Tyrrell’s Vat 47 Chardonnay: The screwcap era

Bruce Tyrrell introduced screwcaps to his famed Vat 47 Chardonnay in 2004. Daniel Honan picks out his top 10 vintages from this screwcap era...

The first time Tyrrell’s Vat 47 Chardonnay was entered for judging at an Australian wine show, in 1973, it scored six points out of 20. As Bruce Tyrrell jokingly recalls, one of the spit buckets scored eight.

Since then, rather serendipitously, Vat 47 has gone on to win 47 wine show trophies throughout its 47-year existence.

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Winemaker Andrew Spinaze says the philosophy of Vat 47 is simple; ‘the fruit is king.’ Timing the picking in the Short Flat vineyard, and ensuring careful handling of the fruit in the winery, is crucial.

Of course, bottling is also an important process, which brings us to the theme of this tasting: since 2004, Vat 47 has been bottled under a screwcap closure.

‘We were dealing with about five to six cork companies,’ Bruce Tyrrell explains. ‘We had 30 batches of corks, priced around $2 a cork, and not one of those thirty batches passed quality control. So that was that. The introduction of screwcap in 2004 saved Vat 47’s reputation from the damage done by dud corks.’

There’s a clear evolution of the house style in this screwcap era – no malo, lees stirring, the re-introduction of gentle basket pressing, and deliberate oak selection.

What emerged over this 14-year vertical of Vat 47 Chardonnay was the elemental pedigree of the Short Flat vineyard to exhibit provenance, authenticity and vitality, despite vintage variation or age, and the perpetual paradox of the Hunter Valley as a world-class wine growing region.

Daniel’s top 10 screwcap Vat 47 Chardonnays:

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