"Semi-long"
Posted: Fri May 05, 2017 5:08 pm
I just came across this article in the UK press and thought it may amuse people...
Wine: is the Hunter Valley finally coming out of the doldrums?
When I started writing about wine in the 1990s, the Hunter Valley was one of Australia’s most celebrated wine regions, but these days it accounts for only 2% of the country’s wine production. That helps explain why we don’t hear so much about it any more, but, given that the region produces a unique style of white wine and a highly distinctive style of red, it’s a mystery why its wines aren’t more widely acclaimed, even in its home country.
The white is Hunter Valley semillon (pronounced “semi-long” locally), a low-alcohol wine that in its youth tastes as bright, fresh and citrussy as a sauvignon, and develops a richness similar to a great white bordeaux as it ages (remarkably, without the influence of oak). On a recent trip, I tasted a sumptuous Brokenwood ILR Reserve 2009 (10.9% abv) that is wonderful now, but would drink well for another seven to eight years, provided you could keep your hands off it.
The main Hunter red is shiraz, which again is quite distinctive but very different from how it tasted 20 years ago, when the classic descriptor was “sweaty saddle”. Nowadays, expect a savoury, medium-bodied red, less ripe and sweet than Barossa shiraz and less peppery than the northern Rhône’s.
The Hunter has great chardonnay, too: Audrey Wilkinson Chardonnay 2014 (£14.99 Waitrose; 13.2% abv) nicely balances the region’s trademark acidity with subtly creamy oak (it’s named after a bloke, not a female winemaker, incidentally).
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... na-beckett
Wine: is the Hunter Valley finally coming out of the doldrums?
When I started writing about wine in the 1990s, the Hunter Valley was one of Australia’s most celebrated wine regions, but these days it accounts for only 2% of the country’s wine production. That helps explain why we don’t hear so much about it any more, but, given that the region produces a unique style of white wine and a highly distinctive style of red, it’s a mystery why its wines aren’t more widely acclaimed, even in its home country.
The white is Hunter Valley semillon (pronounced “semi-long” locally), a low-alcohol wine that in its youth tastes as bright, fresh and citrussy as a sauvignon, and develops a richness similar to a great white bordeaux as it ages (remarkably, without the influence of oak). On a recent trip, I tasted a sumptuous Brokenwood ILR Reserve 2009 (10.9% abv) that is wonderful now, but would drink well for another seven to eight years, provided you could keep your hands off it.
The main Hunter red is shiraz, which again is quite distinctive but very different from how it tasted 20 years ago, when the classic descriptor was “sweaty saddle”. Nowadays, expect a savoury, medium-bodied red, less ripe and sweet than Barossa shiraz and less peppery than the northern Rhône’s.
The Hunter has great chardonnay, too: Audrey Wilkinson Chardonnay 2014 (£14.99 Waitrose; 13.2% abv) nicely balances the region’s trademark acidity with subtly creamy oak (it’s named after a bloke, not a female winemaker, incidentally).
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... na-beckett
