Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
"This bottling, from artisanal producer Charlotte Hardy, is obviously related to her other Semillon, Love You Love Me, but simultaneously couldn't be more different. It's barrel aged on full lees, which, according to Hardy, get “stirred and loved for a long time.” Medium gold in color, it's rich and aromatic: toffee apples, dried pineapple, ginger and an underlying seashell-and-stone minerality carry through to the palate, which is highly textural and buoyed by a crunch of acidity. This has the ease and character of a wine that's been nurtured, rather than forced into being."
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.”
A narrow band of hills and valleys east of the city of Adelaide, the Adelaide Hills region is a diverse landscape featuring a variety of microclimates. In general it is moderate with high-altitude areas cooler and wetter compared to its warmer, lower areas.
Piccadilly Valley, the part of Adelaide Hills closest to the city, was first staked out by a grower named Brian Croser, in the 1970s for a cool spot to grow Chardonnay, then uncommon in Australia. Today a good amount of the Chardonnay goes to winemakers outside of the region.
Producers here experiment with other cool-climate loving aromatic varieties like Pinot Gris, Viognier and Riesling. Charming sparkling wine is also possible. On its north side, lower, west-facing slopes make full-bodied Shiraz.