On the nose:
At this stage, the 2004 Vat 1 has the ghost-like whiff of no age at all.
Not a hint nor sign of toast or lanolin as I was expecting from an 18-year-old Semillon.
If this wine was served blind, I would not have a clue as to what was in the glass.
In the glass:
This wine has the translucent green shimmer of youth.
In the mouth:
The wine has been open for an hour now and it is so bloody young it seems both a shame and a great pleasure and joy to drink this wine. Only the rounded texture of this wine is hinting at age, other than that it is filling the mouth with young lemon, bouncing and darting around the palate like a teenager on speed.
It has an overwhelming range of lemon flavours from sharp to almost bitter on the finish to the spritz on the front palate when you take the first sip.
And I mean sip this stuff, as it is full-on with intense rich lemon acid flowing over your palate no ripping or tearing. However, having said all that it finishes a little short and does not linger too long at all, then with the next sip it explodes in your mouth and repeats the cycle.
Clearly, the wine will do a year or two yet before you need to open it.
Unfortunately, I don’t have enough years left in me to age anymore Vat 1’s, now there under the Stelvin enclosure.
As this proves beyond a doubt that in exceptional vintages, they will now age beyond 20+ years. As they once did under cork.
Wine Fact:
The 2004 vintage Tyrrells Vat 1 Semillon was the first Vintage to be released under a screw cap.
Shame really, I was looking forward to an aged Semillon not a bloody teenager on speed. Although it was a quality experience and a new benchmark for me at any rate, and it went beautifully with the scallops and no surprise it carried on to the second course, a tender not gamey Duck a L’Orange – cooked to perfection I might add.
Rating:
You cannot rate a wine when it sets a benchmark for that grape variety and it has not even reached its full potential yet.
I drank this wine with Prawns & Scallops on a bed of mashed potato fritters dressed with fresh dill.
First course – Christmas day lunch 2022.
