Tyrrell's Vat 1 Vertical

Bentley Hotel, London
Tasted Tuesday, June 14, 2005 by Russell Faulkner with 1,237 views

Introduction

Great tasting of this magnificent and complex wine, led with great insightful comments by Bruce Tyrrell, and his son Chris.

This was a really facinating introduction to this wine, which I only tried once before.

Flight 1 (3 Notes)

Really hard to assess these pre release wines, tight doesnt begin to describe them

  • 2004 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1

    Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

    Bottled a year ago.

    Light pale lemon-green
    Nose screams acidity, like an (oaked) Champagne barrell sample, some herbal tea
    Cheesy backbone but soaring fresh apple acidity

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  • 2000 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1

    Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

    (Unreleased)
    Much more mellow than 2004, still screams acidity, but a smoother, more restrained and defined finish
    Still hard to evaluate

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  • 1999 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1

    Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

    More interesting
    Wooly nose, more rounded
    Softer apple and lanolin
    Nice creamy finish, almost yeasty

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Flight 2 (2 Notes)

Interresting comparison between different closures, the sulphur on the screw cap let it down. Likely to be due to the individual bottle though.

Flight 3 (2 Notes)

Flight 4 (3 Notes)

  • 1995 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1

    Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

    Real secondary charchter showing, nice oily viscous tecture.
    Lovely moutfeel, a great wine to play with
    Acid drops off ever so slightly but gives great backbone

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  • 1994 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1

    Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

    Smoke (sulphur?) on the nose, again this remained
    Similar to the 1995 (wet wooly almost), but a more mature finish, very long

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  • 1992 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1

    Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

    Deepest colour, golden
    Slightest spritz, masses of honeysuckle on the nose
    Very full bodied, rich strong honey
    Exotic fruit on midpalate, blending into an ily finish
    Nicely mature, low acid on finish, shorter than 1994/5

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Flight 5 (2 Notes)

  • 1989 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1

    Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

    Over mature.
    Stewed confected apple, a bit of nut brittle.
    Noticably botrytis affected.
    Tiny hint of oxidation, but affects it positivly.

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  • 1987 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1

    Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

    Sulphur noticable on nose again, but only faintly.
    This was much less mature, a real baby, more like the 1997. Very strong acid and lemon oil

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Flight 6 (2 Notes)

  • 1986 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1

    Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

    Indian gold
    A real old (20 year plus) champagne character, very full though, like an old Bollinger.
    Also a textural element like pressed apples that have been left for a while.
    Less oilyness than the mid 90's flight.
    A real intellectual wine, layers of complexity, very strong deep finish.
    My WOTN

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  • 1985 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1

    Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

    Very similar to the 1985, old champagne.
    Higher acid than the 1986, and it popped out of balance a little as a result.

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Closing

Some real surprises, firstly the Champagne like qualities, in the baby 2004, but again in the old wines.
The change with age is facinating, a real smooth, oaked quality (no oak is used at all) steps in.
For me this wine needs at least 10 years to sing, better at 20.

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