Viticultural advances are finally achieving ripe-tasting sémillon wines with cellaring potential. Photo / Getty Images
Viticultural advances are finally achieving ripe-tasting sémillon wines with cellaring potential. Photo / Getty Images
It was once planted widely around the world, popular for its ability to produce big crops and a range of wine styles. But sémillon typically yielded bland, citrusy wines, and was gradually replaced by other varieties, particularly chardonnay.
Here, sémillon was generally overcropped, and its underripe grapes gave unattractive, grassy,green-edged wines. Plantings plummeted from 253ha in 2004 to 28ha in 2023.
Yet in the Hunter Valley, north of Sydney, sémillon yields fresh, high-acid wines, austere and unexciting in their youth, that blossom into rich, honeyed, toasty beauties. In a recent tasting of 12 sémillons, from here and abroad, Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Hunter Sémillon 2014 (★★★★½, $136) was complex and full of youthful vigour.
In France, where sémillon is the foundation of sweet Sauternes, wines such as Clos des Lunes Lune d’Or 2020 (★★★★★, $130) underline sémillon’s ability to produce great dry white wine. Grown in the Graves subregion of Bordeaux, this barrel-aged blend of sémillon (70%) and sauvignon blanc (30%) is refined and weighty, with superb richness, complexity and fragrance.
In New Zealand, viticultural advances are finally achieving ripe-tasting wines with obvious cellaring potential.
Alpha Domus The Aviatrix Bridge Pā Triangle Hawke’s Bay Sémillon 2020
★★★★½
Barrel-aged, this aromatic wine has strong, citrusy, slightly peachy flavours, showing good vigour and complexity. Dry, with fresh acidity, it’s a stylish, still youthful wine. (13% alc/vol) $29
Still unfolding, this Te Awanga wine is strongly varietal, with vibrant, citrusy, limey flavours, crisp, dry and lingering. Well worth cellaring. (12.5% alc/vol) $27
Kelly Washington Southern Valleys Marlborough Sémillon/Sauvignon Blanc 2018
★★★★½
This characterful 2:1 blend of sémillon and sauvignon blanc is medium to full-bodied, with fresh, strong, ripely herbal flavours, showing very good complexity, and a dry, lingering finish. Certified organic. (12.5% alc/vol) $38
Mission Reserve Old Vine Hawke’s Bay Sémillon 2018
★★★★★
From vines planted at Taradale in 1979, this is a powerful wine. Weighty and complex, with highly concentrated, ripe stone-fruit and lime flavours, slightly honeyed notes, and a dry, richly sustained finish, it’s probably at its peak. (14.5% alc/vol) $29
Sileni Circle Grand Reserve Hawke’s Bay Sémillon 2019
★★★★½
Still youthful, this refined, aromatic wine has ripe peach/lime flavours, with a distinct touch of complexity. It has excellent delicacy and vigour, appetising acidity, and a tightly structured, dry, lingering finish. (13% alc/vol) $24
Wine of the week
Forrest Marlborough Sémillon 2021
★★★★★
Barrel-fermented, this weighty, subtle wine is concentrated, with well-ripened, tropical-fruit flavours, fresh acidity and a long, dry finish. Showing excellent vigour and complexity, it’s classy and youthful. (13.5% alc/vol) $28
