Nose
On the nose it is ethereal, with lifted perfumes of lemon sherbet, green apples, honey suckle and figs. Underneath there is just some early suggestions of the variety’s complex features like lanolin and mushroom.
Palate
We always expect our Semillon to be relatively firm as a youngster and this wine certainly has good acidity and tannin. However, the fruit flavours of limes, figs and lychees are rich, generous and mouth-filling, so the wine displays softness and drinkability only seen in the great years.
Growing Conditions
growing season, the notable feature is how mild it was. The vines set a very leisurely pace and went through flowering on 29th November, 8 days slower than average. Rain was also a regular part of our lives. At 1248mm, rainfall for 2016 was way above our 1000mm average. During the flowering period, we received 44mm and there were10 days when temp dropped below 8⁰C. Not ideal conditions and probably responsible for yield of 6.48 tonnes per hectare, 36% down. As much as we worry about rain damage, especially late in the season when the grapes have softened, in a year like 16/17, when precipitation is common, the vines become accustomed to it and there is less risk of rot. As the season progressed, we took comfort from this, especially as the showers just kept on coming. Even old hands get nervous as the picking date looms and our confidence was tested in March as 60mm fell through the first 3 weeks. The Semillon was ripe at that point, so as soon as the rain cleared, off it came on 23rd March, 114 days after flowering, 7 days longer than the mean. For those who are good at maths, you can see, therefore, the harvest date was 2 weeks later than usual. Ripeness was spot on the average of 12.5⁰ Baume.
Bottling
11/07/2017
Winemaking
The fruit was hand-picked, whole bunch pressed and the juice was settled in stainless steel for 48 hours. The clear juice was then racked to stainless steel, where it was fermented using multiple yeast strains, with the temperature controlled at 18⁰C. After fermentation the finished wine was racked off lees, fined with bentonite for protein stability, then sterile filtered and bottled on 11th July, 2017.
Aging
Cellar until at least 30 years old.
Appearance
The wine has medium straw colour, with some green tints and its condition is bright.
