Semillon wine: three lives for one white grape
18 bottles, from lemony Hunter Valley dry whites to old Cape vinesBuy Semillon wine from the grape's great homes: Hunter Valley classics from Tyrrell's and Mount Pleasant, old vines from South Africa and Patagonia, and sweet Semillons from Chile and Portugal.
A white that comes in at eleven degrees of alcohol in Australia and thirteen at the Cape, and that lasts thirty years in both cases: this is the most discreet grape of the Bordeaux family. Its thin skin invites noble rot, its pulp gives taut wines when the harvest comes early, rich and waxy when it waits.
Three roads lead out of it: the lemony dry wine of the Hunter Valley, the old-vine dry wine of the Cape blended with sauvignon, and the sweet wine for the end of the meal. The range follows all three, South Africa and Australia first, with Chile, Argentina and the Douro as a counterpoint.
Wildeberg - Coterie Semillon & Sauvignon 2021
A Sémillon-Sauvignon blanc marriage, round and complex
Ashbourne - Sandstone 2024
An innovative white blend that captures the most beautiful expression of the soils of the Hemel-en-Aarde valley
Fuerza Natural - Sémillon 2021
A fresh and vibrant Sémillon from southern Chile, aged in century-old amphorae
Matías Riccitelli - Old Vine From Patagonia Sémillon 2023
A great Sémillon from Patagonia!
Groot Constantia - Gouverneurs Reserve White 2024
The great white vintage from the Groot Constantia estate!
Alheit Vineyards - Cartology 2023
A high-class, elegant and distinguished white wine.
Tyrrell's - Winemakers Selection Vat 1 Semillon Landmark Release 2009
An emblematic Semillon from Hunter Valley, of great purity, combining chiseled freshness and remarkable aging potential.
Viu Manent - Noble Semillon 500ml 2020
A sweet Chilean Semillon combining aromatic richness, freshness and elegance on the palate.
David & Nadia - Aristargos 2022
A great white from the Swartland, textured and deeply saline. Rich fruit meets remarkable tension.
Damascene - Semillon 2022
A precise and saline South African Semillon, where freshness meets the depth of the coastal terroir.
Tyrrell's - Single Vineyard HVD Semillon 2017
A Semillon from Hunter Valley of great purity, taut and crystalline, made for aging.
Tyrrell's - Winemakers Selection Vat 1 Semillon 2018
An iconic Semillon from the Hunter Valley, of great purity, built for aging and aromatic complexity.
Tyrrell's - Hunter Valley Semillon 2022
A precise and crystalline Semillon from Hunter Valley, combining crisp freshness and great aging potential.
Arcana - Arcana Semillon 2021
A precise and luminous Chilean Sémillon, where freshness meets a beautiful aromatic depth.
The Sadie Family - Kokerboom 2024
Kokerboom is a living memory of South African Sémillon: a rare and vibrant wine born from the heights of the Cederberg
Aneto - Aneto S Colheita Tardia 2014
A great liqueur that combines complexity, elegance and freshness.
Alheit Vineyards - Cartology 2019
A high-class, elegant and distinguished white wine.
Mount Pleasant - Elizabeth 2016
An Australian Sémillon emblematic of its region: finesse, acidity and minerality are essential.
The great sémillon terroirs
This grape thrives in warm vineyards tempered by the ocean, and on old plots still standing since the 1930s. The picking date then does all the rest: a few days separate a wine at eleven degrees of alcohol from one at fourteen.
| Country or region | Climate and approach | The style in the glass | A wine from the range in this spirit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hunter ValleyAustralia, New South Wales | Warm and humid, very early harvest, stainless-steel tank alone | Lime, 11% alcohol, a salty, cutting finish | Tyrrell's Hunter Valley Semillon€22.10 per bottle, by the case of 6 |
| Swartland and FranschhoekSouth Africa, old bush vines | Dry and windy, native fermentation, blended with sauvignon | Pear, fennel, a round palate held by firm acidity | Wildeberg Coterie Semillon & Sauvignon€18.50 per bottle, sold individually |
| Constantia and StellenboschSouth Africa, coastal region | False Bay breezes, fermentation and ageing in oak barrels | Ripe citrus, discreet vanilla, broad and long texture | Groot Constantia Gouverneurs Reserve White€39.90 per bottle, sold individually |
| CederbergSouth Africa, mountains north of Cape Town | Altitude, poor granite, white and grey Sémillon interplanted | Tension, white spice, salty depth, long ageing potential | The Sadie Family Kokerboom€77 per bottle, sold individually |
| Itata and MauleChile, ungrafted century-old vines | Granite, early harvest, ageing in clay tinajas | White apple, clay, supple texture and clean fruit | Fuerza Natural Sémillon€21.60 per bottle, sold individually |
| Río Negro, PatagoniaArgentina, vines over fifty years old | Intense sun and cold nights, partial fermentation in barrel | Candied lemon, fresh almond, a straight, long finish | Matias Riccitelli Old Vine From Patagonia€58 per bottle, in a pack of 2 |
| Sauternes and Barsac, France | Morning mists off the Garonne, sorting of botrytised berries | Honey, candied apricot, saffron, acidity that lifts the sugar | Viu Manent Noble Semillon€15.80 per bottle, by the case of 6 |
| Douro Valley, Portugal | Schist and granite at 400 m, harvest carried out in December | Candied orange, wax, sugar carried by great freshness | Aneto S Colheita Tardia€55.80 per bottle, sold individually |
The model for the sweet style remains Sauternes, where this grape makes up most of the blend with sauvignon: the range offers its equivalent in Chile and in the Douro. On the dry side, the two pillars are South Africa and Australia.
Dry sémillon over the years
Here is this grape’s tour de force: a tank wine, aged away from air, takes on after ten years the honey, wax and toast that other whites go looking for in barrel. The table follows that evolution on a Hunter Valley bottle.
| Age of the bottle | Dominant aromas | Serving and pairings |
|---|---|---|
| From the first year to three years | Lime, cut grass, chalk, an almost transparent palate | Well chilled, around 10 °C: oysters, ceviche, fresh goat's cheese |
| Three to six years | The fruit rounds out, the palate fills out, the chalk holds the finish | 11 °C: grilled fish, prawns, fennel and citrus salad |
| Six to ten years | Light honey, linden, fresh hazelnut, a texture that gains richness | 12 °C: roast poultry, risotto, fish in cream sauce |
| Ten to twenty years | Beeswax, toast, orange peel, a silky feel | Large glass, 12 °C: sweetbreads, matured comté, mildly spiced cooking |
| Past twenty years, for the old vines | Mild curry, dried fruit, salted caramel, acidity still standing tall | Decanted for an hour: game birds, aged Gouda, Indian cuisine |
The tautest bottles go through a quiet phase in their third year, then open up again on a broader register. To end the meal, the sweet versions join our sweet wines, and whites from every origin are gathered in the white wine range.
A bottle for every mood
Eight ways in, from the weekday white to the sweet wine at the end of a meal.
Discovering the grape for under €20
A Cape blend with native fermentation, pear and fennel, round on the palate. The simplest glass for setting the marker.
Wildeberg Coterie Semillon & Sauvignon 2021 · €18.50 per bottle, sold individuallyUnderstanding the Australian style
Picked at dawn, stainless-steel tank, eleven degrees of alcohol: the Hunter Valley benchmark, lemony today, honeyed in ten years.
Tyrrell's Hunter Valley Semillon 2022 · €22.10 per bottle, by the case of 6Buy a single bottle
Old vines from southern Chile aged eight months in clay amphorae, clean fruit and supple texture. Available individually.
Fuerza Natural Sémillon 2021 · €21.60 per bottle, sold individuallyA sandstone white for the table
Sémillon paired with sauvignon and chardonnay, aged five months in ceramic eggs, in the Hemel-en-Aarde valley.
Ashbourne Sandstone 2024 · €21.60 per bottle, sold individuallyAn oaked white for fine dining
Three quarters Sémillon, one quarter Sauvignon, oak barrels and ten months on the lees, at the oldest estate in the Cape.
Groot Constantia Gouverneurs Reserve White 2024 · €39.90 per bottle, sold individuallyThe pure grape variety, South African version
Old vines from the heights of Stellenbosch on granite and schist, half barrel and half neutral tank, saline and precise on the finish.
Damascene Semillon 2022 · €58 per bottle, in a pack of 2The collector's bottle
Sémillon blanc and gris planted in the 1930s at altitude, bush-trained, cut out for ten years in the cellar.
The Sadie Family Kokerboom 2024 · €77 per bottle, sold individuallyEnding the meal with a sweet wine
Botrytised berries sorted in the vineyard, slow cold fermentation: honey, apricot and freshness for foie gras and blue cheeses.
Viu Manent Noble Semillon 2020 · €15.80 per bottle, by the case of 6
Why this grape has lost ground around the world
At the start of the 20th century it held first place among the white grapes planted on the planet: almost the entire Cape vineyard, a large share of Chile, half of the Hunter Valley, the whole of Sauternes. Its thin skin explains that success as much as its retreat. It attracts noble rot when the autumn is misty, it suffers as soon as it rains, and the dry wine stays discreet when the harvest comes in at mid-ripeness.
The wave of aromatic whites in the 1980s did the rest: chardonnay and sauvignon took the best plots. That retreat left the essential standing, those old vines that their low yields protected from being grubbed up, and that is where the bottles that matter come from.
How do you choose
We taste every cuvée before listing it. With this grape, two points decide it: the tension of the finish, which signals a harvest brought in at the right moment, and that impression of wax on the mid-palate, which announces what the bottle will become after five years in the cellar. The house style, bare tank or oak, comes afterwards.
The Wine Wanderer Team
What we are asked about Sémillon
Sémillon or semillon: where do this grape’s other names come from?
The acute accent belongs to the French spelling: Australia, South Africa and Chile write semillon plain, and you will see both forms on our labels. The Hunter Valley long sold it under the name Hunter River Riesling, until the 1980s. The Cape called it groendruif, the green grape, and old French texts name it chevrier.
What distinguishes an Australian Sémillon from a South African one in taste?
The picking date separates the two schools. In the Hunter Valley the grapes come in early, at around eleven degrees of alcohol, ferment in tank and keep an almost crystalline lime profile: that is the Tyrrell’s Hunter Valley Semillon 2022, at €22.10 a bottle. At the Cape the harvest waits for thirteen degrees and often passes through barrel, and the palate turns broad, on pear and fennel.
Why are these bottles often sold in sets or by the case?
The estates we work with ship their cuvées by full case, and keeping that format lets us hold the price as tight as possible. The price shown is always the bottle price, with the sales format right beside it. Several cuvées can also be bought singly, such as the Fuerza Natural Sémillon 2021 at €21.60 a bottle.
How can a wine at 11% alcohol age for twenty years?
Thanks to high acidity and a very low pH, which act as a natural preservative. Malolactic fermentation is avoided and the ageing takes place in a sealed tank, away from air: the wine stays young for a long time, then develops on its own the honey, wax and toast that other whites borrow from oak.
How long should you keep a dry Sémillon before opening it?
It all depends on what you are after. The first two years give a lively wine, perfect with shellfish. The most interesting window opens at around eight years and runs to twenty, when the texture turns silky. Old vines hold well beyond that, in a cool, dark cellar.
At what temperature should these wines be served?
Allow 10 °C for a young, taut bottle, which coolness sets off, and 11 to 12 °C for a ten-year-old bottle, which then gives all its texture. Sweet wines are served cool, at around 9 °C. Take the wine out of the fridge a quarter of an hour before the meal.
What dishes go with a dry Sémillon?
The young wine calls for iodine and lemon: oysters, ceviche, grilled prawns, fresh goat’s cheese. Past ten years the palate turns creamy and asks for more substance — roast poultry, sweetbreads, risotto, matured comté. Its freshness also stands up to mild spices, hence the classic pairing with Indian cooking and fish curries.
Why is it so often blended with sauvignon blanc?
The two grapes have complemented each other since Bordeaux: sémillon brings roundness, texture and ageing potential, sauvignon blanc adds aromatic brightness and nerve. The Cape has taken that recipe for its own, keeping a majority of sémillon from old vines. The result ages better than either one on its own.
What is a sweet Sémillon and how is it made?
Its thin skin lets in botrytis, the fungus that concentrates the juice in sugar and in aromas of honey and saffron. The berries are sorted one by one, sometimes in several passes, which explains the price of the great bottles. The range starts at €15.80 a bottle with the Viu Manent Noble Semillon 2020, by the case of 6.