The Story of Semillon
By Dominic Donaldson
The Semillon grape is a reliable one, yet one that never seems to bask in the limelight as much as other, better-known white varieties such as Chardonnay or Sauvignon blanc do.
This is probably due in part to the tendency of winemakers to blend the grape with others, rather than to market it as a varietal.
The Semillon grape is reasonably easy to cultivate, and is the dominant white grape in France’’s Bordeaux regions, where it is one of just three approved white wine varieties. It’’s generally resistant to diseases except for rot, and it is an early ripener. Its thin skin means it can suffer burn from the sun in hot climates, and so it’’s best suited to regions that enjoy sunny days and cool night times.
Outside of Bordeaux, Semillon performs very well in Australia where it is widely used to make dry table wines, especially in the Hunter Valley region where the grapes are picked young. The young wines here are quite neutral and acidic, yet after aging in the bottle the wines transform, gaining weight and developing a honeyed, toasty colour that is reminiscent of barrel fermentation. This wine at its best can be left in the bottle for decades to improve, which is rather special.
In other areas of Australia, the grape is generally quite undervalued and this means it’’s generally blended with other grapes to form good wines. Chardonnay is the most popular blending partner, and Semillon gives the resulting wine from this combination a citrusy, crisp edge to what may have been a flabby wine alone.
In Western Australia, the grape is often blended with Sauvignon blanc, which is an excellent synergy.
In other parts of the world, the wine is sometimes perceived as lacking in complexity and intensity, meaning that the amount of plantings of the grape has been reduced during the last century.
The grape is relatively well-planted still in Chile, but the amount of acres that are planted with the grape tends to fluctuate regularly, and in California its predominantly grown to blend with Sauvignon blanc, and Argentina and New Zealand also have plantings.
Only time will tell whether Semillon will enjoy fame as a wine in its own right to the extent of the other big white grapes, or whether it will evolve to be completely exist as a blending partner. Don”t write it off before you”ve tried it however, as you may just find that it suits your tastes entirely.
About The Author
Dominic Donaldson is a wine expert. Find out more about semillon and the bottles waiting to be tried!
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