Hunter Valley, le berceau du sémillon australien
15 bouteilles, du sémillon tendu au shiraz de coteauEleven degrees of alcohol, an almost colourless robe, a palate of lime and chalk: this is the most singular white in the country. Semillon is harvested early, ferments at low temperature in stainless-steel tank, keeps its natural acidity and does without oak as it does without malolactic fermentation. Young, it is taut and lemony. After ten years in the cellar, it gives honey, toast and wax, although it has never known a barrel.
The red follows the same restraint. Under a wet subtropical climate, two hours' drive from Sydney, Shiraz stays medium-bodied, spicy, often called the most Burgundian in Australia.
Mount Pleasant - Philip 2015
A Syravistant cuvée with beautiful aromatic power from the Hunter Valley.
Mount Pleasant - Elizabeth 2016
An Australian Sémillon emblematic of its region: finesse, acidity and minerality are essential.
Tyrrell's - Winemakers Selection Vat 1 Semillon Landmark Release 2009
An emblematic Semillon from Hunter Valley, of great purity, combining chiseled freshness and remarkable aging potential.
Tyrrell's - 4 Acres Shiraz 2021
A Shiraz from Hunter Valley, sourced from a historic plot, combining finesse, freshness and aromatic depth.
Tyrrell's - Single Vineyard Old Hillside Shiraz 2018
A Shiraz from Hunter Valley combining depth of fruit, freshness and spicy elegance.
Tyrrell's - Winemakers Selection Vat 1 Semillon 2018
An iconic Semillon from the Hunter Valley, of great purity, built for aging and aromatic complexity.
Tyrrell's - Winemakers Selection Vat 47 Chardonnay 2021
An iconic Chardonnay from the Hunter Valley, combining precision, freshness and aromatic depth.
Tyrrell's - Winemakers Selection Vat 9 Shiraz 2021
A classic and refined Shiraz from Hunter Valley, where elegance takes precedence over power.
Tyrrell's - Old Winery Chardonnay 2023
A fresh and balanced Australian Chardonnay, where the lusciousness of the fruit meets a beautiful tension.
Tyrrell's - Hunter Valley Semillon 2022
A precise and crystalline Semillon from Hunter Valley, combining crisp freshness and great aging potential.
Tyrrell's - Hunter Valley Chardonnay 2022
A precise and fresh Hunter Valley Chardonnay, where the elegance of the fruit meets the finesse of the oak.
Tyrrell's - Old Winery Verdelho 2022
A fresh and aromatic Australian Verdelho, combining fruity intensity and great drinkability.
Tyrrell's - Single Vineyard HVD Semillon 2017
A Semillon from Hunter Valley of great purity, taut and crystalline, made for aging.
Tyrrell's - Winemakers Selection Vat 8 Shiraz Cabernet 2021
An iconic blend from the Hunter Valley, where the richness of Shiraz meets the elegance of Cabernet in a structured and harmonious Australian red.
Tyrrell's - Old Winery Shiraz 2022
A juicy and spicy Australian Shiraz, combining luscious fruit and a supple structure for immediate enjoyment.
Comment évolue un sémillon de la vallée
It is the only dry white in the world that takes on the taste of toasted oak having always lived in tank. Here are the stages of that metamorphosis, as they read in the colour, on the nose and at the table.
| L'âge de la bouteille | La robe | The dominant aromas | À table |
|---|---|---|---|
| Un à deux ans | Presque incolore, reflets verts | Citron vert, pomme verte, herbe fraîche, une bouche tendue et saline | Huîtres, sashimi, ceviche de bar |
| Trois à cinq ans | Very pale yellow | Le citron s'arrondit vers le pamplemousse et la citronnelle, la texture s'élargit | Poissons grillés, crevettes à l'ail, salades thaïes |
| Six à huit ans | Paille clair | Premières notes de noisette et de miel d'acacia sur un fond d'agrume | Volaille rôtie, quiches, chèvres affinés |
| Neuf à douze ans | Or franc | Pain grillé et beurre frais, cire d'abeille, l'acidité tient encore la ligne | Sweetbreads, mushroom risotto, fish in white sauce |
| Treize à vingt ans | Or profond | Miel, écorce d'orange confite, une pointe de kérosène proche du riesling mûr | Pan-fried foie gras, duck with citrus, long-aged Comté |
| Au-delà | Or ambré | Cire, caramel blond et thé noir, portés par une trame acide intacte | Firm blue-veined cheeses, yellow-fruit desserts |
This turn towards toast happens in bottle, through the slow oxidation alone of a very acidic, low-alcohol wine. To take the series from the start, the Hunter Valley Semillon 2022 at €22.10 a bottle, in cases of 6; to taste it halfway through, the Winemakers Selection Vat 1 Semillon 2018 at €59.90 a bottle, in lots of 2.
Sept façons de goûter ce vignoble
Four grape varieties share the sandy and silty-clay soils of the basin, from Pokolbin to the foot of the Brokenback Ranges. Each gives a clear style, with its own winemaking and its own use.
| Le style | Cépage et vinification | Ce que donne le verre | A reference point in the selection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Le blanc de départ | Sémillon récolté tôt le matin, pressurage délicat, fermentation à basse température en cuve inox | Onze degrés, citron et craie, une acidité qui appelle la table | Hunter Valley Semillon 202222,10 € la bouteille, par caisse de 6 |
| Le blanc de parcelle | Sémillon d'un vignoble unique sur sables et limons alluviaux, élevage sur lies fines en cuve | More tension and more length, cut out for ten years in the cellar and beyond | Single Vineyard HVD Semillon 201741,90 € la bouteille, par lot de 3 |
| Le chardonnay historique | Whole-bunch pressing, fermentation in French oak barrels with native yeasts | Roundness and precise white fruit, held by the freshness of the sea breezes | Winemakers Selection Vat 47 Chardonnay 202159,90 € la bouteille, par lot de 2 |
| Le blanc d'été | Verdelho, a grape variety from Madeira, stainless-steel tank under reductive conditions to keep the fruit | Fruits tropicaux et agrumes, une buvabilité immédiate | Old Winery Verdelho 202214 € la bouteille, par caisse de 6 |
| The everyday red | Shiraz égrappé, cuves inox à température contrôlée, remontages doux | Juicy fruit and spice, supple tannins, to be opened within five years | Old Winery Shiraz 202214 € la bouteille, par caisse de 6 |
| Le rouge de coteau | Shiraz de vieilles vignes, fermentation en cuves ouvertes, passage en fût de chêne | Profondeur du fruit noir, fraîcheur et épices fines, cinq à dix ans de garde | Single Vineyard Old Hillside Shiraz 201841,90 € la bouteille, par lot de 3 |
| L'assemblage local | Shiraz et cabernet sauvignon vinifiés lot par lot, réunis avant l'élevage en fût | La chair du shiraz sur la trame du cabernet, quatorze degrés et demi | Winemakers Selection Vat 8 Shiraz Cabernet 202159,90 € la bouteille, par lot de 2 |
Shiraz here carries the Australian name for Syrah: to follow the grape variety from one continent to another, go to Syrah and shiraz. The white of this section continues in Semillon and Chardonnay, and the neighbouring valley of the Barossa shows the other face of Shiraz, denser and more sun-filled.
A bottle for every mood
Ways into the valley, from the aperitif white to a red from a historic plot.
Découvrir le sémillon local
The valley's style in its most direct version: lime, chalk, 11% abv and a saline finish that revives the palate.
Tyrrell's Hunter Valley Semillon 2022 · 22,10 € la bouteille, par caisse de 6Mettre un blanc en cave
Un vignoble unique sur sables alluviaux, une tension cristalline et une garde qui dépasse dix ans. Le blanc sec à oublier au fond du casier.
Tyrrell's Single Vineyard HVD Semillon 2017 · 41,90 € la bouteille, par lot de 3Goûter le chardonnay de la maison
Barrel-fermented with native yeasts, precise and fresh: the cuvée that launched Australian Chardonnay with ageing potential.
Tyrrell's Winemakers Selection Vat 47 Chardonnay 2021 · 59,90 € la bouteille, par lot de 2Ouvrir un blanc d'apéritif
Fruits tropicaux, agrumes, une vinification réductrice qui garde le fruit intact. Le verre de terrasse, à servir bien frais.
Tyrrell's Old Winery Verdelho 2022 · 14 € la bouteille, par caisse de 6Un rouge à boire ce soir
Juicy fruit, pepper, supple tannins from a tank fermentation. The simplest way into temperate-climate Shiraz.
Tyrrell's Old Winery Shiraz 2022 · 14 € la bouteille, par caisse de 6Comprendre le shiraz de la vallée
Old vines from the lower Pokolbin valley, medium-bodied, elegance before power: the classic against which the others are measured.
Tyrrell's Winemakers Selection Vat 9 Shiraz 2021 · 59,90 € la bouteille, par lot de 2Offrir une parcelle historique
One of the estate's oldest plots, at the foot of the Brokenback Ranges, on an iron-rich subsoil. Available by the bottle.
Tyrrell's 4 Acres Shiraz 2021 · 151 € la bouteille, à l'unitéSuivre le cépage ailleurs
Shiraz and syrah name the same grape. The worldwide section sets the valley's temperate version against the styles of the Rhône and the Barossa.
Page du rayon · Syrah et shiraz
Récolter avant la pluie
The vineyard was planted in the 1820s, north of Sydney, at a subtropical latitude no one would choose today for making wine: humid heat, summer clouds and storms that arrive precisely at harvest time, in January. The growers turned that into a method. Semillon is picked early, sometimes before the grapes reach ten potential degrees, at dawn, and the juice goes straight into tank.
What looked like a constraint gives the most original white on the continent: little alcohol, plenty of acidity, a fine material that feeds on time. The Pacific breezes and the cloud cover do the rest for Shiraz, which keeps its freshness where dry regions give thicker wines.
Comment on choisit
In this section we taste before we list, and we look at two things: the clarity of the citrus on the whites, the fineness of the tannins on the reds. A vintage that has already turned golden interests us as much as a wine of the year, because it shows where the bottle you buy young is heading. We follow the historic houses of the basin, the ones that keep their old plots in production.
L'équipe du Baroudeur du Vin
Ce qu'on nous demande sur la Hunter Valley
Pourquoi ces vins partent-ils surtout par caisse ou par lot ?
The house ships its cuvées by full cases, and we keep that packaging to hold the price per bottle down. The price shown on each listing is always the one for a single bottle, with the sales format right beside it: cases of 6 for the entry-level cuvées, lots of 2 or 3 for the single-plot cuvées. The 4 Acres Shiraz remains available singly.
Shiraz or Syrah, is it the same grape variety?
Yes, one and the same grape, with two names. France and the Rhône say syrah, Australia and South Africa say shiraz, and usage has ended up separating two styles in people's minds: the first more peppery and floral, the second more sun-filled. In this valley, the word shiraz covers precisely a medium-bodied wine, close to the Rhône style.
Pourquoi le sémillon titre-t-il seulement onze degrés ?
Because it is picked very early, often in January, before the rainy season and before the sugar climbs in the berry. The must ferments completely, and the resulting wine stays light in alcohol while keeping a high natural acidity. It is that rare ratio between low alcohol and high acidity that gives it its tension and its longevity.
Comment un vin élevé en cuve prend-il le goût du pain grillé ?
Through time alone. Young Semillon is neutral and lemony; over the years in bottle, a very slow oxidation transforms its aromatic compounds and brings out honey, butter, hazelnut and then toast. The result resembles barrel ageing although the wine has spent its life in stainless-steel tank and then in bottle.
Should these whites be drunk young or kept?
Both answers are right, and that is the whole interest of this grape variety here. Young, it goes with seafood with a sharp clarity. Past its eighth year, it becomes a wine for cooked dishes, broader and more complex. Many wine lovers buy two bottles of the same vintage: one for now, one for the cellar.
En quoi le shiraz d'ici diffère-t-il de celui de la Barossa ?
The valley is warm but humid, tempered by the Pacific breezes and by frequent cloud cover. The grapes ripen without concentrating to excess, and the wine comes out medium-bodied, with spicy red fruit and fine tannins. The Barossa, drier and warmer, gives on the contrary dense, dark, powerful Shiraz.
Which houses are in this selection?
Two historic properties of the basin. Tyrrell's, established near Pokolbin since the 19th century, signs the Old Winery range, the Winemakers Selection cuvées numbered by vat, Vat 1 in Semillon, Vat 47 in Chardonnay, Vat 8 and Vat 9 in red, as well as the 4 Acres, Old Hillside and HVD plots. Mount Pleasant adds its classics, the Elizabeth Semillon and the Philip Shiraz.
À quelle température servir ces bouteilles ?
Allow 8–10 °C for a Semillon of the year and for Verdelho, and a little more, around 12 °C, for a golden vintage or for Chardonnay, whose texture closes up when it is too cold. The valley's Shiraz appreciates 16 °C, one notch below the temperature of a heated room, in a reasonably wide glass.
What to serve with a Hunter Valley Semillon?
With a young bottle, everything that comes from the sea and calls for lemon: oysters, shellfish, raw fish, fried smelt, with a particular success on spicy Asian cooking. With a vintage of ten years or more, move on to dishes in white sauce, sweetbreads, mushroom risotto and hard cheeses.
Le verdelho, c'est quoi exactement ?
A white grape variety from Madeira, which arrived very early in Australia and stayed loyal to this valley when it had all but disappeared elsewhere. Vinified in tank away from air, it gives a dry, aromatic wine, on passion fruit, peach and citrus zest, with medium acidity. It is drunk within its first three years.