Semillon and Blends

Semillon is one of the very best grapes for demonstrating the different characters emerging from Australia’s varied wine regions. 

Start with Semillon from the Barossa Valley to get a glimpse of this grape at its most luscious.  Deep yellow in the glass, aromas of peaches and mangoes fill the nose and in the glass the flavours will continue the theme – with added vanilla (Barossa Semillon is often wood-aged like Chardonnay). 

Semillon from the Hunter Valley is another matter altogether.  It’s a lean, rather pale-looking wine that seems to have little more than flintiness in its favour.  Give it a few years in bottle, however, and as if from nowhere it turns into a honeyed, nutty, complex classic.  Go west and Margaret River’s versions are a fine balance between these two styles, and they age well too.  Find a Semillon from anywhere in Australian and you’ll almost certainly be able to distinguish it by its warm, peachy character, whether it be a simple regional blend, a sweet botrytised wine from the Riverina of New South Wales.