Against all the odds, it’s still our greatest wine secret. It might baffle Europeans and leave Americans incredulous, but Hunter Valley semillon is Australia’s most distinctive and unique wine, utterly without peer or comparison in the rest of the wine world. Very few wine-producing countries take semillon seriously. Outside France, its home, it’s tinkered with in South Africa and New Zealand, used as a workhorse in Chile and is planted occasionally in the US to add length and lustre to sauvignon blanc. But while it can perform some fine and interesting tricks from one side of this country to another, its greatest wine is unquestionably made in the Lower Hunter Valley. Don’t believe me? Open, then, a Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon from 1997, a currently available wine made by the current Qantas Wine Magazine Winemaker of the Year, Andrew Spinnaze. In direct contradiction to its meagre alcoholic strength of 10.4%, this wonderfully youthful and textured wine reveals an astonishing depth of flavour, more reminiscent of a mature chardonnay of significantly greater ripeness and strength. This is part of the magic of Hunter semillon and much of the key to their unique longevity. The classic Hunter semillon begins its life rather lean and taut, even mean and slightly hollow. It will only reveal the lightest of grassy/tobacco notes, with a focus towards delicate suggestions of lemon rind and green melon. At around three years of age the wines begin to acquire texture and flesh; their bouquet starts to reveal honey, toast, butter and occasionally spicy complexity, while they retain their vitally fresh chalky, lemony acids. From five to eight years onwards they can become richer, rounder and surprisingly powerful, more complex, nutty and savoury. The best will then live and develop for considerably longer still. 1986, for instance, was a classic Hunter semillon vintage and while the wines from Rothbury Estate and Brokenwood might just be entering their twighlight years, the Elizabeth and Lovedale Semillons from Mount Pleasant and the durable Tyrrell’s Vat 1 are still at the very height of their form. Only Dr Who would contemplate ageing an Australian chardonnay for that long! Recognising that some of us are perhaps more interested in satisfaction of the immediate kind, the Hunter’s semillon makers are also creating a different expression of the grape clearly and specifically intended for early drinking. One of the most popular examples of this is Brokenwood’s Semillon. Typically made in a slightly riper style that captures some of the racy, refreshing and lightly herbaceous qualities sought after in popular wines like Western Australian semillon-sauvignon blanc blends and straight varietal sauvignon blancs, it’s a modern spin on a classic theme. Eight Hunter Semillons for Drinking Young: Allandale Briar Ridge Early Harvest Broke Estate Brokenwood Semillon Cockfighter’s Ghost Margan Rothbury Estate Neil McGuigan Selection Tyrrell’s Lost Block Eight Classic Hunter Semillons for Cellaring: Brokenwood ILR Reserve Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Mount Pleasant Lovedale Rothbury Estate Brokenback Selection Tower Estate Hunter Valley Tyrrell’s Reserve Stevens Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Wyndham Estate Show Reserve
