Tyrrell’s Vat 1 semillon is a classic of the Hunter Valley semillon genre. The 2000 vintage in the Hunter Valley was a pretty good one, with Langtons giving it a 9/10 and describing it as:
“[a] hot vintage marked by extreme heat in February. A light sprinkling of rain over vintage did nothing to reduce quality. Fruit was clean with excellent flavour profiles. The acidity levels were brilliant so expect some long-lived Semillons.”
Tasted in April 2012, Tyrrell’s 2000 Vat 1 semillon was still going strong. A pale intensity lemon in colour, its aroma lept forth with wonderful notes of toast, honey and lemons. Perhaps unusually for an Australian wine (but not Hunter semillon), at 12 years of age the wine was still developing, rather than being fully developed. The palate had medium, rather than long, length and fell away a bit at the end. It had notes of intense lemons and bread, with quite a light body. Overall, this is a very good wine, that falls just slightly short of being something quite exceptional. 89 points (very good)
Abv: 11.1%
Price: $40
Vendors: try auction
Website: http://www.tyrrells.com.au/
Tasted: April 2012
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