cellar or drink 1998 brokenwood semillon magnum ?

thelongroad · Post by **thelongroad** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 4:11 pm

hi all

have a magnum of the 98 brokenwood semillon lurking in a dark spot - any thoughts on cellaring potential - or drink up now ? the bottle has waxed capsule and appears to be in really good condition.

cheers

John

Crow · Post by **Crow** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 5:22 pm

Hunter's Semillion take a long time ie.10years+ to blossom in order to develope those musky, bee-wax and oily characteristics.
Barossa's Semillions have all the above qualities and more precoucious which can be drunk upon released.

Adair · Post by **Adair** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 5:38 pm

Brokenwood Semillon tends to be more ripe than say the Elizabeth but I too agree that a few more years would be of benefit. This wine would have some of those lovely aged characters noticeably building but I believe another 2-5 years would be of significant benefit.

Kind regards,
Adair

Ian S · Post by **Ian S** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 6:55 am

This brings up a comment I was offerred recently - the (usually reliable) person suggested that ILR Reserve was just the ordinary Semillon held back. No special selection or treatment.

If this is true, then the advice would be "Hold", but I'm still not totally convinced.

Can anyone back this up?

ta

Ian

PaulV · Post by **PaulV** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 9:04 am

Just a couple of points.

Had the normal 1996 Brokenwood semillon last night as it happens and it is only now picking up those nutty straw characters and still has excellent acid and length. While brokenwood's semillon aren't structured to last as long as Tyrrell's Vat 1 and McWilliams Lovedale semillon I have found that in a good year Brokenwood semillons reach their peak around their 7 th year and hold it for another 3 years - after that I found there is no appreciable change in complexity - frankly the opposite.

Regarding the "Reserve" Brokenwood I have heard that it it is the same fruit as the normal Brokenwood but bottled under higher Co2 and sulphur levels to guarantee ageing.

Cheers

Paul