive quality, deliberately encouraged by its maker to contribute to its complexity and character. Mugford has pushed the limits of where funkiness might be considered to be faultiness, but in my view, he’s stayed in the right camp. I see the 2004 wine as a step up in breeding. The wildness and complexity is all there, but you have to look for it. Instead, the fruit is king, with an underlying slatey quality and minerality playing second fiddle beneath some beautifully focused and presented fruit. There’s an element of wet stones about its bouquet, with delicate aromas of jasmine, peach and grapefruit, with a mealy background. Its powerful, but controlled palate is alluringly deep in flavour, with a babyfat-like richness and mouthfeel that suggests it will build further. Wrapped in racy mineral acids, it’s long, smooth and seamless, with a balance and depth rare in New World chardonnay. While it’s easier to pick winners from the big names, you can’t be sure just by reading the label. This chardonnay will take Moss Wood’s reputation even further.
