Latest reviews

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

Structured and poised cabernet that incorporates about 4% malbec, adding some plush red fruit characters. It’s a generous, full-bodied wine, and on the nose there’s that hit of blackcurrant and black olive, with some deeper, darker chocolatey overtones. It’s seamless and elegantly structured, with the rich fruit flavours precisely supported by fine tannins and some nice, almost understated oak. High-class...

Margaret River

Syrah

Yet another statement of how good syrah can be in Margaret River, certainly when the seasons are good. Beautiful notes of spicy plum and plush mulberry, with some nice perfumed floral tones. The palate is generous and sits in that medium- to full-bodied zone. Plush, spicy fruit, a little dark chocolate and a sweet fruit character are precisely balanced by...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

A brilliant and bright cabernet with deep colour. The remarkable thing is that a wine of such elegance and poise has come out of this very warm season. And yet it is a most charming wine. Aromas of blackcurrant with some nice perfumed African violet notes, a little dark chocolate and bay leaf. The palate is rich and generous, with...

Margaret River

Red Blend

One of the most popular of all the Moss Wood wines. It comes from the Glenmore vineyard a little further north and is a cabernet sauvignon, merlot, malbec and petit verdot blend. Every year it hits the mark with its delivery of beautiful, rich fruit character. Blackcurrant and dark chocolate on the nose, and a succulent and lavish palate that...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

A wine that simply oozes cabernet. So much work has gone into this vineyard over the years and it is now reaping the rewards. Bright, leafy red berry notes on the nose, with a palate that is seamlessly medium-bodied yet with a succulent core of concentrated dark fruits. It’s brilliant and so bright, with a palate supported by chalky tannins...

Margaret River

Merlot

Another cracking good merlot from a vineyard that consistently produces some of the very best examples of this variety from anywhere in the country. Perhaps a more powerful and deeply intense version of the great 2023, but still with that elegant refinement and purity of fruit expression. Floral, perfumed notes on the nose, with red berry and light fruitcake nuances....

Margaret River

Pinot Noir

The first Moss Wood wine I ever tasted was a pinot back in 1981, so I have always had a soft spot for it. This fits snugly into the Moss Wood style, with plenty of generous, bright red fruit character on the nose and then delivered with a burst on the palate. Typically bright, with a lustrous energy evident in...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

A most elegant and, at the same time, powerful chardonnay from a vintage which produced – well – elegance and power. Aromas of savoury lemon nuances with subtle butterscotch and marzipan character. The palate is texturally pleasing, with a deep and concentrated core that drives with urgency through to a very long finish. Lovely mix of stone fruit with savoury...

Margaret River

Semillon Sauvignon Blanc

This is the second release of this wine, which was introduced when Moss Wood decided to move its semillon into a cellar release with five years of age. It’s Moss Wood semillon and Ribbon Vale sauvignon blanc, with a little barrel fermentation and maturation. This is an SSB with class. The nutty, lightly fruity aromas and flavours are exquisitely presented,...

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

It’s hard to imagine a more glorious expression of Margaret River red wine than this wonderful wine that draws inspiration from the man who planted those first vines in 1967 and gives it a modern expression based on the great 2023 vintage. It has seductive floral red-fruit notes on the nose, with a lift of violets and cedar. The palate...

Western Australia

White Blend

What a thoroughly beautiful and delicious, refreshing wine this is. Might be the best yet. Great fruit intensity and concentration, delivered with such poise and refinement. The palate is bright and lively, with impressive clarity and purity. No oak, just pure fruit. If you don’t have a few bottles of this in the fridge over summer, you are nuts.

Western Australia

Shiraz

When the season is good, this wonderful value-for-money wine really does come up trumps. In this case, it’s bursting with ripe, savoury, plummy blackberry notes, with a little syrupy dark chocolate. The palate is buoyant and bright, with plush, soft, supple fruit, a gentle hint of tannin and very subtle, barely discernible oak. It really is a complete package and...

Margaret River

Chenin Blanc

If you think you’ve seen chenin blanc, then think again. This is quite a different spin on a variety that has been so important to West Australian wines, and obviously to Houghton Winery in particular. Hence the name EV37, which is a reference to the first Houghton white burgundy that was released and made by Jack Mann in 1937. This...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

Maroon with a dark cherry rim, this is superbly balanced, sleek and supple. High-quality oak is finely integrated with notes of cassis, plums, aniseed, blackberries, cigar boxes, dark chocolate, charcuterie, tobacco leaves, beefstock and graphite. Intensity is maintained throughout and this is a cabernet of extraordinary length going through to the silkiest of tannins. The wine gives the impression of...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

It is utterly beyond me why people are spending many hundreds of dollars on Premier Cru White Burgundy when we have wines like this at home. A wine of complexity and texture, aromas weave through nectarines, struck matches, florals, citrus, honeydew melon, beeswax and peach pits. Oak integration is near immaculate and has almost disappeared into the wine, just leaving...

Great Southern

Shiraz

A rich, textured and beautifully intense syrah with tremendous concentration and a smooth, velvety finish. It’s a plush and opulent wine, but retains excellent focus and a certain linear feel. There are lovely black-fruit and black-cherry characters, with a slightly ironstone character adding complexity. A little whole bunch adds structure and another layer to the palate. The fruit comes from...

Great Southern

Sangiovese

A bright, vibrant and thoroughly appealing sangiovese that is lovely for drinking with food. There’s a crunchy red-fruit character, with bright raspberry and other red fruits supported by some nice chalky characters. It has a brightness and pristine quality, while good tannins provide structure. There’s also a slightly ironstone character that adds complexity, with fine, sinewy tannins accentuating the focused...

Great Southern

Pinot Noir

A powerful and expressive pinot noir with great poise, structure and presence. Beautiful cherry and raspberry notes on the nose are complemented by some slightly funky mushroom characters. There is a wonderful sense of balance and structure, with a slightly quartz-like character adding another dimension. The wine sees larger-format oak, with about 35% new oak, giving it further shape and...

Great Southern

Pinot Noir

A beautifully perfumed and seductive pinot noir with tremendous concentration and impressive balance. The nose is quite extraordinary, with raspberry and cherry supported by a slightly savoury, spicy and chalky character. The palate is light to medium-bodied but packed with fruit intensity, while the wine is supremely balanced and intricately integrated. Some whole bunch has given it structure and, as...

Great Southern

Chardonnay

A lavish and powerful chardonnay that combines tremendous richness with an underlying elegance. It’s a funkier style, evident immediately on the nose, with a richly textured palate displaying impressive length and power. Around 60% new barriques gives it structure and poise, while plenty of lees stirring over 10 months has contributed to the luxurious texture. There’s also that slightly struck-match,...

Great Southern

Chardonnay

A beautifully complex and intense chardonnay, displaying great savoury subtleties and some slightly funky characters. There is terrific texture and tremendous length, with a slightly chalky savouriness within a tighter frame. The wine was all handpicked and whole-bunch pressed before being fermented in a 1350-litre foudre of Austrian oak. The impact of the solids character is evident, while full malolactic...

Pemberton

Chardonnay

A beautifully expressive and characterful wine with tremendous power and intensity. It delivers lots of vibrant flavours, with a pristine savoury oyster-shell minerality and a distinctive mineral, savoury, brioche-like character. The use of open-grained, larger-format oak, including about 30% new oak, adds texture without compromising the fruit. It’s all cool barrel fermented with predominantly wild yeasts, contributing to its individuality...

Porongurup

Riesling

A wonderfully precise and distinctive riesling with great energy and drive. The aroma is spicy and minerally, with a wet slatey character and an intriguing granite-rock quality. The palate has a wonderfully precise, tense acidity with tremendous length and persistence. It finishes really zingy and lively. This is the first vintage Fervor has had access to fruit from the Gibraltar...

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

The elegance and stylishness of the ’23 vintage in Margaret River for cabernet is brilliantly expressed in this classy cabernet. The deep concentration is evident, with the perfume notes of blackcurrant, black olive, a little liqueur cherry, and a touch of oyster shell minerality. The palate has power and a little panache as it drives effortlessly through to a long...

Margaret River

Shiraz

Balanced, poised, deeply intense, and wonderfully expressed Margaret River shiraz. Such beautiful aromas of plum and cherry, with a little spice and black pepper. And then a palate that is so intricately woven, with a fine thread of tannin. Precisely light oak driving through to a very long finish. It’s such a bright, vibrant shiraz that must dispel any suggestions...

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

Highly perfumed and seductively scented blend from Margaret River that takes this combination into a heady, ethereal zone. It’s such a stylish, poised, and effortless wine. Aromas of blackcurrant, dark plum, bay leaf, with a little liqueur chocolate, open on the nose. And then an exquisitely seamless, integrated palate carries through to an exceptionally long finish. A benchmark example of...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This is a finer, tighter, and slightly tenser expression of chardonnay from the vineyard, as distinct from the standard Redbrook chardonnay. There’s a light lift of minerals, saline, and grapefruit on the nose. And then the palate has a steely minerality but a deep intensity of fruit. This was such a good vintage, and the depth and concentration is evident....

Margaret River

Chardonnay

Captures what has become something of a house style. It’s a wine of power and drive, and layered complexity. In this case, the aromatic mix of nectarine and peach, with some light grapefruit and citrus, immediately engages. The palate displays richness with a savoury element, providing balance and accentuating the tight lines through to the finish. There’s a gentle butterscotch...

Geographe

Chardonnay

This is such an appealing chardonnay, ideal for drinking over the next few years. It’s rich in flavour and beautifully poised and presented. The fruit comes from the Talisman Vineyard, which is well known for high-quality fruit. The nose has a slightly citrusy, pithy character, with some nice, richer lemon meringue-type notes. The palate is creamy and rich, with a...

Geographe

Sauvignon Blanc

This consistently produces some terrific current drinking on release. It’s a lovely, perfumed, aromatic wine with fairly typical notes of tropical fruits and passionfruit, with a little squeeze of lemon to bring it to life. The palate has lovely pristine fruit purity with a slightly minerally, slatey character, and the finish is long. Excellent current drinking wine.

Margaret River

Cabernet Sauvignon

This comes off the original vines that were planted on the Deep Woods and Abbey Vale properties. So it sits within the Yallingup sub-region. Aromas of intense blackcurrant, bay leaf, black olive, and a lashing of dark chocolate impose themselves on the senses immediately. The palate is exceptional. It’s a deeply concentrated and intensely presented wine, and yet it’s an...

Margaret River

Shiraz

Has to be one of the best shiraz yet produced from Deep Woods. It’s a brilliant example of what Margaret River can do in an excellent season, and this was certainly one of those. Aromas of plums, spices, a little syrupy chocolate and some bright cherry. And then a palate that is so seamlessly integrated, with a weave of fine-grain...

Margaret River

Malbec

The colour gets you immediately. Deep and dark, blacky red all swirling through with lifted crimson hues. The nose is highly perfumed, with a mix of those red fruits, rhubarb, and juby characters, but with tremendous intensity and concentration. The palate is just supreme. Rich, concentrated, yet with the elegance and deft restraint that you get with high-class malbec. A...

Margaret River

Cabernet Blend

This comes from the Septimus vineyard in Wilyabrup, and it’s one of the oldest blocks in the area. On the nose, a mix of blackberry, dark plum, dark chocolate and spices captivates immediately. And then the soft and supple, although well-supported, palate delivers more red and black fruit combinations, supported by a really fine chalky tannin influence and some well-judged...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

This is a stunning and stirring example of Margaret River chardonnay from what turned out to be an excellent year. It’s immensely powerful, and the fruit was whole-bunch pressed, which has certainly added to its structural integrity. Got a mix of new and seasoned French oak, and then the lees were stirred, and that’s brought in that textural feel and...

Margaret River

Chardonnay

A consistently appealing value-for-money chardonnay. In this case, it’s captured the fruit intensity of the vintage with its citrusy grapefruit and lightly nectarine characters. And then the palate extends with a mix of stone fruits. A little minerally, briny character and a zingy acidity fit snugly into that ready-to-drink-over-the-next-few-years style.

Margaret River

Sauvignon Blanc

A thoroughly beautiful example of a lightly oaked sauvignon blanc from an excellent season. The fruit, for a start, is deeply intense, with some nice stone fruit and lemon notes. The palate has been given partial barrel fermentation, which introduces a textural appeal, but it retains its vibrant tropical fruit notes, so the balance is captivating. Then a little dried...

Margaret River

White Varietal

Love this wine. From the nose of lemon and pear notes with some nice dried herb subtleties, it makes quite a statement. The palate captures the prettiness and fruit intensity of the ’26 vintage, and there’s that slightly sea-spray minerality on the finish which adds a lift. A little lemon pith provides further complexity. Terrific drinking in the short to...

Western Australia

White Blend

There aren’t too many better value-for-money white wines in WA. This is a blend of Margaret River semillon and sauvignon blanc, and it comes together in an integrated and thoroughly seamless mix. Bright tropical fruits on the nose, cut of lemon, a little spice, and a sustained lift on the finish. Just perfect for summer drinking.

Margaret River

Rose

Over the years, this rosé has consistently been among my five best each year. It’s got the palest of onion blush and copper-toned colour. Then the nose is thoroughly delightful, with lifted strawberry notes. The palate is obviously light-bodied, but it’s textural, with a vibrant lift sustained by a pure acidity.