Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with Asian food, any seafood especially freshly shucked oysters.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A fresh and vivid white with lemon-rind and green-apple aromas and flavors. Lots of lime and stone, too. Medium body. Bright and crisp finish. Drink now or hold. Screw cap.
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Wine Enthusiast
A classic Hunter Semillon from a classic producer, this youthful, laser-focused wine wraps citrus peel, lemon-lime, beeswax and honeysuckle in a chalky-textured cloak lifted by bright acidity. Crisp, fruity and textural, the finish is long and mouthwatering. Let the acidity burrow its way further into the wine, and drink 2021–2030. Editors’ Choice
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Wine & Spirits
Think lemongrass cream puff, then take away the richness, and you might have something like this rainwater-fresh, vibrant white. Its floral notes of white tea hint at the wine’s leesy tannins, suggesting the complexity to come after a few years of bottle age. §
Sémillon has the power to create wines with considerable structure, depth and length that will improve for several decades. It is the perfect partner to the vivdly aromatic Sauvignon Blanc. Sémillon especially shines in the Bordeaux region of Sauternes, which produces some of the world’s greatest sweet wines. Somm Secret—Sémillon was so common in South Africa in the 1820s, covering 93% of the country’s vineyard area, it was simply referred to as Wyndruif, or “wine grape.”
Most admired for citrus-driven, mineral-rich and often age-worthy Semillon wines, Hunter Valley is one of Australia’s oldest wine regions and was home to its very first commercial vineyards. The region’s warm summer nights coupled with autumn cloud cover and cool sea breezes allow full ripening and healthy acidity levels for Semillon; its diverse soils of volcanic basalt and white alluvial sands promote the development of Semillon’s delicate aromas. Hunter Valley Semillons can certainly be enjoyed in their youth but with 10 to 20 years in the cellar, the best examples develop intriguing notes of honey, browned butter and roasted nuts.
Chardonnay and Shiraz also do well in Hunter Valley.