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There are too often times when someone says “this is the best this or the best that I have ever had” without really meaning it. I said it about a wine on November 22, 1981 and I’ve not had a gargle of anything since to give me reason to recant (or should that be decant?). Even the odd Grange along the way is not gonna get the nod over my all-time favourite, a Chateau Tahbilk marsanne.

It was, mind, a 1953 Tahbilk marsanne and it was the first wine served at a luncheon I attended in the winery’s old cellar on that beautiful sunny November Sunday.

If I was a wine wanker, I’d say that the marsanne was the colour of a tropical sunset as seen from under a palm at Mission Beach while sipping Pimms (half lemonade, half dry ginger and a slice of cucumber are all mandatory for a splendid Pimms) … it was maybe even the colour and consistency of honey … with abundant floral notes and a basket of tropical fruits of all sorts on the nose … and what it did to the palate, my god, the tips of angel wings spring to mind  … did I mention its minerality?

But hey, I’m no wine wanker, so I’m not saying any of those things … again. It was simply the best thing to ever pass my lips.

The lunch was to celebrate 50 years of Purbrick family involvement in winemaking. We had six of Tahbilk’s new releases for the year before we made our way into the old cellar for lunch at a wonderful trestle table surrounded by huge casks and the smell of … well, a very fine old wine cellar. And the wines. Oh, sweet mother of Jesus … we kicked off with the ’53 marsanne and onto the ’64 cab-sav, then magnums of the ’70 cab-sav and finished with a 1978 Eric Purbrick Commemorative Port. Oh yeah, there was food too. So marsanne, Tahbilk and I go back quite a ways.

All of which is a long-winded way of saying that you could do a lot worse than spending 15 bucks or thereabouts for an ’09 Tahbilk marsanne to have with your tucker tonight. I reckon it goes OK — pretty much like most if not all of the Tahbilk wines — and you can buy it at most places. And if you’re up for it, you could even stash a couple of bottles of marsanne for a few years, given that is has a habit of getting better with age.

And beyond that, if you have an afternoon to spare, make the trip up the Hume to the winery (just near Nagambie) and have a look about, taste the odd gem, have a chin wag with the staff,  a bite at the Wetlands Café and enjoy either a cruise or wander in the wildlife reserve. You can also follow the comings and goings at the winery on Twitter, whatever that is.

The details:

Tahbilk Winery 254 O’Neils Road, Tabilk via Nagambie, Cellar Door open Monday to Friday 9am-5pm, weekends and public holidays 10am-5pm; Tahbilk Wetlands Café is open seven days a week — closed Christmas Day.