Le Tour.

A great cellar door experience can go a long way. Some wineries will offer services beyond the standard. Structured tastings and winery tours can greatly increase your enjoyment of the experience of tasting, and even of the wine itself. On the second day of our anniversary trip, we had one of these experiences.

We woke up reasonably early, because my wife said she had another surprise for me. She drove me away from our accommodation at Billabong Moon, and back towards the vineyards. We eventually arrived at Tyrrell's, for what I thought was going to be another cellar door tasting.

My wife, again, shows the amount of thought she puts into her gifts.

We were greeted at the cellar door by Scott. I'm not entirely sure of his role at Tyrrell's, however we later discovered he had delayed his holiday plans in order to show us around the winery, and give us a private tour of their facilities. Scott took us into the vineyards and explained the history of Tyrrell's. He talked about why the winery was located where it was (it was the last block left when Pokolbin was settled in the mid 1800's!) , and told the story of Edward Tyrrell clearing the block, and building his house (that still stands in the car park today) single-handedly. He spoke about the type of grapes grown in each vineyard, and why they were suited to the climate, soils and geography of the region.

He described the processes used at every stage of the winemaking process, and exactly what makes Tyrrell's unique. We went into the winery itself, through barrel rooms with wooden beams and dirt floors, and met some of the winemakers. We were then taken to the lab and the bottling plant.

Afterwards we were taken back to the car park and shown through Edward Tyrrell's original ironbark slab home.

Finally, we were taken back to the cellar door and led through a full structured tasting of their premium wines.

The Semillons were first up, with some fantastic examples. The Johnno's Block 2011, Vat 1 2011, HVD 1999 and Vat 1 1999 were phenomenal. Typical Tyrrell's though, there isn't a bad wine among the Semillons.

Next the Chardonnays. Now, I am not the biggest fan of Chardonnay. I just can't find my way in to appreciate them the way some people do. I often find them too big and buttery, or flimsy and almost always offensively oaked. While most of the Chardonnays offered didn't roll our socks up, the 2010 Vat 47 was outstanding. The oak was downplayed, and integrated seamlessly with the elegant, floral aromas.

Finally, we went through the full range of premium reds available. The Vat 6 Pinot Noir 2010 was surprising, given the warm climate of the Hunter. Some whole bunches were used during the fermentation, which added significantly to the character of the wine. The Hilltops Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 was also a solid interpretation of a wine not typically associated with Tyrrell's or the Hunter.

The highlight of the tasting was easily the Shiraz and Shiraz blend wines. Vat 8 2009, Vat 9 2010 and Old Patch 2010 are 3 of the best Shiraz based wines produced in the Hunter. 

That evening was my turn to give a surprise. I had arranged for dinner at Muse, the Hunter Valley's only hatted restaurant where we ate some incredible dishes matched with local wines. The highlights of the meal were Oysters matched with the Thomas Wines Braemore Semillon 2011, and the Peppered Mandagery Creek Venison with the Hungerford Hill Hilltops Cabernet Sauvignon 2009.