By Amy Looker
Tyrrell’s has been named as the Australian Winery of the Year by James Halliday in his 2010 Wine Companion.
The nod from Halliday caps off a successful year for the Hunter Valley winery, which is celebrating its 151st year of winemaking.
Halliday said that Tyrrell’s broad portfolio played a key role in securing its win, as did its superior semillon.
“Tyrrell’s is a winery with a range of wines, prices and varieties to edge out all others,” he said. “The cornerstone of the Tyrrell’s portfolio is semillon, and their Winemakers Selection Vat 1 has won more trophies and gold than any other Australian white wine. There has been similar enriching of the Tyrrell’s shiraz portfolio, while their Vat 47, the first quality chardonnay to be made in the 20th century, still holds its head high as it has done since 1971.”
Tyrrell’s managing director, Bruce Tyrrell, said the award acknowledges the effort the winery has put into raising the standard of their red wines.
“The winery of the year award is a culmination of the last five years of work to take our reds to the same quality level as our whites,” said Tyrrell.
The award is the second of its kind in the space of a year for Tyrrell’s, who received another Winery of the Year award from wine critic and author, Campbell Mattinson, in his acclaimed Big Red Wine book.