15 June 2007

TN: The vatted calf

[bottle]Tyrrell’s 1994 Semillon “Vat 1” (Hunter Valley) – Salty, with mixed white and green melons, lime zest, and a sweet/saline backdrop hanging over a tannic and high-acid structure. The finish is nearly endless. Marvelous! Those who mistakenly think the entire vinous output of Australia runs from massive to gihuginormous should give this a try. It is – apologies to Jamie Goode – a world-class wine. (5/07)

Posted by at 1:48 PM
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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad you struck a good one. '94 seems to have been a good year for Vat 1 corks - a friend served a case of this at his 50th birthday last year, and three different bottles I tasted from were all terrific. Hunter semillon is my nominee for 'world's most oxidation-prone wine' - although by now I think the screwcap revolution is just about complete through Hunter Valley whites. You must have quite a collection of Vat 1 notes by now...
cheers,
Graeme

Saturday, June 16, 2007 7:41:00 AM
thor iverson said...

Is Vat 1 finally under screwcap?

Anyway, I do pretty well with this wine, considering how difficult it is to procure in the States.

Saturday, June 16, 2007 11:20:00 AM
Anonymous said...

All their whites - including the semillon collection* went under screwcap from the 2004 vintage. Evidently the 03 vintage was the clincher, where their QA dept. rejected 29 batches of cork... Most of the reds followed the vintage after, although the earthy Vat 9 shiraz (from the blocks around the winery) is still under cork, being hand-bottled from cask!

*Anyone else in the world market 5 distinct semillons every vintage? Tyrrell's do; 2 relative cheapies (Old Winery and Lost Block), the Stevens Vat 4 and Belford Vat 18 vineyard single vineyard wines, and Vat 1 which mostly comes off 2 estate owned blocks. Just one of those little quirks which make the wine world so interesting.
cheers,
Graeme

Monday, June 18, 2007 6:12:00 AM
thor iverson said...

Thanks, Graeme. Good news about the caps.

You're not wrong: no modern marketing department would embrace a five-semillon program without much kicking and screaming.

Monday, June 25, 2007 9:44:00 AM

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