Other Wine Reviews

A charmingly complex, regional and savoury semillon with a punchy, intensely ripe and slightly meaty bouquet whose aromas of honeydew melon, lemon sherbet and lime juice are backed by leesy and oak-derived nuances of smoked meats. Long and smooth, it’s vibrant and juicy with bright tropical and melon fruit under-pinned by delightfully complex secondary notes, finishing long and refreshing. Drink: 2013-2017. Score: 91 JO

Complementary recipes:

• BBQ Lobster
• Bocconcini Salad Pizza
• Bouillabaisse
• Chunky Pecan Pie Bars
• Farfalle with Butternut Squash, Shiitake Mushrooms and Leeks
• More recipes...

Serve this wine between 55-60 degrees Farenheit or 12-16 degrees Celsius. Tip: If your bottle is at room temperature, put it in ice water for about 30 minutes or in the fridge for about three hours to chill it.

• Tyrrell's Wines Lost Block Semillon 2010
• De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon 2007
• Peter Lehmann Wines Semillon 2008

Semillon

Semillon has a rich, voluptuous, waxy almost fat texture but low acidity, which is why it's often blended with zesty Sauvignon Blanc. Semillon is a vigorous vine but a thin-skinned grape so it's susceptible to sunburn and raising. It resists most diseases, except rot, both the bad kind (Gray Rot) that destroys the grapes and the good kind (Noble Rot or botrytis) that shrivels the grapes to raisins, concentrating their flavors to create some of the world's most famous and expensive dessert wines.

For Château d'Yquem, generally a blend of 80% Semillon and 20% Sauvignon Blanc, pickers pass through the vineyards ten times or more during the harvest to select only the bunches affected by botrytis. Other exquisite sweet wines in the Bordeaux regions of Sauternes and Barsac are made from this blend as are the dry styles of Graves, such as the renowned Domaine de Chevalier. Other regions notable for Semillon include Chile, where more vines are planted than anywhere else on earth, and Australia, especially in the Hunter Valley.

Signature aromas include fig, lemon, pear, lime, nectarine, saffron, bell pepper, asparagus and grass. Oak aging and malolactic fermentation add notes of lanolin, vanilla, buttered toast, cream, smoke and oak. Dessert styles also have notes of honey, apricot, lemon curd, meringue, quince, peach and pineapple.

Food matches for dry styles of Semillon include almonds, hazelnuts, scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, mussels, shrimp, oysters, coquilles St. Jacques, fish and chips, antipasti, roast chicken, turkey, pasta with cheese or cream sauce and Caesar salad. Dessert styles go well with foie gras, pears stuffed with blue cheese, goat cheese, rocquefort cheese, angel food cake, biscotti, bread & butter pudding, coffee cake, creme brulee, fruit tarts, treacle pudding and fruit cobbler.