Tonight I opened a 2018 Wildeberg White, a 100% old-vine Sémillon from Franschhoek that is apparently the first vintage from this producer. Aged in a mix of old and new oak, the nose is awash in citrus, a bit of salinity, that lovely nutty Sémillon character and a dash of buttery richness; the wood adds a nice creamy foundation but the low ABV (13%) and racy acidity keeps the palate fresh, focused, and bright. A touch of the tropical on the finish.
Between the classic Hunter Valley bottlings and a few fantastic examples I’ve had of the grape from South Africa, it seems that Sémillon is the perfect grape to grow in the hotter dry climes of South Africa/Australia/elsewhere. It seems to check all the boxes of a “noble” grape; it maintains high acidity, is definitively age-worthy with a clear path of development, and can handle oak treatment - or not - as per the winemaker’s desired expression. There is often a “crystalline” quality to Sémillon that I find distinctive and attractive as well as a waxy, Chenin-lite character.
What say you, WB? Is it time to give this cépage the respect it deserves?
I just had my first Brokenwood Semillon after reading about on other forums for the last few years. I have to say it was fantastic and will be seeking out more as long as the price is right.
Your note piqued my curiosity and I went to CT since I can’t remember the last time I had a 100% Semillon from South Africa. I’ve had… zero. So I started looking into blends from SA with Semillon and I’ve only had two: Alheit Vineyards Cartology (10 to 15% Semillon) and Adi Badenhorst Family White Blend (about 5% Semillon). It seems that almost every white I drink out of SA is Chenin Blanc. So I will start looking for mono-cépage Sémillon wines or blends with a heavy proportion of that grape. You have indeed piqued my interest and any recommendation I should be on the lookout for will be welcome!
As Chris Alheit pointed out in an online article: “There is evidence that Chenin and Semillon have been here since 1656, so they have been here for about 80 years longer than there is any evidence for Cabernet being planted in the Medoc”.
As for Sémillon being the perfect grape for that region… I obviously can’t say at this point but it will have a hard fight against Chenin Blanc!
I had my first one yesterday, and I’d have to agree!
It was a 2005 Grosset Semillon Sauvignon Blanc…50% Clare Valley semillon and 50% Adelaide Hills sauvignon blanc. Ok, not 100% semillon, but it was in charge of this blend imo.
A brilliant yellow green color, and amazingly well preserved cool fruit character, esp for a 15 year old white wine. Deep, complex, excellent concentration. Crystalline is a good descriptor. Had a similar style and structure as a Chablis (as I mentioned, the character came almost entirely from the Semillon imo, which can be similar/mistaken for a structured chardonnay). It did have a reductive nose, which isn’t always my favorite (depending on the type of reduction). Anyways, interesting wine. Btw, Courtier Wines (based in Oakland) is getting a few bottles…if you’re interested, email them at courtier@courtierwines.com (I have no connection to Courtier, other than being friends, purchasing from them, and they sell a couple of my wines). Not sure of the pricing, but didn’t seem like it was going to be expensive.
Maybe too obscure, but someone poured me a torrontes/torrontez white wine from Argentina that ‘prefumed’ my mind!
It was like a Didier Dagueneau on the nose. Not a full fledged everything like Didier Dagueneau is, but worthy of using the two in the same sentence. Maybe a cross between those wines and a good viognier?
I’ve had both their straight entry-level 2019 Sémillon and the 2013 ILR cuvée within the past couple of months and they were great - the former for an elevated, refreshing summer sipper type, and the latter for a bit of that honeyed/nutty layering. Really enjoyed both in their own way.
I’ve only had a handful, mostly from Franschhoek, but it seems that a lot of the Sémillon vines in SA are 30, 40, 50 years plus - any plantings that still exist after the Chardonnay/international variety spree that led to a decline in Sém acreage are generally older and established. The grape seems to be the closest thing to a heritage white grape that SA has. That said, had quite a few lovely Chenins as well - I love 'em both.
Not even close. I can’t really speak for South African Semillon (since my sample size is 1 bottle) and I’ve never seen one from NZ or South America.
But Hunter Semillon is absolutely horrid, I’m sorry.
When young, it’s total battery acid; brutally dry, so hard and green, offering very little to say about it’s vintage or site. When old, yes, it can take on more toasty / nutty notes, but I find this hugely variable*. Even so, the structure of good Hunter Sem is defined by acidity and nothing much else. I don’t find it especially food friendly and I don’t think even the best examples have anything interesting to say about where it’s grown. (How can it when it’s harvested so early and made in such a sterile way?)
The aromas can be interesting, but more often than not I encounter Semillon that veers into this blue cheese / parmesan cheese / vomit spectrum (isovaleric acid) which I’m quite sensitive to… it makes me nauseous.
I feel like they pick it so early because the monsoonal rains the Hunter is prone to (it is a subtropical climate) ruin the red harvest about one in every four/five vintages, so it guarantees some level of cash flow.
Obviously the Hunter has a rich vinous history, but I feel that the region is lacking in diversity and any real authentic identity beyond the stale old rich boys club it has always been. Some more experimental stuff coming out in recent years but nothing that excites me. Sorry for the rant… back to the question.
Across South Africa, South America, Australia and NZ, the obvious answer is that the sheer diversity of styles in Chardonnay are vastly better. I’d put a few other varieties in there before Semillon as well. If I limit the question to Australia only, my answer doesn’t change
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I’ll go a step further and say that mature Hunter Sem is functionally non-existent at this point in time. Most of the producers shifted to screwcap in 2002-2003 after a series of of quality control issues (TCA and premox)
I’ve had a fair bit of screwcapped Hunter Semillon from the mid 00’s which is still frozen in time and hasn’t picked up the secondary toasty notes yet. And cork-closed Sem from the 80’s and 90’s is highly variable and increasingly hard to find.
Def agree about Chenin Blanc, or blends. Cartology was actually my gateway drug for SA Chenin Blanc.
I think that SA and Australia show that “Southern Hemisphere” is too broad and heterogeneous a category.
I obviously completely disagree about Hunter wines; I find (decent ones, obv) to be incredibly refreshing in their youth and not at all hard. I’ve never been there so I can’t speak to the politics or culture of the region.
I think the screwcap canard is misguided and now that it has been definitively proven that wines age under cap/cap technology has improved, I think it’s even less of an issue. I’ve had a couple Séms even from the late 00s/early 10s that were already showing development with miles to go.
I disagree about the whole-hemisphere generalization, which I think is an impossible one to make about any variety or style, but I agree that Semillon is a lovely grape producing high-quality wines in both SA and Aus, and generally very well priced for the quality. I appreciate the grape in general for its ability to ripen well at low potential alcohol, producing nicely textured wines with good acid, a distinctive and appealing savory flavor profile, and, in some examples, ageability. And it makes superb botrytized sweet wines of course, both in concert with Sauvignon Blanc and alone, as De Bortoli and others have been showing - at a very appealing price point - for many years.
Brokenwood is fantastic, and one I often put in blind tastings. I do think that aged Hunter Semillon is a bit of an acquired taste, but so is all wine, really, and perhaps more people would acquire that taste if they were better able - and willing - to source the stuff. I’ve also had excellent examples of Semillon from Mount Horrocks (Clare Valley) and Boekenhoutskloof (SA). Interested to hear about other specific examples from all over if people have had good finds. Still haven’t tried Dirty & Rowdy’s but it’s on the list.
It probably takes more than a handful of good wines to be “the hemisphere’s greatest white grape,” but I would be interested to try one of these. That Wildeberg wine is not carried anywhere in the USA listed on WSPro.
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