★ SAUVIGNON BLANC AND SEMILLON
2019 Charlotte Dalton Wines Ærkeengel Semillon, Adelaide Hills
Barrel aged on full lees, this is not your usual semillon by any stretch. Barrel ageing mimics bottle ageing, to a degree. Immediately the bouquet is rich, buttery and toasty in baked quince, apple, fig and honey. Flavours expand
across the palate, honeyed and savoury, pulled tight by firm acidity. Crying out for a food accompaniment. Roast pork and apple, anyone? JP 12% alc.
RRP $42 / Drink 2025 / Charlotte Dalton Wines ★★★★★ charlottedaltonwines.com.au
2018 Domaine A Lady A Sauvignon Blanc, Tasmania
87/13% sauvignon blanc/semillon, some new oak. A Lady with a difference! A warm season with record yields did not facilitate sufficient barrels for the usual regime of full new French oak. Less residual sugar than usual was called for, too. Wonderfully opulent, succulent, alluring and uncharacteristically yet delightfully approachable in its youth, brimming with all the gooseberry pie, lantana and custard apple to be expected. Big, bold and downright gorgeous. TS 14% alc.
RRP $66 / Drink 2028 / Domaine A ★★★★☆ domaine-a.com.au
2021 Renzaglia Wines Sauvignon Blanc, Orange
Made in a fashion that is so far from the shrieking early-harvested norm, that it makes me happy. Fresh, sure, but the emphasis here is on a plump mid palate, textural interest and ripe fruit suggestive of kiwi, bath salts, hedgerow, salt bush, pickled chilli and curry leaf. Very good drinking. NG 12.3% alc.
RRP $25 / Drink 2023 / Renzaglia Wines ★★★★★ renzagliawines.com.au
2017 Tyrrell’s Wines Vat 1 Semillon, Hunter Valley
While I enjoy the open-knit approaches to crafting semillon across the region, this remains the bulletproof benchmark.
Even here, there have been endeavours toward greater accessibility, with some lees inflection. A meld of the finest dry-grown plots conferring a carapace of talc, sandy mineral and effusive acidity that is, to be frank, indomitable. Descriptives, ineffable. The length, justifiable. Bury this. NG 11.5% alc.
RRP $105 / Drink 2035 / Tyrrell’s Wines ★★★★★ tyrrells.com.au