Tyrrell's New Release Tasting

A while since I’ve been to a Tyrrells new release tasting, this one the 2022 vintage whites for Private Bin members at the Convention Centre in Sydney’s Darling Harbour. Chris Tyrrell & winemaker Andrew Spinaze hosted these final national roadshows for the seasonal release. As usual, chardonnays are barrel samples, although virtually finished wines this close to bottling; certainly the clarity didn’t belie the fact. Everything is a single vineyard wine bar the “Vat” cuvees, although both Vats 1 and 47 come almost entirely off the Short Flat vineyard. The 2022 vintage is called slightly better overall than the 2021, saved by rain stopping just in time. Fruit looked very good, with big bunches and no splitting. So, all boxes ticked except the Johnno’s Semillon, where the vineyard never seemed to dry out enough and the final product was deemed not to the requisite standard, so blended away elsewhere. Chardonnay and Semillon were picked pretty much together, instead of sequentially, which put pressure on COVID-reduced picking teams and necessitating even the odd machine to do some work. The main point made was that vintage trumped vineyard in this particular instance – I’d concur, as the differences between (semillon) bottlings were fairly mild in most cases, with only shades of nuance separating them. There wasn’t really a dud wine in the bunch. I put the member pricing here too; its noteworthy that some wines – especially both Belfords & the Steven Semillon (& shiraz) are often available at retail with five years bottle age at very competitive prices verses to the Private Bin club. It probably makes more sense to stock up on the rarer and costlier wines to derive full economic benefit, quite honestly.
Everything pre-poured, so they had seen a little air. Around 22C I guess. Big, thin-rimmed stemmed glasses with a good 50ml of wine in each. Colour was an almost uniform ultra-pale straw yellow, verging on clear, even for the oaked chardonnays. Little green was apparent. Tasting order in ascending palate weight, but everything here is quite finely etched and delicately poised, so that’s the context for the palate-weight assessments below. Tyrrells really do a great job with these tastings, I must say. Well worth attending if you get the chance.

• 2022 Tyrrell's Sémillon Single Vineyard Stevens

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {screwcap, 11%, A$29} Fresh cut grass aromas. Lifted detergent note, almost citrus fresh. The most Germanic-riesling-like of the semillons. Medium/high, but softly caressing acidity. Even, subtly grassy fruit on the palate, light/medium weight. Dry but juicy medium length finish. Top shelf Stevens for drinking over the next 8-10 years.

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• 2022 Tyrrell's Sémillon Single Vineyard HVD

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {screwcap, 11.5%, A$29} From vines dating back to 1908. Grass here also, but with some hay and straw. Earth too. Dry and dusty palate but still with generous hay and straw flavours with a little mineral. A touch soapy, Spinaze concedes; it’s not harming if indeed detectable to the average palate. Light/medium weight, medium acid, fairly generous in flavour, in context.

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• 2022 Tyrrell's Sémillon Single Vineyard Belford

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Belford

  {screwcap, 11.7%, A$29} Grass, citrus, grapefruit. Medium weight, generous, juicy palate. Medium acid too. Rich and robust, even palate. The acid really shines here, although it’s very natural feeling. Medium length finish. Seem the best balanced of the single vineyard semillons (not that the others aren’t, but this is the most integrated). Fruit planted 1933.

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• 2022 Tyrrell's Sémillon Pokolbin Hills Pokolbin

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin

  {screwcap, 11%, A$29} Planted in 1970 at the base of Pokolbin Mountain. Grapefruit and limestone aromas lead to a furry palate, seemingly with a skin influence, tasting of citrus and sandstone. Has some real depth to the flavours, but not too much weight. Almost a hint of tangelo fruit, or something. Medium weight, maybe a little more. Medium length finish. Very fine. Stylistically the closest to Vat 1 of these four wines, and for only a fiver above half the price.

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• 2022 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {screwcap, 11%, A$55} Hay, straw and limestone, with sandy earth. Quite lifted and open for a Vat 1. They certainly don’t make ‘em like they did thirty years ago. Or at least, it doesn’t taste that way. The technique is minimal in the extreme; a light-press with the juice fermented in steel before six weeks on fine lees before a light fining and bottling. Medium/full palate, etched with pointed but natural acidity (a fraction under 7g/l). Grassy flavours dice with stones and rocks. Medium/long finish. Vat 1s under screwcap are turning out to have extremely long lives indeed. No exception here. Perfectly drinkable now, but with every promise of living for decades.

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• 2022 Tyrrell's Vat 63

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {screwcap, 12.5%, A$42} All fruit came off the Pokolbin Hills vineyard; 65% chardonnay from 1980 plantings, the balance being Semillon. Higher % of chardonnay than normal. Fairly rich nose with vanilla bean, a little grass and a hint of tropical melon. Medium weight, polished palate with old French barrique seasoning, a faintly furry texture and a medium length, even finish. I find Vat 63 to be very hit and miss; there seems a universal opinion this is the best vintage in memory; no argument there.

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• 2022 Tyrrell's Chardonnay HVD

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {screwcap, 13%, A$55} This is a caressing, gentle sort of wine. There are bits of melon, vanilla, butter, but it’s all soft, round and gentle. Yet, there’s plenty of medium/high acidity too, making a refined, medium weight palate with the gentlest of sandalwood tannins and a medium/long finish. Classy stuff from what’s claimed to be the oldest (1908) chardonnay vines in the world.

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• 2022 Tyrrell's Chardonnay Belford

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Belford

  {screwcap, 13.5%, $A45} Nutty, earthy sort of character, with grape-skins as well, and some citrus peel. Subtle oak only. Medium/full weight, with medium/high acid. Furry sort of texture reflects the solids ferment and time on lees. Does sit a little on the front palate compared to the other wines, I must say. Belford chard is often a bit edgy I find; this is good but I think the value a bit marginal, especially beside the HVD and Vat 47.

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• 2022 Tyrrell's Chardonnay Vat 47

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {screwcap, 13.3%, A$55} All fruit from the Short Flat vineyard. More oak here; soap, vanilla, nuts. Figs too. Very young but not raw at all. Powerfully restrained palate, with some butter-rich yellow fruit to add to the flavours from the nose. Beautiful acid – no malo here. Medium/full weight, medium/long finish. Australia’s most under-rated chardonnay, possibly because it’s among the oldest. Maybe that gives it a grandpa’s-cardigan-in-a-glass image, which isn’t fair, because it’s almost always a top shelf chardonnay by any standards.

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