May 20, 2020 - Colour: Golden with slight brownish tinge.
Nose: Butter, peach, stewed pears and nutmeg.
Palette: Rich, butterscotch, butter, honeydew, still holding a bit of lime in the aftertaste.
Right at the end of it's drinking window.
Because of the cork this vintage is really hit and miss.
I'm running 50-50 at the moment as to what gets poured down the sink and what gets enjoyed.
Still considering the price this just reinforces my view that this is the best value white wine to cellar on the market.
March 1, 2020 - APPEARANCE: Deep to medium deep golden colour. No sediments. Driven cork.
NOSE: Initially; lots of waxy notes, some fresh butter and a hint of flint smoke. Then yellow cherries and yellow plums appear. With time and air come white peach, pear and red apple as well as hints of almond and marzipan. (89-90p)
TASTE: A slightly matured but vital and fresh fruitiness, with yellow cherries and yellow plums in spades. Slightly underripe mango. Medium to medium rich body. A little, mild fruit stone bitterness on the mid palate (alongside the fruitiness) and in the exit and the rather long aftertaste. (89p)
OVERALL: Pure drinking pleasure. TOTAL SCORE 89 points.
Appears to be on the younger side of mid age (served blind I think I would have guessed 8-10 years rather than 18), with an estimated remaining drinking window until at least 2025, probably longer.
UPDATE 10.03.2020: Ten days after opening, the nose has developed the fruit notes further, into more tropical sweet, ripe fruits like mango, honeydew melon and a smoky hint of Lapsang Souchong. Wonderful. (90-91p). The taste has not changed much other than perhaps presenting a little softer mouthfeel. (remaining at 89p). I up the TOTAL SCORE by 1 to 90 points.
December 24, 2017 - Re: Corked 2002 Tahbilk Marsanne.
Uncorking was problematic. Cork seperated halfway and had scungy oderous Gray brown sections. Base of cork was Gray and smelt unpleasant. Had to dig it out with a spoon handle. On pouring the 2002 Marsanne, of which I still have 8 bottles, the last vintage with corks. From 2003 on all have Stelvin/screw caps. I have half a dozen of those. The nose is weak, musty and unfortunately missing the full flavourful bouquet of a healthy Marsanne. NOT a nice drop and as I was having it with our Christmas dinner and a major disappointment and embarrassment. A very good illustration of why Stelvin Caps are an essential on good quality wines. I remember when Stelvin Caps were first started being used on quality wine around 15 years ago it caused a bit of an uproar as only soft drinks and cheapies had screw caps. This Tahbilk 2002 Marsanne, one of my favourite drops, is a good reason why Stelvin are now used on Australian wines almost exclusively. I know in Europe at, least any wines without a cork are viewed with suspicion, as "only Plonk and Soft drinks have screw caps". I'm looking forward to trying the rest of my 2002 Cork closure Tahbilk Marsannes over the next month or so, with my fingers crossed that they haven't been corked and exhibit the wonderful full flavours of a mature Marsanne that I so love.
October 22, 2017 - Deep, dark yellow. Much like previous note. Open nose of peach and balsamic tones. A touch of oxidity. Good mouthful of peach and honeysuccle fruit. Complex. Long slighly bitter finish. Drink soon.
May 17, 2017 - Dark, deep yellow.
Open nose of peach, honey with a slight touch of oxidaty. Full mouthfeel, concentrated, some acid left with a long salty, honeysuccle finish. Good wine. Drink up.
July 14, 2016 - This has aged beautifully (under screwcap). similar to my last note. Served it blind to a wino friend who did correctly get the marsanne grape variety, but when asked the age thought "around 5 years". And to be honest, even knowing it is 14 years old, I could see where he was coming from. Will be interesting to try again in a few years!
March 6, 2015 - Mid yellow. Nose of honey, freesia(?), lemon and 3 in 1 lubricating oil. Entry starts with the honey, then a lime wash. Thick and mouth coating, it's now that the floral comes back. On the back end, I get a smoke trail and a salty finish. Delicious and a long way to go yet, I think.
July 12, 2013 - Corked.
May 18, 2013 - This wine ages really well. Full mouthfeel, melon, peach and long finish of honey balanced with decent acidity.
August 13, 2011 - Drinking really well at this point in its life. Soft cashew butter lemon nutmeg cream on the nose, with a gentle, slippy palate with racy acidity and a long, soft finish of honeyed minerals. Beautiful wine, and proof that this is better with a fair amount of age then when it's young. On the other hand, though, there does appear to be low level TCA in it... sigh. Better than the last bottle, though.