Tarrahill Le Bâtard
Style: Tarrahill Le Bâtard is a blend of Pinot Noir and Shiraz. The proportions vary depending on the vintage, but the amount of Shiraz is usually less than 15%. This is partly because Tarrahill Shiraz is usually a deep and powerful wine, but mainly because Tarrahill Pinot Noir is already a dark,deep and powerful wine, unlike many other Australian pinots. The 2 components are fermented and matured in barrel separately and blended only shortly before bottling. At first the 2 grape varieties provide separate and distinct contributions to the blend and it is only after a year or two after bottling that the 2 mesh together to produce a harmonious combination. The result is a wine which can be enjoyed all by itself when young and satisfy those prepared to wait for it show its gravitas when cellared.
Clone: Pinot Noir - MV6. Shiraz - unknown.
Wood: French oak ( Pinot Noir - Mercurey, Shiraz - Claude Gillett
Reviews:
Tarrahill Le Bâtard 2012
Rated: 96 Points Halliday’s Wine Companion
“Blend of (mostly) pinot noir with input from shiraz and cabernet sauvignon. The input from the latter two makes the pinot noir almost seem like a distant memory. This is meaty but plush, floral but awash with dark berried fruit. Toasty, cedary oak is on the march too, its spicier notes forming an enchanting double-act with the wine's meatier notes. We have both a wine and a producer here of real character and, potentially, of great note.”
Rated: 92+ Points Campbell Mattinson, Winefront Review
“Unlike many of these blends, which essentially taste like beefier versions of pinot noir, you’d be doing well to pick this as 80% pinot noir. There’s some tang and sweet-spice notes, florals too, but it essentially tastes like a savoury-styled dry red, the texture silken, the tannin fine-grained, the length assured. This isn’t a bad thing because the other truth here is that this is a lovely wine, everything carefully placed, an impression of intricacy. Those sweet spice notes. That rush of fresh mid-weight flavour. It’s good now. It will mature well too.”