I remember when I first appreciated Tahbilk Marsanne, and that it ages well. In this case, it was 1995, and I was introduced to a 3 year old version with a bunch of Liberty Liquors (a now defunct Perth retailer) staff prior to a Bjork concert. The concert was fabulous, but the wine also made a large impression, so much so that I have visited the winery and been buying their product since then. I probably have a dozen vintages of the Marsanne alone in the cellar.
At 7 years of age, this wine is yellow but not yet golden. The nose is intense honeysuckle, with some lanolin and honey. The palate is rich and mouth filling, with more of the secondary developed characters supporting the honey and honeysuckle. Younger versions of this wine carry some citrus as well, but it's disappeared in this wine. The finish is full, as a result of the developed characters and the supporting acid.
I've had a few older versions (i.e. 12+ years) but for me maybe the sweet spot is between 5 and 10 years. Please feel free to debate that call
Cheers
Allan
Wine, women and song. Ideally, you can experience all three at once.
I have not had enough Tahbilk Marsannes to know where the sweet spot is but I do know that age suits them. My best experience was with a 1992 that was about 18 years old. It did have a gold-tinged hue and was absolutely sublime. I have a few bottles of more recent Tahbilks, I think '08 and '09 if I recall, and after dinking a number of them young decided to stash the rest away.
We had one of these a few weeks ago, our first Marsanne and we quite enjoyed it. I'd been eyeing it off for a little while as we (read: I) were on a bit of a Riesling kick so I thought I'd try something different. We were quite happy that we tried it. Maybe I might put some away to see how they travel?
It was always an iffy wine beyond ten years old under cork, but that's not an issue any more. I haven't had a screwcap example that's past its best, although that's not to say they are all outstanding. If anything, its highlighted the vintage differences. Am keen to try some of the screwcapped 1927 Vines bottlings with 15-20 years under their belts.
cheers,
Graeme
GraemeG wrote:It was always an iffy wine beyond ten years old under cork, but that's not an issue any more. I haven't had a screwcap example that's past its best, although that's not to say they are all outstanding. If anything, its highlighted the vintage differences. Am keen to try some of the screwcapped 1927 Vines bottlings with 15-20 years under their belts.
cheers,
Graeme
Good thinking Graeme. I just received a six pack from Tahbilk which included, amongst others, the 2000 1927 Vines. I now have a small collection of most even numbered vintages from 2000 to 2012. I also have every vintage of the 'standard' Marsanne from 2006 onwards, and I see another vertical tasting coming on.
Wine, women and song. Ideally, you can experience all three at once.
Mahmoud Ali wrote: ... I have a few bottles of more recent Tahbilks, I think '08 and '09 if I recall, and after dinking a number of them young decided to stash the rest away.
I was wrong. A couple of weeks ago I stumbled across a box of Tahbilk wines under screwcap - two bottles of the 2007 Shiraz and the rest were 2010 Marsanne. So not the '08 or '09 as I had thought - but hopefully there is a bottle or two of them lurking somewhere.
