Tyrrell's New Release Tasting

Evidently so many people abused the ‘open bar’ at previous new release trastings that the whole approach has been rethought. By turning it into a more intimate cocktail affair (Chris Tyrrell played host), the structured masterclass tasting has gone by the wayside. So, indeed have most of the new release wines, with this tasting comprising 5 commercial standard wines as a curtainraiser to only a few Private Bin wines, tasted against a couple of older vintages. The full structured taste only happens at the winery in October, which I can’t make. So, a shame, as I really wanted to assess the new wines; and the pick of the older wines – the 06 Vat 1 – I tasted back in February. Pity…

• 2009 Tyrrell's Traditional Method Pinot Noir Chardonnay

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {diam} Youthful bread nose. Touch of yeast. Some strawberries, grilled nuts, almonds. Simple, clean palate, light-bodied; stoney, nutty, leesy flavours. Quite acidic and fresh, but sitting on the front of the tongue, and with a rather short finish. Fair.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2012 Tyrrell's Sémillon Brookdale

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {screwcap, 11%} Youthful, grassy herbal aromas. A little green citrus, then a smoky note. No oak, of course. Palate is fairly soft and generous; a little asparagus – only a little – and leafy grass cuttings. Quite soft acid; a soft early drinking wine with a generous mid-palate even though it’s only light-medium bodied. Short-medium finish, pleasant and dry. A wine for fresh – uncooked – seafood.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 2012 Tyrrell's Verdelho Fordwich

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {screwcap, 12%, A$16} Youthful, intense spiced pear nose. Could pass for pinot gris – is that a bad thing? A dry, light-bodied but fleshy palate has an interesting steely touch to the flavours; there’s some grape-skin furriness too. Medium acid helps freshness, as does the low alcohol; it’s more about texture than flavour, although it does sit rather around the edges of the tongue. Quite short finish, it’s OK otherwise.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2011 Tyrrell's Chardonnay Moon Mountain

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {screwcap, 13.5%} Peach aromas over a stoney base, garnished with cashew. Dry palate, near medium-bodied, nut and butter flavours, some supporting acid. Some gentle spice character from discreet oak. A bit one-dimensional on the finish, but OK.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2010 Tyrrell's Shiraz Brokenback

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {screwcap, 12%, A$16} Young, rather raw nose of cherry and macerated red fruits. Has a jammy, confected quality to it, saved by a touch of pepper. The medium-bodied palate has flavours of twig and bramble, a touch of smoky oak, low-medium gritty tannins. It’s open, rather coarse and simple, sits right on the front of the tongue; whatever fruit declassified from the 4 Acres plot that went into this doesn’t seem to have made much difference. I suppose it’s decent value, but it’s a far lesser wine than the 2009 was. Drink over 3 years.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2012 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {screwcap, 10.5%, A$36} Nearly clear. Pungent nose of grassy herbs, lemongrass and lime. The palate is crisp and light, bone dry, with medium-high acid of a really crunchy texture; it’s not sharp, but persistent. Light but concentrated flavours are per the aromas. The whole thing is wound pretty tightly on the palate though. It’s tighter and more restrained than the lasdt couple of vintages (2011, 2010). Medium-length finish is helped by the wine tantalising the whole of the palate. Still, it’s not really worth drinking for half a dozen years at least, as the next wine demonstrated.

  Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 2006 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {screwcap, 10.5%} Still pale yellow with green flashes. There’s some development here (at least after tasting the 2012; in a blind tasting of worldwide wines you’d still call it youthful) as the lemon rind aromas are overlaid by touches of mead, honey and toast. The palate seems younger than the nose, with almost spritzy acid highlighting a grape-skin quality to the texture. The toast and developing citrus flavours are really enticing, and are so persistent right the length of the tongue. The low alcohol is a bonus; you couldn’t call this heavier than light-medium bodied, and the wine shows every sign of aging another ten years easily. The bottle is festooned with trophy and gold medal stickers; it’s deserved every one of them. A cracker of a wine.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 2012 Tyrrell's Chardonnay Vat 47

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {screwcap, A$36} On the cusp of bottling, as usual at this time. Youthful, fleshy melon fruit. Subtle oak (30% new french barriques), and plenty of lees characters are apparent on the nose. The palate is quite dense and creamy, with white-flesh fruit flavours playing second fiddle to its mineral, earthy aspects. There’s great presence on the mid and back-palates (in a chardonnay context, I’d call this medium-full bodied), but it’s still refined and focussed. Medium-high acid (all natural, claims Chris Tyrrell). The oak is just a seasoning amongst the other flavours. Medium-long finish, and should see out 8-10 years’ cellaring easily.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2009 Tyrrell's Shiraz Vat 9

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {screwcap, 13%} Still very young. Lifted plum aromas, raspberries. A touch of violets. Fruity, but not too exuberant. The palate is velvety textured with fine tannins, plum, spice and pepper flavours; it’s all medium-sized as far as structure and components go; nothing really sticks out either. Even finish of medium length; this really needs at least another ten years to evolve from its tightly wound state. Refined and classy wine, a bit more demure than the following 2007.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2007 Tyrrell's Shiraz Vat 9

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {screwcap, 13.5%} A youthful, rich earth-influenced wine; mulled plums, spice, cinnamon aromas. The palate has great depth of ripeness and presence; it’s medium-full bodied with powdery tannins and medium acid. Fresh and lively despite the weight; there’s so much structure holding this together. A long line of flavour caresses all the tongue and culminates in a long but still reserved finish; yes this is drinkable, but it will need an age to evolve. Neither in this wine nor the 2009 is much oak influence evident. Another ten+ year effort here.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No