Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This benchmark producer holds its top Semillons back for five years prior to release, which gives consumers a terrific opportunity to try properly cellared Semillon. The 2009 Oakey Creek is surprisingly rich for a wine having only 11% abv, with a slightly creamy texture and a plump mouthfeel. White pepper, yellow plum and green apple notes finish long and crisp. Drink now–2030, but cellar through at least 2020 to develop marmalade and toast characters.
Cellar Selection
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Wine & Spirits
This transforms over the course of a day from broad, leesy scents of wheat and almond blossom into a racy white with succulent citrus fruit and fresh green apple acidity. It’s smooth, creamy-rich and harmonious. Decant it for crab season, or cellar it to let the complexity develop.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2009 Oakey Creek Vineyard Semillon seems to be evolving faster than the 2009 ILR Reserve. It shows touches of nut skin and citrus marmalade notes that presage full maturity. It's got vibrant acids to go along with its medium body and a long, tart, mouthwatering finish.
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Wine Spectator
Light and polished, with delicate lime notes at the core. Layers of lanolin and wax mix with hay accents as the hazelnut-infused finish lingers. Drink now through 2025.
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.