February seems both long ago, yet only recent, with both the rhythm of seasons and life partly frozen and confused by lockdowns. This tasting took place in Napa in February 2020. Writing in September 2020, in Melbourne, we remain in lockdown. In our city, this means being permitted only to travel up to 5 kilometres…Continue readingBordeaux 2015 in bottle tasting in Napa
Tag: Semillon
This proved to be quite a developing expression of Hunter semillon from benchmark producer Tyrells. The wine has evident tertiary butter and lactic aromas, with notes of mild struck match. As ever with more developed semillon, it is almost surprising there is no oak. The palate has particularly enamel searing, very high acidity and a…Continue readingTyrell’s HVD Vineyard Hunter Valley Semillon 2014
Wills Domain Mystic Spring Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2019 Wine ReviewContinue readingWills Domain Mystic Spring Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2019
Tyrells are a benchmark producer of Hunter Valley semillon, and this wine is the “baby brother” of Tyrell’s more famous Vat 1 Hunter semillon. In the glass, it has aromatics of lemon and bees wax. The palate has a nip of acidity and good length. The alcohol is only 11%. A good release that can…Continue readingTyrell’s Wines Hunter Valley Semillon 2016
This is a somewhat unusual white blend that finds semillon, riesling and gewürtztraminer together. In the glass, it’s a pale yellow in colour, and has aromas that remind of grass and apple skins, perhaps explicable by the 7 day ferment on skins. The palate is fresh and the acidity apple like. Some CO2 and a…Continue readingRobert Stein Semillon Riesling Gewürtztraminer Mudgee 2017
Huntington Estate’s 2016 semillon is from 50 year old vines in Mudgee, and opens to fresh cut grass and waxy apple skin aromas. The palate is light to medium bodied, the acidity fresh and the length very good. In all, this is very good semillon release that can be approached now or cellared for improvement…Continue readingHuntington Estate Special Reserve Semillon 2016
Take 2; in my haste to correct a typo, I managed to delete the entire post. Easily done it would seem and the recovery methods offered by blogs various unusually arcane. If you managed to read the first post, hopefully my replacement here bears some resemblance. There is a sniff that Bordeaux Blanc may be…Continue readingA couple of Bordeaux blancs; Sirius Bordeaux Blanc Sauvignon Blanc Sémillon 2014 and Château Crabitey Graves Blanc 2015
I don’t drink or cellar nearly enough Hunter Valley semillon. This release from the 2016 vintage from Gartelmann is quite attractive. Its nose is bright with lemon, minerals and a lemon rind character. The palate is light to medium bodied, with good length and balance framed with high acidity. I enjoyed this. Rating: Good to…Continue readingGartelmann Benjamin Hunter Valley Semillon 2016
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A vinous round up
Here is a vinous round up of wine notes that I, for one reason or another, have not been quick enough to type out individual posts on, but nonetheless ought to be commented upon. There are some very good wines among these. In re-reading them, it is a bit of vinous Noah’s Ark which, more…Continue readingA vinous round up
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d’Arenberg dessert wine 4 ways
d’Arenberg produce four different dessert wines and it was very interesting to taste them together. Well, not literally together of course, but sequentially. They are each $20 and from the 2015 vintage, and made respectively from riesling, chardonnay/semillon/viognier, semillon/sauvignon blanc and viognier/arneis. As appears customary for d’Arenberg, the naming pushes boundaries and here I will…Continue readingd’Arenberg dessert wine 4 ways
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Robert Stein Mudgee Semillon 2015
This wine had me thinking that I don’t drink or cellar enough semillon. The idea of looking in on decade old semillon is a highly attractive one; I guess you can’t buy everything. Suffice to say that the semillon in question – Robert Stein’s from the 2015 vintage in Mudgee – is a very good…Continue readingRobert Stein Mudgee Semillon 2015
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Chateau de Suberne Loupiac 2006
Loupiac is one of the “acks” that surround Sauternes where much very good dessert wine can be had at remarkably fair prices considering the cost and effort it takes to produce high quality wines in this region. The 2006 Chateau de Suberne can be picked up for a song at under $40 for a 750ml…Continue readingChateau de Suberne Loupiac 2006