TN: Tyrrells Vats: 2009 reds, 2010 whites

[GraemeG]

TYRRELLS PRIVATE BINS - 2009 REDS & 2010 WHITES - North Ryde RSL, Sydney (4/09/2010)

These notes were taken during the Tyrrell’s masterclass at the public tasting in Sydney of the 2009 reds and just-released 2010 whites. Bruce Tyrrell hosted the masterclass and shared his insights on the wines and vintages. This was my first chance to taste some of the new single-vineyard wines Tyrrell’s are making from the six one-hundred-year-old vineyards they have access to (out of 11 still in the valley).

The Semillons
A warm early vintage. All whites were picked by January 31. Contrast this with 2000, where the last white grapes weren’t picked until March 6! The semillons were all the same light-yellow/greeny colour. It was a surprise to see so much colour in them – often the new release semillons are almost colourless. These are full, softer wines which will likely peak earlier than leaner, higher-acid vintages. They’re also relatively higher in alcohol. There’s no Belford semillon from 2010; the night before picking a hailstorm barely wider than the vineyard itself shredded the lot except from some chardonnay grapes at one end. There’s also the second release of the Johnno’s Semillon, hand-picked from a century-old patch of grapes, put through an ancient Burgundian hand-crusher and bottled in the old riesling-style bottles last used in the 80s with an appropriately retro label. No acid additions to these wines; I asked.
Tyrrell reckons the corner has really turned for Hunter semillon, which finally has a profile among afficionados worldwide; and he told some stories of people who’ve sought him out at wine fair in London last April to acclaim the style; el Bulli’s sommellier, Ernie Loosen and various others. He reckons the screwcap has been the making of Hunter semillon; the vast numbers of unreliably oxidised and disappointing bottles and that ghastly cork-pulling lottery are now a thing of the past.

2010 Tyrrell's Sémillon Reserve Stevens - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
{screwcap, 11%, A$22} Yellow-green. The first-picked of the semillons, this has a pronounced nose of limes, citrus and a flowery note. Pronounced in the context of Hunter semillon, and for the vintage; it doesn't leap out like a Clare riesling or a NZ sauvignon. The palate is dry, with plenty of tingly acid, sweetly full and rich fruit in a light-medium bodied way and a medium length finish. Youthfully fresh and really quite flavoursome. There's a little grassines, but it's mostly citric - not overdone or unbalanced though. A warm-vintage early drinker.

2010 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1 - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
{screwcap, 12%, A$35} The biggest, richest Vat 1 (look at that alcohol!) for many a year. The assertive straw & citrus aromas don't preclude a distinctly steely note from underpinning the nose, but it's still a very fruity rich Vat 1. Certainly there's a acidic spine that runs the length of the palate, which more than carries the straw-like fruits, so there's no need to fear too much for the wine's longevity (the 1992, also 12%, is still at peak drinking in my experience). But the flavours are quite full, and as with Johnno's, they coat all parts of the palate. This is a bigger, tighter wine, although I still wouldn't mark it as much more than light-medium bodied. Less interesting to drink now, but ought probably live a little longer than Johnno's. Worthy wine.

2010 Tyrrell's Sémillon Johnno's Block - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
{screwcap, 11.5%, A$35} Hand picked & bunch selected, hand-crushed; a return to the simplest, oldest techniques of all. The nose is soft and grassy, almost a touch sweaty, with a submerged citrus quality. It has a really perfumed note to it, which almost comes through texturally on the palate. Little yellow flowers, a dash of hay, a touch of blossom; there are lots of glimpses of fruity charaters on the palate, all swathed in a cuddly sort of acid. It's only light-medium in weight, but the real quality giveaway is the evenness with which these subtle flavours cover all the palate, and the persistence with which they cling to form the finish. The magic trick is how something this light can be so rich too; it's not sugar and it's not oak that do it, because there are none of those. It's a cut above the Stevens, and more drinkable now than the Vat 1. Probably not for the very long term, though; old habits say it's too rich now for that...

2010 Tyrrell's Sémillon Futures - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
{screwcap} From the HVD vineyard this year. Yellow-green. Slightly greasy-smelling nose of grass, straw and hay. A medium bodied palate, of near-medium weight, with a rather fat & flowery palate, a touch of greasiness to the texture (although it's not lacking acid), and a medium length finish. Fuller-bodied than the other semillons, and perhaps not so sharply focussed. OK wine.

The Chardonnays
Given that Tyrrell’s made Australia’s first commercial release of chardonnay in the 70s, it’s something of a shock to find 100-year-old vines sitting in the light sandy soils of the HVD vineyard. I guess they were just blended away in early years – or used for fortifieds! The 40th Vat 47 is a worthy wine, but the jewel in the crown is the HVD chardonnay – a staggeringly impressive offering.

2010 Tyrrell's Vat 63 - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
{screwcap, 12%, A$22} Made from all the left-over bits of the top chardonnay vineyards; Long Flat, Short Flat, HVD, Belford, that didn’t fit into the right-sized vessels at the winery. And blended with some semillon from Draytons. Sounds like a real bitzer, but Tyrrell is a big fan. After tasting the semillons, it’s the creamy oak you notice first on the nose, but there are more obvious chardonny/cashew notes, along with a steely aroma. The palate is dry, medium-bodied, full of nutty and stonefruit flavours, and carried by lively, almost spritzy acid. Another even palate, with the flavours running the length of the tongue, and culminating in a medium-length, dry, really quite crisp finish. Hugely unfashionable wine, but very high quality in that it’s showcasing the best attributes of both varieties.

2010 Tyrrell's Chardonnay HVD - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$35} The first solo bottling of the 1908-planted Chardonnay vines in the HVD vineyard which Tyrrell’s acquired from Penfolds in 1982. The nose evolves in the glass, starting out all cuddly butter, oak and cream, but becomes more sweetly tropical; guava, melon, pineapple, but not without an overall leesiness – it’s an absolute essay in chardonnay aromatics. The palate is no disappointment; creamily dense, despite only lightish oak (30% new barriques) treatment, with any semblance of fruit-salad flavours concealed by the leesy structural elements, the fresh acid and a really minerally tightness to the mouthfeel. An impressive, multi-dimensional effort; it sits a little more on the front palate but not unduly so. Tyrrells are hedging their bets on aging recommendations (to 2016 only); it’s so attractive to drink now I can understand the reticence to suggest too long in the cellar. Let’s hope this inaugural release heralds the arrival of a new candidate for the finest chardonnay in the land, because this is spectacular.

2010 Tyrrell's Chardonnay Vat 47 - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
{screwcap, A$35} The only wine of the day which was technically a barrel sample (bottling imminent). Mainstream warm-climate chardonnay nose, although high quality stuff. Showed a faintly tropical side with a little air in the glass. Finely judged oak. The palate is pretty big in scale, though it’s hard to find specific flavours among the generally leesy/nutty/stoney presentation. Less ethereal than the HVD chard, this is solidly medium-bodied, although with a similarly impressive structure. Again, it engages all the palate, long a hallmark of Vat 47 for me. Generous wine, with a likely cellar life just a little shorter than average.

2008 Tyrrell's Chardonnay Belford - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
{screwcap, 12.5%, A$30} A slightly developing nose; certainly the additional two years bottle age seems obvious after tasting the 2010 releases. Some oak on the nose, with charcoal, matchstick and smoke the dominant attributes. There are more evident stone fruit flavours on the palate, which despite the hints from the nose turns out to be light-medium bodied only, so the opaque weightiness hinted at by the aromatrics is just an illusion. For me the wine fades a bit past the mid-palate, and overall is just a little coarse beside its younger brethren. Would need to be a lot cheaper to tempt me to buy.

Pinot Noir
Surely one of the most capricious wines made in Australia. I think Murray Tyrrell only made it out of sheer bloody-mindedness in the end – after all, it was all these legendary Burgundies (of both colours) drunk at Bulletin Place in the 60s that seemed to push him into the burgundian quest, and when Tyrrell’s 1976 pinot won at the 1979 Gault-Millau ‘Olympics’ in Paris, that sealed the deal. Who said the Hunter is no good for pinot? That said, I think Bruce is wavering a little in his faith; vintage conditions have only let them make it three times in the last seven years, and he remarked that some of the pinot has been pulled out.

2009 Tyrrell's Pinot Noir Vat 6 - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$33} Garnet in an orange kind of way. Quite translucent too. The restrained palate offers soft strawberries; it’s subtle rather than weak in its aromas. There are no stalky or obvious oaky notes, just soft fruits. The palate is somewhat tarter than the nose might lead you to fear; soft dusty tannins underpin underpin a warm mid-palate of smoky, spiced meat flavours. Although only light bodied, it’s still warm and cuddly (not alcoholic heat, I hasten to add), and as probably the warmest-climate pinot in the country, rather quirky. Short-medium length dry and gentle finish. The acid’s pretty low key too; all up I’d drink this over the next 5 years.

Centenary Shirazes
These wines sit at the extreme end of shiraz styles in Australia. Hundred-year-old dry-grown shiraz, new French oak, and tiny production (~250-300 dozen) often conjures up images of inky South Australian ooze-monsters. These are lighter-bodied wines from two of Tyrrell’s own centenary vineyards and the 140-yo vines in the Stevens vineyard. They rely on (natural) acid for their profile, not alcohol or tannin. Being acidic doesn’t preclude ripeness, or depth of flavour, but it does leave them well out of the mainstream of modern Australian shiraz. The barrel might be new, but it’s a single 2700l cask in the case of Johnno’s; or for 4 Acres, a 2yo 2700l cask and a new 1500l one. These wines are a deliberate throwback to the old politically incorrect days when the Hunter made ‘Burgundy’; sensually seductive wines and not the assertive ‘Hermitages’ and ‘Clarets’ of McLaren Vale and Coonawarra.
These are fascinating wines; surprisingly drinkable now, but it’s easy to imagine them being disappointing, if you are used to the typical modern shiraz. In a line-up of wines – like a show competition – these would be utterly lost. They inhabit a different universe altogether. In a world of Mahler symphonies, they represent Sibelius’ Seventh. Wines from these vineyards were used by Maurice O’Shea’s for his legendary wines, and the grapes also went into the great Lindemans wines of the 50s. Lighter-bodied warm climate reds. Welcome back.

2009 Tyrrell's Shiraz Johnno's - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Lower Hunter Valley
{screwcap, 13%, A$45} First release of this wine, picked from 102-year old vines planted on sandy soils down below the winery. A nose of the utmost subtlety; a trace of pepper and a faintly gluey note; all very restrained. Took half an hour to open up in the glass and reveal a gently spicy character; there are soft powdery tannins framing a light-medium bodied wine; a medium-high level of acidity gives the wine a slightly tart twist to the flavours, somehow without compromising the essentially velvety nature of the texture. If a wine can be low-key yet striking at the same time, this is it. No part of the palate is ignored, but it’s all done with discretion; everything is caressed rather than assaulted. Long, dry, light finish. Aging is anyone’s guess.

2009 Tyrrell's Shiraz 4 Acres - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Lower Hunter Valley
{screwcap, 13%, A$45} From Tyrrells own 130-year-old vineyard. A subtle, even sullen, nose of fine cherries and a touch of spice, and not much else. Coaxed with air, the palate eventually yields tight, dusty-tannin-textured spiced crimson-tasting fruits, crisp acid, a light-medium body and a medium-long finish. The flavours are restrained; there’s no fruit-bowl of red flavours to select from here, just a tightly-knit, distinctly unflamboyant wine whose key to quality is the long soft finish. It’s not rich, but it’s not thin or unripe either; modern reds of this style are rare. Seriously low-key and not for everyone. Age for five, fifteen, fifty years, who knows?

2009 Tyrrell's Shiraz Old Patch "1867" - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Lower Hunter Valley
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$45} A third variant on Tyrrells 100-year old Hunter Shiraz theme. As with the previous two wines, the language – even the dialect - is the same; only sublte inflections distinguish the wines. The nose here is a little more expressive; violets, spice, red berries, but still youthful and rather shy. The palate is long and even and savoury, just touching medium-body for weight, with fine acid cut spotlighting the cherry and violet fruit. This is a more resonant wine than Johnno’s and the 4 acres, with a slightly darker, heavier feel to it – which is only really noticeable if you go back and forward between the wines. This is the third red in which the entire palate is engaged, and in a harmonious way, rather than fruit here, tannins there. It’s all in one piece, with its components tightly holding each other. Age as long as you like, I suspect.

Vat Reds
After the totally washed-out 2008 vintage, the regulars are back, and in fine form. The prices have jumped; Tyrrell made some reference to knocking off Brokenwood’s Graveyard shiraz in the Hunter Valley Wine Show (one of the few shows Tyrrell’s enter their reds in) a couple of years running, so I guess they feel justified in lifting the entry price – when Graveyard is at or beyond the $100 mark. On the other hand, Graveyard’s got 20+ fairly consistent years behind it, whereas Tyrrell’s seemed to let their reds get awfully dirty and fungal around the turn of the last century. For them, this is something of a new age.

2009 Tyrrell's Shiraz Vat 9 - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Lower Hunter Valley
{screwcap, 13%, A$45} The face of modern Hunter shiraz. Medium ruby. Moderately intense nose of ripe plummy fruits, a touch of spice, and just a seasoning of oak. Although this sees some new oak, they are large vats, not barriques. This is nicely medium-bodied, with the same spiced plum flavours and a broad richness of red berry fruit; there’s no hint of black fruits here. Soft chalky tannins give a lightly grippy feel, and agin theirs is excellent interplay of the structural elements along the palate. Much more immediately appealing than the preceding reds, this is the epitome of clean, proportioned Hunter shiraz. Give it ten years to evolve.

2009 Tyrrell's Vat 8 - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$45} The most modern of the reds, this is the only one that sees any new small oak. The cabernet is from Hilltops; Tyrrell told us 15%, but the mailer booklet says 5%. Whichever, it does give a darker aspect to the aromas; they are still spicy and a little reserved, with a cedary aspect to them. The palate is smooth and velvety, although still quite savoury; medium-bodied with quite soft chalky tannins and fresh acidity. The finish is medium-long, the cabernet gives it strength on the back-palate; all up this is a pretty nice red. It’s a pretty serious price hike though…

2009 Tyrrell's Cabernet Sauvignon Vat 70 - Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Hilltops
{screwcap, 14%, A$25} Here’s the contrast to the Hunter-based reds. Curranty essence of cabernet aromas, with cloves and cocoa too. On the palate there’s liquorice and tobacco, deeply-flavoured current/black olive fruits, medium chalky tannins, medium body and a medium length finish. Matured in big new barrels, and containing the tiniest seasoning of Coonawarra petit verdot and McLaren Vale malbec, just to balance it out. Attractive young red that avoids assaulting the palate; the value buy for earlier drinking (5-10 years)

2009 Tyrrell's Shiraz Futures Heathcote - Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Heathcote
Earth and iron, spice and sweet chocolate with a meaty quality. Sounds like a lot, but the nose doesn’t really jump at you. Medium-full bodied, rich and with great depth to the plummy, earthy/chocolate flavours, this still has enough acid to give it balance. If there was a ‘reserve’ bottling of the Rufus Stone wine, this would be it. Medium-long finish that avoids heat. Good wine.

Instructive tasting. The most excitement for me revolved around the single vineyard reds and the HVD chardonnay. The 2010 vintage for reds is looking similar to 2009, which no-one ought to complain about.
cheers,
Graeme

[Loztralia]

Brilliant notes, thanks very much for sharing them.

A couple of questions if I may:
- Interested to note no Stevens Shiraz. The 2007 was fantastic - is there a 2009?
- Ditto, I suppose, with the HVD and Belford Semillons. I'm sure there's a reason so please forgive my ignorance.
- Any idea what the chances are of getting hold of some of the Pinot, as a non-member? Will it require a Hunter trip, and if so what will the window of opportunity be? I've always found trips to Tyrrell's interesting in terms of what's available (never what I expect, on the positive and negative side) though fighting through the crowds is often tiresome.

[tpang]

Great notes Graeme!

Sounds like the Vat63 and the Centenary shirazes are perfect for a blind tasting if you want to screw around with your guests' heads.

Overall, do you think the wines are punching at or above their weight? I would assume that their prices would be considered by many to be within the very affordable range.

[pstarr]

Many thanks for the notes. Sounds like a Vat9 purchase is in order. Also like the sounds of the Vat63 chardonnay semillon blend. Chard/sem and sem/chard blends were one of the first white wine styles I got into. As unfashionable as they are, I reckon it's a blend that can work well. Maybe due for a comeback?

[ACG]

Agree with most of the those notes, though I enjoyed the Johhno's Sem just a smidgen more.

Tyrrells are on a roll....

[Gary W]

09 Vat 9 just won a trophy for best red at this year's Hunter Show.
GW

[Bill]

Gary,

Have you had a chance to try the 2010 whites yet? Nothing showing up on WineFront.

[Gary W]

Gary,

Have you had a chance to try the 2010 whites yet? Nothing showing up on WineFront.

Give us a minute eh Bill! C.Tyrrell was going to come down with the bottles for me this week but we agreed to delay it until Vat47 was bottled.
So soon. Within a month or so.
Should have bought some 09 Johnno's Sem last year too...

GW

[GraemeG]

Yes, there's a 2009 Stevens. It's not a Private Bin wine so isn't at this tasting. Belford sem was trashed by the weather. HVD is a Futures wine. If you visited the CD I'm sure they'd sell you some pinot, but you'd likely have to join the Private Bin club. That's not really a hardship, though...
Andrew, Johnno's is lovely, true. They'd had varying amounts of air when I tasted them; perhaps best not to read too much into some nuances of my notes.
As for prices, there are steep jumps among the reds, and the sems (Vat 63 used to be $16, now $21); I reckon the wines were on the cheaper side in the past, so I guess it's just catching up to a degree. Values are fair to good to excellent, I reckon, especially when you look around at alternatives...
Vat 9 is a worthy trophy winner, yes. Well done judges...
cheers,
G

[Bill]

Should have bought some 09 Johnno's Sem last year too...

I got a 6-pack of each of the Johnno's, Vat 1, Belford & Stevens 09 Sems.