There is no better feeling than to put a wine in mouth and sense something special. That very instant. It is so revealing, and moreso encouraging to have another sip, then get up close and personal with the rest of the bottle.
I had that experience on a recent visit to the Lower Hunter Valley producer Tyrrell's Wines and a great meeting with the fourth generation owner Bruce Tyrrell. The defining wine was Tyrrells Four Acres Shiraz 2009 GBP 50 My moment of palate frenzy was during a tasting and interview with this doyen of all things iconically Hunter-semillon, chardonnay and shiraz, many grown on some of the oldest grape vines on this planet. 
Having just driven up the Tyrrells winery drive, one cannot but notice the old grape vines, gnarled and silhoutted against the nearby imposing Brokenback Range-a string of hills to the west. It turns out that these are shiraz, planted in 1879 and 1892; and the yield of these grapes was the content of my Four Acres drink. This stuff was seminal.
Further prodding of Mr Tyrrell enlightened me to the fact that this property, and other nearby vineyards which he owns, are ablaze with vines that are over 100 years-old and producing great stuff.
A walk through the winery firmly establishes that traditions and practices are firmly held-dirt floors, galvanised iron, slab walls, large old barrels, secret bits of fortifieds tucked away in dark places; plain history here. Even founder Edward Tyrrell's original slab house is preserved in front of the tasting rooms and slab-lined offices.
All Tyrrell's major red wines are brought up in older barrels-2500 to 5000 litre French oak "foudres" imported for this reason. There is the HVD vineyard (Hunter Vineyard Distillery) where he draws grapes from semillon and chardonnay planted in 1908-mega amazing.
Later that night at dinner I grabbed his HVD Semillon 2006 GBP 28 (95); an amazing youthful, pale and minerally white despite the seven years-drink for another five at least. Hunter semillons are curious creatures-they hold in bottle for ages, are low in alcohol, and give you a very focussed, lanolin-like taste sensation. Everyone should try one.
Then to finish what Tyrrells are about-it is the Vat 47 Chardonnay 2009 (94) GBP 27.50; this line of wine was first produced by Bruce's dad, Murray Tyrrell in 1971, the country's first chardonnay. At that time it was labelled Pinot Chardonnay but in 2000 the bold step-to stay in step with naming-the "Pinot" bit was dropped.
One must ask if these chardonnay vines were planted in 1908 yet Tyrrells actually created the first ever Aussie chardonnay from cuttings taken from this HVD vineyard, what happened in between.
Until 1982, this HVD vineyard was owned by Penfolds, maker of Grange and the iconic wines like Block 42, who were Hunter Valley proprietors for decades. But they never released a chardonnay, and at the best it came out as an unwooded wine described as "Pinot Riesling Bin 365"; actually a blend of chardonnay and semillon.
So Tyrrell's had the last say and now own the world's oldest chardonnay vineyard.
