Nose
Semillon has perfumed, ripe fig and quince characters, is lightly herbaceous showing more grapefruit than gooseberries and lifted citrus flavours on the mid-palate with soft, ripe tannins on the finish.
Palate
Semillon is more delicate and fragrant with grassy, citrus characters, it has medium weight, full body, good depth of flavour and lively, persistent flavours. We recommend the wine with enthusiasm.
Growing Conditions
vintage is the second consecutive year in which Moss Wood has not produced a wood matured semillon. While the reason for not making the wooded wine in 1993 was the shortage of fruit caused by November storms, we have decided to use all of the semillon this year to make an unwooded wine believing that there is currently a consumer preference for fresher, fruitier styles and increased interest in the traditional Australian unwooded semillon.
We believe that the oak influence has overridden seasonal variations in the wood matured semillon and that there is consumer interest in such vintage variation. Consequently, we have decided to concentrate on production of the unwooded semillon which we believe to be the traditional Australian style, which developed first in the Hunter Valley. If there is a massive backlash from consumers, we will be happy to re-assess the position.
Bottling
29/7/1994
Winemaking
Semillon was produced by the usual method followed at Moss Wood. The grapes were crushed, drained and pressed and all pressings were included immediately in the juice. This was chilled, settled for forty eight hours, then racked, seeded with a pure yeast culture and fermented at 18�C to dryness. At that stage, it is treated with sulphur dioxide and left on lees for two months with weekly stirring under carbon dioxide. The wine was then fined, filtered and bottled.
