2004: Moss Wood v Voyager

Whilst I was buying the '04 Voyager Cabernet Merlot at Dan Murphy's, and after the wine had been bagged, the manager came over and had a look at the wine, and said "good choice".

"When are you planning to drink it?" he asked.

"Well, tonight," I said, knowing full well that it ought be cellared.

The manager, "How would you like a second bottle of Margaret River cabernet to drink with it?"

Me, Somewhat confused, "Let's see what it is..."

"Don't worry", whispered the girl at the checkout, "It's free"

The manager returned holding up a bottle. "Oh, Woodlands :)." I looked closer. WTF? "MOSS WOOD!!!"

I had just been gifted half of a full bottle of Moss Wood cabernet, the producer's top wine. And it's the 2004. I stood there with equal measures of shock and graciousness

The bottle had been opened earlier for staff tastings. In-bottle decanted for half a day, the manager (a true samaritan) found a good home for the remainder, telling me that the staff weren't allowed to take home due to company policy.

With that, I had myself an '04 Margaret River horizontal on my hands, North v South.

2004 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon (North MR):

Silky, velvety mouthfeel, darkfruit, very soft fine-grained dusty tannins. A lingering mid-pallate, gravelly perfect margaret river. One of the best wines I've tasted all year.

96 points, effortlessly.

2004 Voyager Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (South MR):

Less expressive nose, aroma of ground-nut. Less velvety, less seamless between front and back palette. Courser tannin. Eucalyptus influence. Perhaps a bit closed as only just opened, but tried again after opened for a similar amount of time as was the Moss Wood, and it was still not as good. This review may sound negative, but it is not. It is merely a comparison to the Moss Wood. The Voyager is still a very good wine, and reasonably priced at half that of the Moss Wood.

94-95+.

Two great wines. The '05 Moss wood is out now, with a new label design (a gross error of judgement in my opinion - A beautiful, classic, iconic label has been replaced by a fugly one). Apparently the contents of the '05 bottle is better though, so it's one to seek out. It will be interesting to see what the '05 Voyager is like. Indeed, it will be even more interesting to see how voyager fares in future, now that their gun chief winemaker Cliff Royale has left the business. There are still a few of his vintages to be release though.

Why you want th(ese) wine(s): Whilst Coonawara produces the most honest cabernet in Australia, Margaret River produces the most delicious. Voyager may be a future contender to the contender to the throne, but it isn't there yet. The Kings of margaret river are of course Moss Wood and Cullen, but Moss Wood and Voyager seem the most authentic. They are both on the '04, moving to '05 release, whereas Cullen have released the '07. And I don't think the '07 Cullen is that good - A great vintage in MR, that they seem to have stuffed it up.

WYWTW

2007 Glaetzer Bishop, Barossa Valley Shiraz

My first Glaetzer wine was the 04 Amon-Ra on release, and I thouroughly enjoyed it. Since then, I've always had a soft spot for them, but over the past couple of years haven't drank much of their wine. I think i've bought a bottle of each release of Amon-Ra and Godolphin (Annaperena from '06 vintage), and there was a vintage of bishop (either '04 or '05) that I really enjoyed, and bought quite a few bottles of.

I was dissapointed however by the '06 vintage Bishop - bought 1 bottle of it, didn't enjoy it, and it dropped off my radar. I also decreased my consumption of Barossa Shiraz in general over the past 2 years. I put that down to changing tastes, and advancing age, as I have been drinking more elegant wines - Victorian pinot, Margaret River cabernet and chardonnay, champagne. Whilst these wines aren't always 'elegant', they are not in the bruising mould of weighty Barossa shiraz.

But on drinking the '07 Bishop, the nostalgia flows back. A brooding, tannic, meaty wine, ripe - but not over-ripe.

And now I'm fan once more of Barossa Shiraz, to an extent that I hadn't been since the '04 vintage. Back then I was drinking a lot of Grant Burge Filsell, St Hallett Blackwell, Gibson, and pretty much any Barossa Shiraz of similar vein that I could lay my hands on. It seems that the Bishop is one of the first '07 Barossa wines released, and I'm not sure of the quality of the vintage in general. I know that it was a bad year for winemakers, with low yields, but that may add to concentration. The '07 St Hallett Blackwell is in stores too, so i'll have to try that and see how it goes (the '06 was great also). I've seen some positive reviews of both wines already.

Score: Probably 93/100, but 95 for present enjoyment. Will have to recalibrate my palate.

Why you want this wine: Because you want to drink it with a large barbequed steak for breakfast, it's that good.

2002 Bay of Fires Arras + dodgy haiku

My favourite Australian Sparkling.

Buy some.

It's delicious.