Winemaker Notes
Textbook Hunter Valley Semillon from an outstanding vintage, the nose is vibrant with an abundance of citrus fruits and floral elements. The palate is medium bodied, yet intense, with great length and a brisk acidity.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
After just one sip, the grandeur here is apparent. While this is a youthful wine, there is incredible perfume, flavour intensity, and a super-refined finish. It is drinking, but will outrun many innocent Semillons by a mile. I was hypnotised by the sleek, super-cool lemon balm, white flower hints and minutes-long finish. It’s a stunning wine by a world-class winery.
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James Suckling
Hard to believe that a wine with so much bright crisp pear, star fruit and fresh herbs character has less than 11% alcohol. Very sleek body with quite a steely finish, but the fruit is the winner! Drink or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
In a region with as pronounced climactic variation as the Hunter Valley’s, vintage matters. 2022 saw plentiful rain and a late harvest. It’s resulted in a bright, aromatic Semillon that proves an excellent, affordable intro to this unique style. There are notes of preserved lemon, beeswax, lamp oil, white spice and dried herbs. The mouthfeel is round and textural, with zingy acidity. Floral, citrus and spice flow to the finish. This is a summer sipper to pair with seafood or crumbly cheeses.
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.