2013 Moss Wood Ribbon Vale Vineyard Merlot

Opaque dark red black colour with a dark red hue. Lifted aromatics of violets, red & black currant and mulberries are intermeshed with spicy cedar, light tobacco and subtle bay leaf infusions. Elegant, yet with good richness of fruit the palate is graced with mulberry, red and black currant flavours which sit over dried herb infusions, lightly earthed cedar and spice. Dryish finish with perfectly balanced fine grained tannins providing an excellent framework. Long refined aftertaste of red and blackcurrant, mulberry, dried herbs, spicy cedar and faint earth.
Cellar 6-8 years.
Alc 13.5%

Other Reviews….
92% merlot, 8% cabernet franc, each separately picked and fermented up to 30 degrees C, skin contact for up to 16 days, matured in French oak for 30 months. If there's a better merlot in Australia, please get its maker to send a bottle for tasting. The bouquet is perfumed, and multifaceted, red fruits, spice and French oak all competing for space, the palate an object lesson in terms of flavours (predominantly red fruits), texture (supple) and structure (superfine tannins). The oak? Well, yes, it's there. Drink by 2038.
97 points
James Halliday – Australian Wine Companion