Voyager Estate Tom Price Margaret River 1997 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc

"from mines to wines"

This wine is dedicated to Tom Price an unsung hero of the WA iron ore industry.

Voyager vineyard is named after Michael Wrights original family business, also mining, in fact Voyager was one of their mines.

This wine is the white wine flagship of the Voyager winery, only released in certain years, in limited quantities, and is aimed to improve in the cellar for up to 10 years in the style of the great white wines of Bordeaux. 4,635 bottles were made for the 1997 vintage. Ours was number 934.

Just like in Bordeaux, this wine was fermented in 100% french oak, and after 12 years the result was like digging through coal and finding diamonds. This wine was inspired by some of the great white wines, from some of the great Bordeaux producers such Chateau Haut Brion, Chateau Fieuzal, and Domaine de Chevalier. Many of these wines cost an absolute bomb, and are also hard to find. This little Aussie upstart is a superb alternative.

The style was so Bordeaux like that I laughed like an arrogant parisan and doused myself with parfum par Yves saint laurent. 60% Semillon, 4o% sauvignon blanc, fermeted on lees (residual yeast), and then stirred before sleeping in oak for another 12 months.

There were layers upon layers of flavour and texture. Herbs, basil and sage, cut hay, white nectarines, monsteria, flint, minerals, and a serious punch of French oak toast and honey that shimmered in bursts anidst all the other flavours yet seemed to come together in an absolute synergy of liquid senusality.

This wine was past the recommended cellaring expectancy but still had the potential for another 2-4 years where upon it would have donned a beret and a cravat and climbed Mt Ventoux to ponder the work of Hugo and Lamartine.

I paid $50 for this in 2004, current vintage, 2005 is only $55 - get some now!

Voyager always sign off their back labels with the statement, "it is made with all the care we have". This wine, I concur, was made with a great deal of care, along with energy, skill, and finess. Find one, keep it for a decade, and selfishly share it with one person you truly love.