Semillon with Style

Something very different happens to semillon in the south-west corner of Western Australia. Something so different that it creates a wine that stands alone, destined to be known alongside Coonawarra cabernet sauvignon, Clare riesling and north-east Victorian muscat as a rare, freakish combination of variety and region. And although I’m principally talking about Margaret River semillon, for convenience’s sake I will also lump those of the South-West Coastal Plain into the argument.

Hunter Valley semillon will never be challenged for the honeyed, chalky, toasty complexity it curiously develops with time in the bottle, into an definitively idiosyncratic Australian wine. Barossa Valley semillon, while perhaps lacking in finesse, also abounds with richness and character once time has been allowed to play its trick. But what the Margaret River’s soil, aspect and climate does to semillon is quite unlike that of these two regions, those most commonly associated with the variety.

Most Australian semillon requires either time in oak, bottle or both to develop real punch and intensity of flavour, but this breed breaks the mould. For a start, it generates mouthfilling melon/honey-like fruit intensity while very young, with a characteristically greenish and herbaceous lift. Sometimes it can even border on the vegetative pungency of New Zealand sauvignon blanc.

As it does in Bordeaux, the marriage of semillon and sauvignon blanc also creates a pleasing synergy at Margaret River, where on occasions a shot of chenin blanc may also be thrown in. But there are two distinct extremes of south-western WA semillons. Some wineries direct their energies towards the nurturing of white burgundian-like wood-matured styles, others towards fresher, earlier-drinking dry wines made without oak influence either as straight varietal semillon or in a semillon-dominated blend with sauvignon blanc.

A recent tasting confirmed my suspicions, which to be perfectly frank are hardly original, that the role models for each of the two extremes are made by Moss Wood and Cape Mentelle respectively. Let’s begin by concentrating on the lighter wines.

The Cape Mentelle Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 1991 is a superlative wine which retails around $15. It contains around equal parts of the two varieties, although careful vineyard management limits their greenness to a pleasing background effect. Both varieties contribute to the wines’ complex tropical fruit perfume laced with hints of lichees and a modicum of green grass. Intense gooseberry and passionfruit flavours dominate the mouthfilling palate, which is punctuated with the freshness of clean acidity. It’s an uncomplicated, pleasurable wine, a near-perfect example of the unwooded fresh semillon-based style.

Many of the wines balance a light treatment of oak with intense up-front fruit. Houghtons are beginning to evolve their own semillon style, although their 1991 release is a marked departure from the very pungent, almost cabbagey 1990 vintage. If you can see past its herbaceous semillon there’s plenty of generous fruit underneath, but I think the 1991 is a better-balanced wine. Given a generous complement of tight-knit oak, it’s less vegetative and a more structured wine tending more to a white burgundian style.

Although semillon is joined in this blend by chenin blanc as well as sauvignon blanc, the Evans and Tate Margaret River Classic 1991 is another up-front wine featuring a predominance of grassy, tropical and passionfruit flavours with an underlying influence of oak. I expect the chenin is responsible for the palate’s less-desirable confection-like character and although it’s a little sweet and simple, the wine finishes long with soft acids. At around $14 its price is perhaps $2 too high and a shade too close to some really serious wines, one of which is the Pierro Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 1991.

This rather complex wine draws a neat line between the two ends of the Margaret River semillon spectrum. Its sauvignon blanc component adds to the tropical qualities of the nose and to the palate’s sheer intensity of fruit. Nutty, vanillin oak lends chewy texture and depth and a smoky, charry flavour. The wine is definitely too immature to drink now. Its almost cabbagey odour dissipates with aeration, while the banana/pineapple flavours, broadness and structure on the palate also suggest great promise with time in the bottle. Good buying at $16.50.

Evans and Tate made a fine Margaret River Semillon in 1991, although like the Margaret River Classic mentioned above, it is a style that finishes slightly sweet. Typical greenish semillon fruit is matched with nutty, slightly charry, fine-grained oak. The palate is full and rich, the oak viscous and chewy. There’s plenty of attractive fruit and despite the sweetness the wine finishes clean with soft acids. At $17 a bottle I’d take it above the Margaret River Classic any day and kiss my $3 change good-bye.

As I have suggested, the Moss Wood Wood-Matured Semillon 1991 is clearly the epitome of the wood-aged Margaret River semillon. It has a complex and toasty, honeyed and nutty nose with a great lift of classic semillon melon-like fruit. The oak is dusty and vanillin. Meanwhile the sheer intensity of semillon fruit is a lesson to anyone who doubts that young semillon has a palate. Again greenish, with hints of melon, it’s a big, chewy, smoky wine with big oak but high-wire balance, a class act. It’s $20 and drinking like a charm right now, but with easily handle 8-10 years after which time anyone still with some will possess a treasure.

The Sandstone Semillon 1991 was made by winemaking consultants and bottlers, Mike and Jan Davies, from parcels of fruit selected in the Margaret River. Again made in the white burgundian style, with a generous complement of powerful, richly textured oak, it is a statuesque interpretation of Margaret River semillon. Slightly greenish fruit still shines through, and although there is some extractive hardness about the finish, it should cellar long and gracefully. The wine retails around $15.

Although it’s just south of Bunbury, and part of an expansive wine region known as the South-West Coastal Plain, I’m happy to include the Killerby winery formerly known as Leschenault, which has also released a marvellous Semillon from the 1991 vintage.

Like the sandstone, it’s made in the firmer oak-matured style, with a dusty, greenish and flinty nose revealing suggestions of honey and spice. The oak is particularly aromatic, even bordering on pungent. Generous and full bodied, rich and viscous, the wine has a full complement of tannins, clean acids and freshness. Not quite as classy and fine as the Moss Wood, it is nevertheless a lovely wine at $14 that just needs time.

I expect south-western WA semillons will continue to evolve into their two directions. The more pungent, un-wooded wines will continue to attract custom for much the same reasons as the better New Zealand sauvignon blancs, while the more complex white burgundian styles marry the Margaret River’s unique fruit qualities with oak and bottle-age with telling effect. Take it either way, but Australia definitely has a new wine to jump about for. Please login to post comment