The Semillon grape seldom gets to play the leading role in wine. Fortunately, vintners in the Hunter Valley of Australia have created a star in this single variety, unoaked wine with flavors of lemon, white grapefruit, Meyer lemon zest, and white peach with a touch of beeswax. With its cheerful freshness and liveliness, it belies its seven years of age and promises years of positive development to come. Australia’s Hunter Valley is the birthplace of the country’s wine industry in the early 1820’s. In 1823, the Busby family moved from Scotland to Australia where, because they were considered free settlers, they were allotted a plot of land in the Hunter Valley. In 1831 James Busby, considered the “Father of Australian Wine,” collected grape cuttings in Europe and South Africa to plant vineyards.
Tyrrell’s, Hunter Valley (Australia) Semillon 2017
By Rebecca Murphy