Wines of exceptional quality
Marsanne is one of the world's rarest grape varietals, and Tahbilk holds the largest and oldest single holding of the varietal in the world. Originally from Hermitage AOC in France's northern Rhône wine region, it was brought to Australia and established at St Hubert's Vineyard in Victoria's Yarra Valley. Tahbilk sourced cuttings from there in 1860, and although those vines didn't survive, Tahbilk was still able to plant Marsanne in 1927 at the request of the newly appointed winemaker, Eric Stevens Purbrick. We call this block the 1927 Vines, and it is these Marsanne vines that are amongst the oldest in the world.
1927 Vines Marsanne story
"Once bottled, all the magic happens over time as it evolves into a wonderful textural, mineral wine. It's a classic ugly duckling to beautiful swan story. By making the wine this way it develops in the bottle slowly and has long term cellaring potential. These wines will be at their best as 30-50 year-old wines and match the best in the world." ~ Alister Purbrick
Marsanne Wine Show Pedigree
From the Estate’s earliest days, and certainly with the Purbrick family at the helm, Marsanne has been one of our bedrock varietals. Given its uniqueness and rarity, along with having the largest single vineyard holding of the variety in the world, it has become synonymous with Tahbilk.
Couple this with a Wine Show pedigree that includes 55 Trophies, 187 Gold, 251 Silver, and 472 Bronze Medals, an ever-growing, encyclopaedic number of wine press plaudits and a lot of love and you can well understand the excitement around each new vintage release.
