The re-invention of Moppity Cabernet Sauvignon
‘Operation Cabernet Sauvignon’ was an extraordinary winning format in the transformation of Moppity Cabernet
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Why:
Prior to the 2012 vintage, Moppity Cabernet had real similarities to most other Aussie Cabernet. Generally, they were bold, muscular, over-oaked, tannic, dull and lifeless. Despite having great success with other varieties, Moppity had not won a single gold medal for any of their Cabernet’s.
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Who:
Jason Brown had seen big business saturate the market with multi-regional, homogenous wines. In 2004, after he and wife Alecia purchased Moppity Vineyards they embarked on an on-going journey of precision viticulture to reveal their site’s true personality. JB explains “Look in any text book and in chapter 1, paragraph 1, it will tell you that site selection is the key. I agree, but I also don’t think it’s enough. What we’ve done, demonstrates the value and benefit in stopping, listening and paying attention to your site. Because if you understand the specific challenges, then little changes in viticulture can have a profound effect on fruit quality and flavour. Maybe it’s not just site, maybe it’s about responding to site, to allow the fruit to express itself. For us, that has been our biggest challenge and our greatest break-through but it is ongoing”
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Where:
Moppity Vineyard is situated in Hilltops, Southern NSW. A region well suited to growing Cabernet Sauvignon. However, JB noticed quite early on that his vineyard site was different to other local vineyards. The altitude and climatic conditions of the Moppity Vineyard are more similar to Canberra’s Murrumbateman region. And the soil type at Moppity is also considerably different to its neighbours. Moppity has coarse grain quartzite, bony and rocky soils. The water drains quickly, and the vines have to work very hard to find water and nutrients. On the other side of Hilltops there is rich, deep, decomposed granite soil that has higher fertility and water holding capacity. This results in larger crops and bigger and juicier berries. Which was significantly different to what they were encountering at Moppity. -
How:
‘Operation Cabernet Sauvignon’ was very counter intuitive at times. JB intentionally increased the berry size to improve the juice to tannin ratio (the reverse of normal for quality wine production). However, by offsetting the small increase in berry size with a reduction in yield he found they were still able to produce premium quality fruit. In essence, JB knew he would get more vibrancy and varietal character from a smaller quantity of bigger berries rather than a larger quantity of smaller berries. Therefore subtle changes were made to their irrigation and canopy management. He also altered the amount of sunlight hours which played a crucial role in allowing the Cabernet blocks to express themselves fully.
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When:
Their ongoing commitment to continued improvement has finally paid off. From the 2012 vintage onward their Cabernet’s have now won an impressive 8 trophies and a staggering 28 gold medals! Which, is quite a rare achievement, in the Australian wine industry for a winery of their size.
Summing it up, JB says “It’s not just about winning medals. The fact, that at the Hobart International Wine Show (2014), we put 4 wines in a blind line up and all 4 won Gold medals and stood out to the judges means that there’s something special happening here as far as the Moppity style is concerned. There were some great wines in that line up. From more known and established Cabernet regions than ours (Margaret River, Coonawarra etc). But our wines stood out, because they are expressing our site. There is personality now in our wines that you don’t see in other Cabernets, but you do see it in all of ours. They have a character and a personality that is unique to them and that’s exciting. The fact they are winning medals is just a bonus.”
CABERNET SAUVIGNON AWARD LIST (FROM 2012)
MOPPITY RESERVE CABERNET – 1 TROPHY, 14 GOLD
Vintage 2013;
GOLD National Wine Show Canberra 2015
GOLD Sydney International 2015
GOLD National Cool Climate Wine Show 2015
GOLD Royal Brisbane Wine Show 2015
Vintage 2014;
GOLD Royal Hobart Wine Show 2016
GOLD NSW Wine Awards 2015
GOLD NSW Small Winemakers Show 2015
GOLD Riverina Wine Show 2016
GOLD China Wine & Spirits Competition 2015
Vintage 2016;
TROPHY (Best Cabernet) NSW Wine Awards 2018
GOLD Hilltops Wine Show 2018
GOLD Riverina Wine Show 2018
GOLD NSW Wine Awards 2018
GOLD Wine Showcase Magazine 2018
GOLD; NSW Small Winemakers Show 2017
MOPPITY ESTATE CABERNET SAUVIGNON – 4 TROPHIES, 10 GOLD
Vintage 2013;
TROPHY NSW Wine Awards 2014
TROPHY NSW Small Winemakers Show 2014
GOLD National Wine Show of Australia 2014
GOLD NSW Wine Awards 2014
GOLD NSW Small Winemakers Show 2014
Vintage 2014;
TROPHY Australian Cool Climate Wine Show 2015
TROPHY NSW Small Winemakers Show 2015
GOLD Royal Hobart International Wine Show 2015
GOLD Royal Adelaide Wine Show 2015
GOLD NSW Wine Awards 2015
GOLD National Wine Show of Australia 2015
GOLD Riverina Wine Show 2015
GOLD Australian Cool Climate Wine Show 2015
GOLD NSW Small Winemakers Show 2015
LOCK & KEY RESERVE CABERNET SAUVIGNON – 3 TROPHIES, 5 GOLD
Vintage 2013;
GOLD NSW Small Winemakers Wine Show 2014
GOLD Royal Queensland Wine Show 2015
Vintage 2014;
TROPHY NSW Wine Awards 2015
TROPHY Rutherglen Wine Show 2016
GOLD Royal Hobart International Wine Show 2015
GOLD NSW Wine Awards 2015
GOLD Rutherglen Wine Show 2016
Vintage 2015;
TROPHY Canberra and Region Wine Show 2016
GOLD Canberra and Region Wine Show 2016
LOCK & KEY CABERNET SAUVIGNON – 3 GOLD
Vintage 2013;
GOLD NSW Wine Awards 2014
Vintage 2014;
GOLD Royal Hobart International Wine Show 2015
Vintage 2015;
GOLD Riverina Wine Show 2018
