Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Museum Release Semillon 2009

We tasted the 2005 museum release a couple of months ago, one of the greatest Vat 1’s ever made. So we had a benchmark, albeit a seemingly impossible high one, to compare the 2009 Vat 1 Museum Release. Tyrrells are now calling their museum release wine’s “Winemakers Selection”, but they are museum releases, so to avoid any confusion, we will continue to refer to them by their old name. The nose is classic aged Hunter, hay, lemon curd, lime, lavender, gardenia, nougat and mandarin. The palate is wonderous, luminous and generous, and to us, broader and more expansive than is typical of Vat 1. Incredibly complex and detailed with flavours of stone fruits, grapefruit, spice, kiwi fruit, burnt butter and citrus. Gosh I wish we had a plate of scallops! Silky and seamless, all the elements totally integrated. How does it compare with the great 2005? Terrific and different. A unique Vat 1 that has plenty of years left in the tank. Waters Wine Co.

The appearance of the wine immediately belies its age; bright and glossy with vibrant, green hues. The nose is incredibly complex; lemon curd, candle wax, buttered toast; freshened with a hint of lemon zest. Showing classic aged Hunter Semillon characters, with a palate weight and intensity only seen in the best of the best vintages. Complex, seamless layers with a powerful citrus drive, and persistence of flavour. The perfect balance of youthfulness and bottle age. Tyrrell’s

The fruit for the 2009 Vat 1 Semillon was predominately sourced from the best old blocks on Tyrrell’s Short Flat vineyard, with the oldest vines on this site dating back to 1923. These vines are dry grown in ancient sandy loam soil, adjacent to old creek beds. Great soil moisture from the previous growing season meant that all of the vineyards saw their best season in years. Kind weather over Christmas ensured even ripening and flavour development in the bunches. All the fruit was hand picked in the early hours of the morning when the temperature is coolest. All fruit was lightly pressed before a relatively cool fermentation. After which, the wine spent a minimal time on yeast lees before bottling early to maintain its freshness. No oak fermentation or maturation.

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