Moss Wood Semillon 2023

Why was it so good? Where do we begin? Let’s look at the rainfall. It could be the 10% above average rainfall of 1114mm we received during calendar year 2022, ensuring plenty of soil moisture for the vines. Or it might be that the rain eased off when we needed it to. During flowering, we received only 8 days and 21mm of rain, while only 19mm fell during January, February and March, so there was no threat of dilution or disease. Or, perhaps it was the temperatures? During flowering there were only 8 days when it dropped below 8°C and only for a total of 25 hours, so just what we need. Yet, through the summer, the temperatures were consistently warm but not hot, with our hottest day being 37.9°C. All the vines revelled in these conditions and the semillon was no exception. It received 1018 hours in the preferred temperature range of 18-28°C and a total of 49 hours above 33°, more than enough to ensure easy progress to full flavour ripeness. The average temperature across the season was a very pleasant 20.1°. So, what does all this mean? It’s quite simple, really – we had a classic Margaret River summer and a classic year resulted. The 2023 combined good crops and high quality and we suspect it’s one of the great “all round” vintages.