Old vine glory – Tahbilk 1927 Vines Marsanne 2013
- 95
- $46.50
- Drink by: Now - 2033
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Those who love Marsanne – hands up – know that the grape can age well. Others need to be shown, which was the intention behind the creation of the 1927 Vines Marsanne from Tahbilk.
It was styled along the lines of a Hunter Valley Semillon, that is picked early when the grapes contain a high dose of acidity, which is needed for the journey ahead, and the winemaking is simple: fermentation in stainless steel, no oak and straight into bottle. It’s then aged for around seven years before release. Oh, and interestingly, the wine is released only if it receives a gold medal in wine shows across Australia. As far as I know, it always does.
Colour is medium-gold, revealing bottle age. Imagine an aged Hunter Semillon, as there is an uncanny resemblance, with the rising bouquet of preserved lemons and buttered toast with lashings of Rose’s lime marmalade. Flavours build with layers of lemon butter, lemongrass, honey. Succulent, rich and textural, and thanks to the underlying acidity, there is still a long way to go. What a pleasure.
Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.
