Product Information:
Back my popular demand. The inaugural release of Vat 32 Semillon Chardonnay was so well received they made another. For those of you who have loved and bought Tyrrell’s Vat 63 Chardonnay Semillon over the years, this wine is also for you... Alright it's the Semillon for Chardonnay lovers, but fear not the oak has folded nicely into the wine and now provides just some beautiful background complexity. Sumptuous.
Pronounced with ripe peach, and fresh citrus fruits alongside, hints of buttered baguette and grilled nuts. The palate is full with layers of ripe lemon, stone fruits, pear and golden apple, with nougat and sourdough toast in the finish. A unique Hunter Valley blend with refreshing yet soft acidity.
The blend is 68% Semillon and 32% Chardonnay. All hand selected fruit and hand-picked then fermented as a batch in four brand new French oak hogsheads. The wine spends four months in barrel before blending with a parcel of Semillon from their own Braemore vineyard.
Maker:
Given Andrew's family background, it seemed fated he would work in wine. Early inspiration came from my father, Wayne Thomas who had a distinguished career making wine where Andrew was raised in McLaren Vale. During Andrew's formative winemaking years, despite being groomed for a possible winemaking career in South Australia, he developed a deep passion for finesse, and the more subtle and savoury structured wines of the Hunter Valley . After graduating with a degree in Oenology at Roseworthy Agricultural College, Andrew set off on his winemaking journey at Tyrrell’s Vineyards. During 13 years of guidance under the legendary Murray Tyrrell at Tyrrells Wines, he gained a great respect for, and understanding of the two signature varieties of the Hunter Valley – you guessed it, semillon and shiraz. The thirst for more knowledge and winemaking experience was quenched with vintages in Sonoma, Tuscany, Piedmont and Provence; but the desire to make world class wines under his own label could no longer be denied, with realisation it was time for Andrew Thomas to pave his own path. Thomas Wines was established in 1997, with a clear and focused objective to specialise in single vineyard Hunter Valley Semillon and Shiraz. Over the years Andrew has formed close and collaborative alliances with an impressive folio of local growers. These growers own and operate arguably some of the Hunter Valley’s most distinguished sites, producing world class, uniquely regional styles. Each wine is destined to showcase its unique vineyard signature and express a real sense of place.
Philosophy:
Whilst Andrew has always applied a no compromise, attention to detail approach to my winemaking, he truly believes that 90% of the quality lies in the vineyard. Andrew says "The key to great wine is ‘keeping it simple’ to preserve that potential quality from the vine through to the bottle."
As you would expect with a vineyard that was planted way back in 1969, some gaps and missing vines have appeared over the years in the Braemore vineyard. At some stage over the last 50 years, these gaps were replanted with whatever vines were available at the time, and it’s now apparent that some of these gaps were filled in with Chardonnay cuttings.
The team at Thomas Wines are in the process of marking and removing/replacing these ‘rogue’ vines, but during the 2023 vintage they went through the whole vineyard and hand-picked these marked vines separately and fermented them as a batch in four brand new French oak hogsheads. The wine spent four months in barrel before blending with a parcel of Semillon from our Braemore vineyard. The blend is 68% Semillon and 32% Chardonnay. Initially, the oak was quite punchy/overt in the blend, but with time prior to and post bottling, that oak has folded nicely into the wine and now provides just some beautiful background complexity.
Nose - Ripe Peach, Nectarine, Buttered Baguette
Nectarine, and fresh citrus fruits alongside, hints of buttered baguette, vanilla bean, and nuts.
Palate - Pure Fruited, Golden Apple, Silky
Flavoursome with a seductive and full silkiness and layers of ripe lemon, white peach, pear and golden apple, alongside hints of chamomile tea, French nougat and sourdough toast.
Finish - French Nougat, Chamomile Tea, Cleansing Acidity
Long, cleansing and gorgeous, and the high quality of the fruit shines through.
Andrew Thomas is in the process of removing rouge chardonnay vines from the Braemore vineyard. But in 2023, the chardonnay was harvested separately and fermented in four new French hogsheads. After four months of ageing, the wine was blended with a parcel of semillon from the Braemore vineyard. The result is a wine with fabulous purity, energy and intensity. It is immaculately made with a focused, flavoursome palate that is long, cleansing and gorgeous, and the high quality of the fruit shines through. The final blend is 68/32% semillon/chardonnay. Utterly delicious - Toni Paterson MW, Wine Companion, 95 Points.
The Finer Details
Style - White Wine
Varietal - Chardonnay 68%, Semillon 32%
Country - Australia
Region - Hunter Valley, New South Wales
Vintage - 2023
Bottle Size - 750ml
ABV - 12.5%
Closure - Screw Cap
Cellaring Potential - 5 – 15+ years from vintage
