Wine-Ark Cellar Club Tasting 7 - August 2009. Tyrells, Bass Phillip & Murray Street Vineyard

Wine Ark is a storage facility that runs a regular monthly tasting event with, usually, three wineries.

On entry and before the first speaker a wine is offered (just to keep you quiet)

• 2004 Tyrrell's Sémillon Single Vineyard HVD 90 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  Nose: toasted buttery almond, unripe pear and tart apple with hints of lemon
  Mouth: acidity, green apple and lemon, lovely and crisp, still tastes very young and a bargain at AUD 26.

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I culled a few notes: Phillip is a nice, personable and amusing chap, wanted to grow bordeaux but settled on pinot then realised that was going to be hell as well. Organic (early 90's), Biodynamic (early 00's). Says Biodynamic is costly to do but improves the wine. Says that they crop low in order to enhance tertiary characteristics and to bring out the 'terroir'. Recommends decanting all of his wines and that the estate level upwards will cellar.

• 2007 Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Domain Phillip Jones Old Cellar 86 Points

  Australia, Victoria, Gippsland

  Nose: Burnt rubber, some heat, that blew off to reveal muted raspberry and earthy undertones
  Mouth: some raspberry, some tannin. Quaffing (and forgettable) Aussie Pinot Noir made from bought in grapes from the Mornington Peninsular. AUD 26 - price impacts rating (otherwise 84)

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• 2008 Bass Phillip Pinot Noir The Crown Prince 86 Points

  Australia, Victoria, Gippsland

  NOTE: this has only been in the bottles about five weeks which will have some impact on the nose/taste.
  Nose: chocolate, cherry, red berry fruit, alcohol heat, very good.
  Mouth: tannin, closed fruit, long finish, some acidity. This wine is too much rough not enough smooth. Might warrant cellaring but at this juncture not enough fruit to last the course for me. AUD 54

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• 2006 Bass Phillip Pinot Noir 21 86 Points

  Australia, Victoria, Gippsland

  Nose: Some Bass Phillip has a particular nose and this wine has that, the wine-maker claims as a result of terroir. It is redolent of Raspberry, cherry, silky smooth spice and earth for me. It makes you want to drink it.
  Mouth: Acid, pepper, tannin, some bitterness on the long finish. Lacking some fruit for me for its age but it does have a wonderful mouth feel. AUD 76 - reflected in score (otherwise probably 88/89).

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• 2007 Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Estate 88 Points

  Australia, Victoria, Gippsland

  Nose: Coffee, raspberry, plum, something almost vegetal underlying this. Perhaps some spice as well.
  Mouth: peppery acidity that is not unpleasant. Very little fruit and, for me, quite granular. Good, long, warm finish. Some tannin that is very low key and smooth. AUD 65

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• 2007 Bass Phillip Pinot Noir Premium 82 Points

  Australia, Victoria, Gippsland

  Nose: Again the Bass Phillip nose. This has more perfumed spice to it though.
  Mouth: some fruit, peppery spice. Very short finish though. Disappointing. No price given but I'm guessing in the AUD 125 area and for that money I'd prefer to go to Burgundy. Score reflects price (otherwise 85)

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Bruce is also a nice, personable and amusing chap. Tyrrell has been in the family for 151 years and is one of the pioneers of pinot and chardonnay in Australia. He says that they used to make a Chardonnay Semillon blend and thinks they might do it again. No oak for the semillon (all stainless steel). On lees in cooler years, straight off in warmer ones. for the Vat 1, 1908 is the oldest vine with an average vine age of about 70 years. the Chardonnay is hand picked, hand sorted and hand pressed then has 6 months in new, small, oak barrels. No malo for the chardonnay either. For the reds this level of attention (hand sorting and selecting in the vineyard) has only occurred since 2004. Additional acid is used to keep the PH in control. The Vat 8 normally has some cabernet but the vintage we are tasting is pure shiraz and more oak driven. The Vat 9 is open fermented, matured in new and one year old oak but in big barrels (2500L/roughly 600 gallons) in order to reduce the oak impact.

• 2002 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1 90 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  Nose: not much citrus or apple or any of the normal Semillon characteristics that one expects from the Hunter.
  Mouth: Slight fizz, lemon, then green apple. Oh yes, massive, crunchy, green apple! Acidity and a little rough on the finish. Marvellous.

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• 1998 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1 94 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  Nose: rancid butter, toasted nuts, cream, some lemon
  Mouth: Tart apple, cream, rich, mouth filling, lovely smooth finish - almost apple crumble and cream. Just lovely. I'd happily drink a bottle of this and then drunkenly contemplate opening a second. After some searching I managed to find this for AUD 54 (price quoted at the tasting was AUD 95) and at that price the mark is more than appropriate. Sublime.

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• 2007 Tyrrell's Chardonnay Belford 79 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Belford

  Nose: lemon and lime, quite sharp, something else is underlying this that is almost turpentine in nature
  Mouth: Not much, perhaps some residual sugar - probably a mistake to wheel this out after the two vintages of their Vat 1 Semillon. Lots of other Aussie chardonnays in this price bracket (AUD 26) that beat this hands down.

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• 2006 Tyrrell's Shiraz Vat 8 89 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  Nose: Bonfires, perfume, alcohol heat, perhaps some cassis and savoury (leather, horse sweat) characteristics but very subdued.
  Mouth: tannin, acidity, very savoury licorice. Long, tannic, dry finish but not bitter. Perhaps some pencil shavings here as well. Quite nice. AUD 46

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• 2006 Tyrrell's Shiraz Vat 9 87 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  Nose: (in comparison to the Vat 8) more perfume, less bonfire, less alcohol heat, more savoury
  Mouth: tannin, less finish, smoother, less licorice. Hmm, definitely a shorter finish and a little bit closed at the moment. Could be a sleeper. AUD 50

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• 1998 Tyrrell's Shiraz Vat 9 85 Points

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  Nose: funky, corky, burnt rubber and some brett all laying over alcohol, buried sweet bramble opening slowly to warm leather and mild white pepper in the glass
  Mouth: Great acidity, almost porty fruit, medium finish. The tannin is intergrated but still fairly course in nature. AUD 95 which drags the mark down from probably 87/88

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Murray Street has been in existence since 2001. Andrew Seppelts new venture.

• 2006 Murray Street Vineyards The Barossa 81 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  Nose: Coffee, perfume, plum
  Mouth: sweet ripe, crunchy fruit, some acidity, a little tannin then that's it. No real finish at all. All flash and no substance. AUD 24

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• 2006 Murray Street Vineyards Shiraz 78 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  Nose: Perfume, coffee, black pepper and black cherry, all implying sweetness
  mouth: white pepper, some tannin, little else. Disappointing for me. AUD 24

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• 2005 Murray Street Vineyards Shiraz Sophia 85 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  Nose: coffee, tobacco, leather, perfume, muted plum and black cherry
  Mouth: gloriously fruity, big mouth feel that drops away to a very muted, peppery dry, finish - my guess is that the vines are quite young? AUD 55

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• 2005 Murray Street Vineyards Benno 89 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  Nose: oddly enough almost rancio and sherry tones, lots of alcohol heat and little fruit or secondary characteristics
  Mouth: huge peppery, spicy fruit, more finish that the Sophia, chocolate. It's almost Port like in it's depth. Very Barossa Valley/Aussie Kick Ass Shiraz style. This one will cellar for ten years easily. AUD 55

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