NobleRottersSydney - Graeme's Aussie Aromatics

I always wanted to compare two of the widely-acknowledged “best-ofs” in Australian white white (ignoring chardonnay), these being Tyrrells Vat 1 semillon and Grosset’s Polish Hill Riesling. Both famous for longevity, I thought it might be also worth throwing into the mix another long-lived aromatic in the shape of Tahbilk’s 1927 Vine Marsanne, which doesn’t have the track record of the others but seems to have the potential. All three are made more-or-less in the same way, which is to say fairly early picking, minimal handling, no oak, early bottling and not much else. With modern winemaking and screwcap seals, I was fairly confident anything under a decade old would be a waste of time, so we started at the twelve-year mark and worked backwards. Probably the ‘lowest alcohol’ night we’ve had for a while, although that was offset a little by the number of bottles…

• NV Balfour 1503

  United Kingdom, England, Kent

  {diam, 12%} [Graeme] Yeasty and floral nose. Plenty of rose-edged flavours on the dry, medium weight palate. Medium-sized, quite vigorous bubbles. Has a maturing air about it, maybe, and it’s not the last word in complexity, but it’s still very decent.

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• 2014 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {screwcap, 11.5%} [Graeme] Yellow/green still. Developing aromas of toastiness and honeysuckle overlaying a straw character. But very enticing. Grass and honeysuckle on the palate; crisp but also rich. Only really light/medium weight but with great persistence and drive, with quite high acidity contributing to the long, linear finish. Still improving; perhaps the pick of the flight for me.

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• 2014 Grosset Riesling Polish Hill Clare Valley

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley

  {screwcap, 12.5%} [Graeme] Pale straw. Developing citrus, toast, lemon-curd aromas & flavours. Despite decent acidity, this still seems to have an almost thickly greasy sort of texture (in context). Medium weight, medium/long finish. Also only just on the upslope of development.

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• 2014 Tahbilk Marsanne 1927 Vines

  Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes

  {screwcap, 11%} [Graeme] Still very yellow/green in hue. Muted nose of greasepaint and lanoline. Almost closed down. Delicate nougat/talc palate with a little brine. Light/medium weight. Medium acidity, medium length dry finish. Seems by far the most closed of the flight.

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• 2008 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {screwcap, 10.5%} [Graeme] Seems a bit sullen and closed down after the lavish 2014, but this was a wet vintage. Aromas have a grassy, gentle toast edge to them. Palate is very fresh, with lime-tinged juicy citrus, medium/high acid and light/medium weight. Even on the palate, medium length finish. Only just starting true evolution, but all the signs are good.

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• 2008 Grosset Riesling Polish Hill Clare Valley

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley

  {screwcap, 13%} [Graeme] Perhaps this was the most sullen of the three Polish Hills tonight. Still only light yellow, but with some kerosene and brown leaf character to it, along with old lemons. A bit of oxidising apple on the powerful palate with driving acidity and medium/full weight. Dry, medium/long finish. It’s fine enough, but seems a bit in-between at the moment.

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• 2008 Tahbilk Marsanne 1927 Vines

  Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes

  {screwcap, 11.5%} [Graeme] Sweaty nose, with some developing grass and hay notes. Rockmelon on the palate, with a richness that makes you suspect oak. Medium weight, with medium acid. Lovely balance along the tongue culminating in a dry, medium length finish. Still improving. This was perhaps the flight where the Tahbilk went closest to matching its more glamorous rivals on the table.

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• 2004 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {screwcap, 10.2%} [Graeme] Absurdly pale for twenty years old. Seriously, you can still see green in this. You’d think it has come from a Tardis or something.... Attractive smoke and grass nose. Ludicrously youthful palate, although it is certainly maturing. Medium acid and medium weight, so dry it’s almost astringent, yet the etching acidity gives it such drive. Scraps of toast, straw, light honey flavours, but all with the promise of further development to come. Twenty more years cellaring is no problem on this evidence. Was the first vintage of Vat 1 under screwcap, and they seem to have nailed it perfectly.

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• 2002 Grosset Riesling Polish Hill Clare Valley

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley

  {screwcap, 13%} [Graeme] This was clearly the oldest-looking of the nine aromatics compared tonight, and yet it was no darker than mid-yellow at nearly a quarter century old. This is majestic riesling now; ripe and rich with lemon custard leading to an apple/cinnamon richness, all while remaining fresh. Medium weight, or a little more, but so balanced and even. Long, dry harmonious finish. Wow. Lots of shaking heads around the table, almost disbelieving. Not showing any sign of falling over.

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• 2003 Tahbilk Marsanne 1927 Vines

  Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes

  {screwcap, 11%} [Graeme] This was the first vintage sealed with a screwcap and it’s done a fine job. This has the characteristic honeysuckle and lanolin on the nose, overlaid with green tropical kiwifruit type flavours and a grapeskin texture to the palate. Medium weight, medium acid. Less absolute flavour than the other wines in the grouping; my assumption that it would be the weightiest wine was contradicted in all three flights! No harm in keeping this another decade either.

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• 2009 Tyrrell's Shiraz Vat 9

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  {screwcap, 13%} [Graeme] Mid-garnet, right for age. Fruit-driven, partly developing nose of plums and soft red berries. Some spice and clean earth emerges in addition on the palate, which has medium/high acidity and medium powdery tannins. It’s very ‘Hunter’ in the best modern sense, with a soft-edged but persistent aspect to the medium/long finish. Still improving, but ought to drink well for at least another decade.

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• 2010 Grosset Gaia

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley

  {screwcap, 13.5%} [Graeme] 85% cab sauvignon, 15% franc this year. It’s always been very vintage-dependent in my experience; this has a distinct mint character to it that could see it avoid detection in a Coonawarra line-up. Not just currents, but asparagus, some black olive too. Inky sort of texture on the palate, but it’s not gloopy; medium acidity sees to that. There’s still freshness to the fruit despite a liquorice touch; this should drink well over the next decade.

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• 2010 Tahbilk Cabernet Sauvignon Eric Stevens Purbrick

  Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes

  {screwcap, 13.7%} [Graeme] Soft and sweaty, with currants, blackberry, minimal oak. Medium gritty tannins, medium acid; fruit doesn’t quite keep up with the astringent edge to the medium length finish. It’s a gentle old-style wine which should still hold for another five-ten years.

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• NV Tahbilk Marsanne Diamond Centennial Cane Cut

  Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes

  {500ml, screwcap, 11%} [Graeme] A mix of fairly recent vintages (guessing 2015-2020-ish) making up this one-off bottling released in 2025 to celebrate 100 years of family ownership. Clean, honey, nougat and lychee on the nose and palate. Medium-dry on the palate, it’s nicely balanced along the tongue, light/medium-bodied and finishes about medium length, slightly on the simple side but attractive anyway. Drink now.

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• 2011 Mount Horrocks Riesling Cordon Cut

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley

  {375ml, screwcap, 12%} [Graeme] Seems a remarkable save for South Australia’s worst vintage since about 1974! Remarkable medium-sweet palate of lime juice shot through with a tangy richness. High acid, with a piercing freshness. Thrilling on the palate; imagine taking a Jedi’s green light sabre dripping with honey into your mouth. Long, rich but magically translucent finish. An absolute triumph. Probably at peak, but who knows!

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A bit of an eye-opener, this tasting. I was shocked at how young all the whites looked, and how good they all were. Even the oldest flight will sail on for many more years. They were largely strong vintages, yes, but it was still pretty astonishing. More evidence for the heretical notion that Australia makes better white wines than red, and that’s not even counting chardonnay. Picking winners is pretty tawdry, but for the dry whites I thought the 14 Vat 1 and the 02 Polish Hill were marginally superior. The Marsanne was overshadowed to a degree, but far from disgraced, and probably just an accurate reflection of the inherent potential & quality of the varieties themselves. There’s also a good case to be made for the Horrocks Cordon Cut as wine of the night. The reds were all so different from each other they are scarcely comparable, but I wanted a bit of variety in the night.