One of the natural food and wine matches for me are seared tuna and aged Semillon. Bruce Tyrell said not long ago that he owned four of the five best Semillon vineyards in the Hunter Valley, and one day he will own the 5th. It is relatively safe to speculate that the 5th vineyard he was referring to was the Braemore vineyard. The mature vines of this outstanding vineyard live on sandy alluvial flats near Hermitage Road.
Yesterday I had the 2005 Thomas Wines Braemore Semillon. Andrew Thomas has been the new bright star in the Hunter, so no wonder that the combination of outstanding fruit source and winemaker produces high quality wines. This now seven year old wine is still very fresh and even zesty. Complexity is not really what Semillon can deliver, but this wine has great purity and balance. Toasty characters are only just starting to come through. In terms of what I was looking for, I opened this wine 3 to 5 years too early. It showed in this slightly awkward window between fresh characteristics and mellowing. No doubt, it has the structure to live for a long time.
Score: 92/++
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment