The transformation of Tyrrell's to one of Australia's flagship wineries

"It would have been about 2002 and Spinner [white winemaker Andrew Spinaze] and I were discussing how we wanted to drive up the quality of our wines," Bruce Tyrrell recalls.

"Especially the reds. For some reason a winery doesn't seem to get the recognition it deserves unless it's producing top red wines.

"We decided then and there to give it a go ... and we made a commitment that we would never drive up a wine into a higher price bracket, we would only ever drive them down."

And so began the transformation of Tyrrell's, undoubtedly one of the Hunter's flagship wineries, from an upper-middle quality winery that was more than holding its own, into a different beast altogether.

Into one of Australia's finest, full stop.

By any reckoning, the last 20 years has seen the Tyrrell's brand go from strength to strength at a time when so many wineries around the country are up for sale, doing it tough or on life support. It's an unforgiving game.

In June respected Sydney wine critic Huon Hooke, in his The Real Review website, rated Tyrrell's number four in Australia for the wines he had tasted over the previous 12 months, largely on the back of their 2017 reds.

And just last week, highly influential US wine critic James Suckling - an internationally renowned writer - awarded one of Tyrrell's 2018 red wines a jaw-dropping 100 points.

Of the 2100 wines he tasted on his Australian trip, the Tyrrell's 2018 Old Patch was the only one to do so.

But not only that, it was the third time in three years a Tyrrell's wine had received a perfect score for the Old Patch - the 2017 and 2014 vintages also managed it.

Suckling also gave two of their wines a score of 98, and three others 97. Heady stuff. And surely testament that for Tyrrell's, it's mission accomplished.

There's little doubt the winery is producing more top quality wine across the board than ever before.

And that's the reason I find myself sitting in Bruce Tyrrell's office, on top of the hilly Pokolbin property nestled in the foothills of the Brokenback Range, with Bruce behind his large desk and son Chris, 37, wedged comfortably in a chair off to the side.

Which is symbolic, really, because while Chris was promoted in 2014 to the role of chief operating officer, overseeing all facets of production, he makes no secret Dad is still boss: "At the end of the day we all work for Bruce."

But clearly winemaking is in his DNA: he's fifth generation.

Before we proceed, let's step back for a moment to 1993, and what led to Bruce Tyrrell's heart to heart with Spinaze.

"For a start we both like a beer," he says, breaking into a laugh. "But it was a different time back then. Long Flat Red and Long Flat White were still going strong. It wasn't long after Blackberry Nip had been Australia's biggest selling wine."

Think George W Bush giving his 'Axis of Evil' speech after the attacks on the World Trade Centre, Steven Bradbury winning his Winter Olympics gold medal, Kath and Kim premieres, and the Bulldogs are deducted 37 points for their salary cap breaches. A different time.

The Long Flat brand was Tyrrell's big money spinner - very decent, easy drinking red and white wines that offered outstanding bang for your buck at around $7 a bottle.

"We would buy the fruit in - Spinner would look after that - in huge amounts, and we were doing 80,000 to 100,000 cases of it a year. It was incredibly popular and terrific value," Bruce says.

But it came at a cost. While the Tyrrell's coffers were healthy, the sheer magnitude of Long Flat's success pigeon-holed Tyrrell's as a mid-table operation.

Not even the stellar quality of their Vat 1 semillon, arguably the world's finest, or Vat 9 shiraz could swing the tide: 100,000 cases rushing out the door, year in, year out, will do that to you.

Which brings us to today, and the ongoing 26-year mission to elevate Tyrrell's.

"The first thing we need to point out is that the magic is out there, not in the winery," Chris Tyrrell says, pointing to the old, gnarly vines that are a priceless legacy from the generations before. They're some of Australia's most prized, no doubt.

The Hunter is the oldest continuous wine region in Australia, with 11 vineyards that are 100 years old or more - Tyrrell's own seven. It's a vinous goldmine.

"We're incredibly lucky to have it - and it was luck because they couldn't be sure what sort of fruit it would produce back then," Chris says, referring to the fact that Tyrrell's purchased the property in 1858.

But it's not just that they're old - many vineyards have old vines - it's that they're outstanding and old. The Holy Grail.

"Having said that, I don't think we have always made reds as good as we could have," Chris continues.

I sneak a look at Dad to see how he reacts to this, and he's gently nodding. Clearly the Tyrrells call it how it is.

"That leathery flavour that Hunter reds used to carry ... I think we all look back on that these days and see it as a fault, rather than a distinguishing feature," Bruce adds.

There's another factor at play here too - not exactly "magic", but invaluable nonetheless - and that is the people. Spinaze, who has produced some outstanding semillon and chardonnay over many years, will have been with the family 40 years next year. He works closely with Bruce, who has a better palate for white wine than red, by his own admission.

On the red side of the equation, Mark Richardson joined in 1994 after working in the cellar door at Allandale. He looks after the red wines and works more closely with Chris.

"A couple of our cellar hands, Darren and Dave, have been here 30 years too," says Chris.

So what's the secret to this longevity?

"They know our winemaking philosophy and agree with it," Bruce says. "But we give them room to express themselves. I wouldn't think there would be too many times over the years when they've come to us with an idea and we've said 'no'."

Part of that philosophy was to stick to their guns when the world was crying out for big, blockbuster reds. It's not what the Hunter does, so they held their ground - and fortunately the pendulum has swung back to more medium bodied reds. That's not to say Tyrrell's haven't made numerous small changes ... but they've sure added up to a lot.

In the vineyards they're cropping less to ensure more intense flavour; the international search for just the right barrels ("I think we're just about there," Chris says); an expanded fermentation area in the winery "which means we don't have to rush things and can be more gentle with the fruit"; winemaking tweaks - have all played a role in increased quality.

The most readily identifiable change of all though, was the decision to let each of their prized sites stand alone as individual, small production wines.

So the days of Vat 9 as the flagship, and then a significant drop to their other reds in price and quality, is a thing of the past.

These days Vat 9 is still the flagship, forming part of their Winemakers Reserve series - which includes Vat 6 pinot and Vat 8 shiraz cabernet.

But the new - well, old really - stars are their Sacred Sites shiraz wines from vines over 100 years old. These include Old Patch (planted 1867), Johnno's (1908), Eight Acres (1892) and Four Acres (1879), which are all highly desired, and being limited release are invariably snapped up by their mailing list customers.

These are some of the other wines Suckling admired so much.

And by today's standard, with a top price of $100, they're incredibly affordable.

Forget top end Bordeaux or Burgundy, where prices regularly race into four figures, because around Australia there are dozens of wines that cost hundreds - yes, with an 's' - a bottle. Even in the Hunter there are a handful of wines well over $200. It makes Tyrrell's pricing downright modest.

Throw in their impressive mid-range shiraz which comes next in their pecking order - Old Hillside, Mother's, NVC and Old Hut - and Tyrrell's reds offer a positively mouth-watering choice.

All the while their semillons have remained impeccable and their Vat 47 chardonnay one of the state's finest. Spinaze doing what he does best.

So, where does Chris see the place in 15 years?

"I think we're on the right path ... we all feel we're heading in the right direction," he says. "We might look to try one or two Mediterranean varieties like Touriga Nationale and maybe fiano. We could play around with those.

"And we'll keep striving to improve. There's never a vintage where we don't look back and think we should have done something differently, that maybe we didn't get this right. And that's a good thing."