Not much experience with purchasing this varietal, have only experience via wine dinners, so I have newbie questions..
what characteristics should you be looking for in this varietal?
I've always had it aged - is it recommended when young? How do the desirable characteristics change depending on whether you are cellaring or drinking now?
Does it suffer from the 'hole' period such as other ageing wines do? How long does it generally take to start to hit the aged profile proper?
Any suggestions for starter purchases to try? (perhaps a couple of price points may be nice as my budget is restricted a bit at the moment!)
how long should I look to keep them for? Is the auction market good value for older examples?
What about O/S vs oz?
Sorry that reads like an awfully long list of questions, but i couldn't see a dedicated thread on this in my search
A few thoughts, based almost exclusively on Hunter semillons:
what characteristics should you be looking for in this varietal? When young: pale in colour, low alcohol (10% or so, maybe even less), acidic, lots of citrus flavours.
I've always had it aged - is it recommended when young? How do the desirable characterstics change depending on whether you are cellaring or drinking now? They're almost different wines - colour changes from almost clear to deep yellow, the citrus flavours soften enormously and the whole package moves from super crisp to buttery and mellow. My general impression is that a good young semillon is more likely to become a good old one even though they may well taste completely different.
Does it suffer from the 'hole' period such as other ageing wines do? How long does it generally take to start to hit the aged profile proper? A really, really good Hunter semillon should go for 20 years. My favourite semillons to date have been either less than two years old or 10+.
Any suggestions for starter purchases to try? (perhaps a couple of rpicepoints may be nice as my budget is restricted a bit at the moment!) Tyrrell's Vat 1 of course. $40-50 but the current release (2002) looks set to be a belter. At a lower price point, Tyrrell's Stevens Vineyard (about $25). If you can get to the Hunter itself, Chateau Francois will do you a case of 2001s for about $120 which is astonishing value. Meerea Park is worth a look.
how long should I look to keep them for? Is the auction market good value for older examples? If they're good, I think 10-12 years is the sweet spot but it really varies. It's still not a fashionable varietal so some great bargains to be had at auction - my bargain of the year was two bottles of 1999 Tyrrell's Vat 18 Belford that I picked up for $25 each.
I'm certainly not classed as a semillon knowledgeable type, but from a little bit of recent experience anyway...
Hunter, Hunter and Hunter. Certainly dominates the rankings and critics choice, and does this is on a worldwide scale generally too.
Tyrrells Vat 1 is a great starter to see what it's all about, 2002 is the current release, but it's a little bit pricey (about $45 I think). Their Stevens 2005 is also a popular current release, and half the price. It's a lovely wine, with what I found to be quite an addictive quality.
Different wines of course will age at different rates, at a recent semillon taste off, the Vat 1 1998 looked easily as young as the 2002. So for good year, good label, could easily go 20 years before getting 'toasty' !!
Try the following great examples of Hunter Semillon:
Tyrell's - Vat 1 Steven's Vineyard
McWilliams Mount Pleasant - Elizabeth (always released as a 5 yr old wine...and again as "Museum Elizabeth" at about 8 yrs)...should be $18 or under for the current release Lovedale. Their equivalent to the VAT 1. Priced around the $60 mark. Phil Ryan Reserve Sem (especially the 07 vintage) - $25, CD only.
Brokenwood Brokenwood Semillon - Around the $15-20 mark...good introduction to sem ILR - Their reserve...priced mayeb $50ish...can't rememeber Belford/Brycefield - this is a ripper of a wine..check this out for sure...might only be able to get it from their cellar door.
Pokolbin Estate Reserve Semillon - Very well awarded and good booze
Thomas - not sure of he name of the wine bu the label is called Thomas...made my Andrew Thomas..pretty sure he makes Pokolbin Estates wines aswell but I could be wrong
Keith Tulloch Wines - Again not sure of the label.
That list should see you try pretty much the best of the sem available. Get into it...its good stuff!!!
Whoah ! chaps, and chapettes. Let's not get too stoked about Hunter Semillon. There are a number of emerging (actually some have been around for a while) producers from other parts of Australia that are cracking the whip:
. Peter Lehmann (Reserve) Margaret Semillon - 2002 onwards - looking fabbo. Really, really good drinking. Seriously good wine. These will cellar.
A number of wooded examples from WA, including but not confined to:
Xanadu, Voyager, Juniper Estate, Vasse Felix, Redgate, and Moss Wood. All good opposing styles to Hunter Valley stalwarts such as Tyrrells Vat1/Stevens/Belford, Mount Pleasant Elizabeth and Lovedale, and a large(!) number of other smaller makers.
I don't know that there is a "hole" as such in the development of Hunter semillon. In my experience it's a very gradual development from the almost tart citrussy, citrus-leafiness and/or snow-pea in the young wines to the more developed toasty, and honeyed (but still lithely palated) aged examples. I've seen recent examples of 10+ year old Hunter Sem's that looked very young, with almost no development noticeable, but you have to regard the sublime palate of these wines as world-class. We're talking of course about the top Tyrrells sem's. They are something else. From year to year other producers will come up trumps, but right now, I reckon Tyrrells could lay out 20 or more current to older vintages which would make your world move. They really are that good.
Enough about Hunter sem, OK !?
One thing I am certain of is that if you adore oysters, then a fresh young Hunter semillon will never let you down. They were made for each other.
Last edited by cuttlefish on Thu Dec 17, 2009 10:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
Any suggestions for starter purchases to try? (perhaps a couple of price points may be nice as my budget is restricted a bit at the moment!)
100% Semillon Margaret - Vasse Felix, Juniper Estate Clare - 07 Tim Adams, 08 Mount Horrocks Eden - Henschke Louis Hunter - 05 or 99 Tyrrells Vat 1, 04 Meerea Park Alex Munro or Terracotta (aged releases), 09 Thomas Braemore Barossa - 03 Peter Lehmann Margaret, Peter Lehmann (current vintage) and Bethany make a quirky and nice job of it. Quite like BV sem.
There's not too many straight Sems outside of Australia, generally.
Scanlon wrote:Wow brilliant discussions going on - thanks
i did buy a while ago a couple of 2003 and 2004 Elizabeths so perhaps it's time to open up?
Certainly try a 2003 as it is a broader early drinking wine.
As for the rest it pretty much all has been said. One more that really likes Hunter sems. The Tyrells Stevens current release is great value indeed. That versus a Peter Lehmann Margaret Semillon is a nice taste-off. Hard to go to Margaret as all current releases are young but the Cullen and Vasse Felix are very good as well.
cheers
Carl
Bartenders are supposed to have people skills. Or was it people are supposed to have bartending skills?
There's a couple of discussions going on here. I agree with the majority viewpoint that Hunter semillon is the one to go to after at least five years (which is why the current release of the Mount Pleasant Elizabeth is 2004). This is classic Hunter unwooded style, with the toasty, almost wooded characteristics they acquire with 5+ years (and I'm still sitting on my last bottle of 1986 Lovedale)
There are oaky styles as well, including Barossa (which traded heavily on oaky semillon in the 90s, but has toned back a lot or blended elsewhere) and some Margaret River wines (Vasse Felix has already been mentioned, and that's a good example at $25). They don't go the distance, however (i.e. more than 4 years).
In the middle is the Margaret River unwooded style - frequently blended with sauvignon blanc, but frequently great on its own. Ashbrook makes a fabulous earlier drinking style, and there is no shortage of alternatives.
However, if you want 5+ years on your semillon, go Hunter.
Cheers
Allan
Wine, women and song. Ideally, you can experience all three at once.
