WTN: mix of Oz and French

[episyd]

Tyrrell's 1991 Vat 1 Semillon [Hunter valley]Cork broke on extracting, with the bottom half absolutey saturated. Oxidised, maderised, no fruit. Grrrrrrrrr. Glad they are moving to stelvin. This happens so often with Tyrrel's whites that I always now have a second on stand by.

Tyrrell's 1993 Vat 1 Semillon. beautiful fully dry cork, hooray! And the wine was excellent. Still pale yellow green colour. Nice lemony, straw and hay, even some wet slate. Palate was fresh and complex with lots of depth and nice long finish - good acid cut. ill last another 5 years and improve as long as the cork holds!

Chapoutier 1999 Chateauneuf Du Pape "La Bernadine" [sthn Rhone] Mid red with some bricking - quite translucent. On the nose roasted coffee, cinnamon, cherry, morello cherry and roses. Mid weight palate with lots of depth - some earth and arabian spices. Excellent structure with some tannins still to resolve which just shortens the palate at the moment . Will be excellent in a couple of years.

Mt Difficulty 1998 Pinot Noir [Central Otago] Excellent ruby red colour. Nose has a lot of lifted vanillan and plums and red cherries with a hint of barnyard. Soft fruity palate without the complexity of the nose and just starting to fade at the end. Not a bad effort.

1996 Chateau Climens [barsac] beautiful dessert wine. : Lovely light yellow gold. Rich nose with hints of nuts, honey and a touch of apricot. The palate displays a good deal of botrytis as well as honey and vanillin. Good acidity. A sumptuous, feminine wine but with a great deal of strength. Will live for a long time. excellent

Cheers

Paul

[chrisnorth]

Tyrrell's 1991 Vat 1 Semillon [Hunter valley]Cork broke on extracting, with the bottom half absolutey saturated. Oxidised, maderised, no fruit. Grrrrrrrrr. Glad they are moving to stelvin. This happens so often with Tyrrel's whites that I always now have a second on stand by.

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Had the 1997 Vat 1 last night which was really lovely -- a nice racy acidity and a delicacy to the wine I really like.

Any experience with aging Vat 1 a long time? I had a 1985 a few years ago that was stunning, and I have a few bottles of 1995 kicking around the cellar that probably want holding.

[Brad Ballinger]

Wow, that was an act of infanticide on the Climens. I hope you have plenty more.