Tyrrell’s is a custodian of the traditional Hunter Valley wine styles of early-harvested, unwooded semillon and meaty, leathery shiraz of medium to full weight. In this it succeeds admirably, with a stable full of semillons, each with different terroirs and stories to tell. Resuming normal transmission in 2004, the Vat 47 Chardonnay is an idiosyncratic wine of immense quality and rare longevity. Tyrrell’s also releases some unusual wines (in addition to the mysterious Vat 6 Pinot Noir), such as the DB24 Shiraz, a sumptuous and juicy McLaren Vale offering from 2003 that has received two separate 12-month maturations in small new oak. Jeremy Oliver
