The long drive into the heart of the Tahbilk wine estate can be an instructive one. At the beginning, the vines are strapping and youthful, then deeper into the estate and closer to the winery vine trunks take on a different appearance: fattened, bent, gnarled. Empty spots appear where there’s been a death. Aged vines are a feature at Tahbilk with each generation of the Purbrick family – and there have been five – maintaining a custodial role over their ownership.
At the cellar door, taste a new release vibrant shiraz and compare it to the complexity of an Eric Steven Purbrick Shiraz or look at a 2015 Marsanne versus a 1927 Vines Marsanne. You’ll experience the magic aged vines bring and there are few wine producers in the country who can so comprehensively instruct you in the role vine age (or bottle age) plays in delivering stunning flavours and presence in the glass.
History is celebrated here in the vineyard, in the original 19th century low-slung petit château with its underground drives, even the roads are unmade, a deliberate choice.
Once fodder for cattle, the surrounding grounds have been reworked into a wetlands, home to wildlife with eco-trails laid out for visitors. The trails end at The Wetlands Café with lunch or coffee and cake out on the balcony. Jeni Port