Tyrrell’s Vat 63 Chardonnay Semillon 2019

Fabulous. Grilled nuts, cream, white flowers, white peach and grapefruit. For all it’s richness, this is full of energy and tension. Expansive palate, the Semillon cuts through the Chardonnay but provides extra width too. Many people have described this as similar to Chablis, but there is more fruit here and I would drink this over most Chablis any day. I have not had the benefit of tasting an aged Vat 63, but my overall impression is that this will be very long lived and will reward greatly those who are lucky enough to dust off an old bottle or two. Waters Wine Co

Sourced entirely from the Pokolbin Hills vineyard, this year’s blend is made up of 65% Chardonnay (planted in 1980) and 35% Semillon (planted in 1970). The Pokolbin Hills vineyard is located at the base of Pokolbin Mountain. Featuring ideal sandy loam soils, it is one of our top vineyard sites.

The 2019 vintage in the Hunter Valley was another high quality year across all varieties and is a stellar follow up to 2018. Continued dry conditions meant cropping levels were slightly lower than normal however all of the fruit was in perfect condition with intense concentration.

The Chardonnay and Semillon grapes were harvested on 24 January. Both of the varieties were vinified separately before being blended in June and then bottled in July. The Chardonnay component spent its time in mostly older French oak barriques and the Semillon was made in a traditional unwooded style in stainless steel.