Hunter Valley, the birthplace of Australian Sémillon
4 bottles, from taut Sémillon to hillside ShirazEleven degrees of alcohol, an almost colourless robe, a palate of lime and chalk: this is the most singular white in the country. Semillon is harvested early, ferments at low temperature in stainless-steel tank, keeps its natural acidity and does without oak as it does without malolactic fermentation. Young, it is taut and lemony. After ten years in the cellar, it gives honey, toast and wax, although it has never known a barrel.
The red follows the same restraint. Under a wet subtropical climate, two hours' drive from Sydney, Shiraz stays medium-bodied, spicy, often called the most Burgundian in Australia.
Mount Pleasant - Lovedale Semillon 2018
The Semillon from the Lovedale vineyard planted in 1946, matured in bottle, rich and of rare length.
Mount Pleasant - Estate Grown Semillon 2022
A Semillon from the Hunter Valley, light and lively, from Mount Pleasant's historic vineyards.
Mount Pleasant - Philip 2018
A Syravistant cuvée with beautiful aromatic power from the Hunter Valley.
Mount Pleasant - Elizabeth 2016
An Australian Sémillon emblematic of its region: finesse, acidity and minerality are essential.
How a valley Sémillon evolves
It is the only dry white in the world that takes on the taste of toasted oak having always lived in tank. Here are the stages of that metamorphosis, as they read in the colour, on the nose and at the table.
| The age of the bottle | The colour | The dominant aromas | Dinner's ready |
|---|---|---|---|
| One to two years | Almost colourless, green tints | Lime, green apple, fresh grass, a taut, saline palate | Oysters, sashimi, sea bass ceviche |
| Three to five years | Very pale yellow | The lemon rounds out towards grapefruit and lemongrass, the texture broadens | Grilled fish, garlic prawns, Thai salads |
| Six to eight years | Pale straw | First notes of hazelnut and acacia honey over a citrus background | Roast poultry, quiches, matured goat's cheeses |
| Nine to twelve years | Clear gold | Toast and fresh butter, beeswax, the acidity still holds the line | Sweetbreads, mushroom risotto, fish in white sauce |
| Thirteen to twenty years | Deep gold | Honey, candied orange peel, a touch of kerosene close to mature Riesling | Pan-fried foie gras, duck with citrus, long-aged Comté |
| Beyond | Amber gold | Wax, blond caramel and black tea, carried by an intact acid backbone | Firm blue-veined cheeses, yellow-fruit desserts |
This turn towards toast happens in bottle, through the slow oxidation alone of a very acidic, low-alcohol wine. To take the series from the start, the Hunter Valley Semillon 2022 at €22.10 a bottle, in cases of 6; to taste it halfway through, the Winemakers Selection Vat 1 Semillon 2018 at €59.90 a bottle, in lots of 2.
Seven ways to taste this wine region
Four grape varieties share the sandy and silty-clay soils of the basin, from Pokolbin to the foot of the Brokenback Ranges. Each gives a clear style, with its own winemaking and its own use.
| The style | Grape variety and winemaking | What ends up in the glass | A reference point in the selection |
|---|---|---|---|
| The starter white | Sémillon picked early in the morning, gentle pressing, low-temperature fermentation in stainless-steel tanks | 11% abv, lemon and chalk, an acidity that calls for food | Hunter Valley Semillon 2022€22.10 per bottle, by the case of 6 |
| The single-plot white | Sémillon from a single vineyard on sandy and silty alluvium, aged on the fine lees in tank | More tension and more length, cut out for ten years in the cellar and beyond | Single Vineyard HVD Semillon 2017€41.90 per bottle, in a set of 3 |
| The historic Chardonnay | Whole-bunch pressing, fermentation in French oak barrels with native yeasts | Roundness and precise white fruit, held by the freshness of the sea breezes | Winemakers Selection Vat 47 Chardonnay 2021€59.90 per bottle, in a set of 2 |
| The summer white | Verdelho, a grape variety from Madeira, stainless-steel tank under reductive conditions to keep the fruit | Tropical fruit and citrus, immediate drinkability | Old Winery Verdelho 2022€14 per bottle, by the case of 6 |
| The everyday red | Destemmed Shiraz, temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks, gentle pumping over | Juicy fruit and spice, supple tannins, to be opened within five years | Old Winery Shiraz 2022€14 per bottle, by the case of 6 |
| The hillside red | Old-vine Shiraz, fermentation in open vats, time in oak barrels | Depth of black fruit, freshness and fine spices, five to ten years' ageing potential | Single Vineyard Old Hillside Shiraz 2018€41.90 per bottle, in a set of 3 |
| The local blend | Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon vinified lot by lot, brought together before barrel ageing | The flesh of Shiraz on the framework of Cabernet, 14.5% abv | Winemakers Selection Vat 8 Shiraz Cabernet 2021€59.90 per bottle, in a set of 2 |
Shiraz here carries the Australian name for Syrah: to follow the grape variety from one continent to another, go to Syrah and shiraz. The white of this section continues in Semillon and Chardonnay, and the neighbouring valley of the Barossa shows the other face of Shiraz, denser and more sun-filled.
A bottle for every mood
Ways into the valley, from the aperitif white to a red from a historic plot.
Discover the local Sémillon
The valley's style in its most direct version: lime, chalk, 11% abv and a saline finish that revives the palate.
Tyrrell's Hunter Valley Semillon 2022 · €22.10 per bottle, by the case of 6Put a white in the cellar
A single vineyard on alluvial sands, crystalline tension and ageing potential of more than ten years. The dry white to forget at the back of the rack.
Tyrrell's Single Vineyard HVD Semillon 2017 · €41.90 per bottle, in a set of 3Taste the house Chardonnay
Barrel-fermented with native yeasts, precise and fresh: the cuvée that launched Australian Chardonnay with ageing potential.
Tyrrell's Winemakers Selection Vat 47 Chardonnay 2021 · €59.90 per bottle, in a set of 2Open an aperitif white
Tropical fruit, citrus, reductive winemaking that keeps the fruit intact. The terrace glass, to serve well chilled.
Tyrrell's Old Winery Verdelho 2022 · €14 per bottle, by the case of 6A red to drink tonight
Juicy fruit, pepper, supple tannins from a tank fermentation. The simplest way into temperate-climate Shiraz.
Tyrrell's Old Winery Shiraz 2022 · €14 per bottle, by the case of 6Understand the valley's Shiraz
Old vines from the lower Pokolbin valley, medium-bodied, elegance before power: the classic against which the others are measured.
Tyrrell's Winemakers Selection Vat 9 Shiraz 2021 · €59.90 per bottle, in a set of 2Give a historic plot
One of the estate's oldest plots, at the foot of the Brokenback Ranges, on an iron-rich subsoil. Available by the bottle.
Tyrrell's 4 Acres Shiraz 2021 · €151 per bottle, sold individuallyFollow the grape elsewhere
Shiraz and syrah name the same grape. The worldwide section sets the valley's temperate version against the styles of the Rhône and the Barossa.
Section page · Syrah and Shiraz
Harvesting before the rain
The vineyard was planted in the 1820s, north of Sydney, at a subtropical latitude no one would choose today for making wine: humid heat, summer clouds and storms that arrive precisely at harvest time, in January. The growers turned that into a method. Semillon is picked early, sometimes before the grapes reach ten potential degrees, at dawn, and the juice goes straight into tank.
What looked like a constraint gives the most original white on the continent: little alcohol, plenty of acidity, a fine material that feeds on time. The Pacific breezes and the cloud cover do the rest for Shiraz, which keeps its freshness where dry regions give thicker wines.
How do you choose
In this section we taste before we list, and we look at two things: the clarity of the citrus on the whites, the fineness of the tannins on the reds. A vintage that has already turned golden interests us as much as a wine of the year, because it shows where the bottle you buy young is heading. We follow the historic houses of the basin, the ones that keep their old plots in production.
The Wine Wanderer Team
What we are asked about the Hunter Valley
Why are these wines mostly sold by the case or in sets?
The house ships its cuvées by full cases, and we keep that packaging to hold the price per bottle down. The price shown on each listing is always the one for a single bottle, with the sales format right beside it: cases of 6 for the entry-level cuvées, lots of 2 or 3 for the single-plot cuvées. The 4 Acres Shiraz remains available singly.
Shiraz or Syrah, is it the same grape variety?
Yes, one and the same grape, with two names. France and the Rhône say syrah, Australia and South Africa say shiraz, and usage has ended up separating two styles in people's minds: the first more peppery and floral, the second more sun-filled. In this valley, the word shiraz covers precisely a medium-bodied wine, close to the Rhône style.
Why is Sémillon only 11% abv?
Because it is picked very early, often in January, before the rainy season and before the sugar climbs in the berry. The must ferments completely, and the resulting wine stays light in alcohol while keeping a high natural acidity. It is that rare ratio between low alcohol and high acidity that gives it its tension and its longevity.
How does a tank-aged wine take on the taste of toast?
Through time alone. Young Semillon is neutral and lemony; over the years in bottle, a very slow oxidation transforms its aromatic compounds and brings out honey, butter, hazelnut and then toast. The result resembles barrel ageing although the wine has spent its life in stainless-steel tank and then in bottle.
Should these whites be drunk young or kept?
Both answers are right, and that is the whole interest of this grape variety here. Young, it goes with seafood with a sharp clarity. Past its eighth year, it becomes a wine for cooked dishes, broader and more complex. Many wine lovers buy two bottles of the same vintage: one for now, one for the cellar.
How does the Shiraz here differ from that of the Barossa?
The valley is warm but humid, tempered by the Pacific breezes and by frequent cloud cover. The grapes ripen without concentrating to excess, and the wine comes out medium-bodied, with spicy red fruit and fine tannins. The Barossa, drier and warmer, gives on the contrary dense, dark, powerful Shiraz.
Which houses are in this selection?
Two historic properties of the basin. Tyrrell's, established near Pokolbin since the 19th century, signs the Old Winery range, the Winemakers Selection cuvées numbered by vat, Vat 1 in Semillon, Vat 47 in Chardonnay, Vat 8 and Vat 9 in red, as well as the 4 Acres, Old Hillside and HVD plots. Mount Pleasant adds its classics, the Elizabeth Semillon and the Philip Shiraz.
At what temperature should these bottles be served?
Allow 8–10 °C for a Semillon of the year and for Verdelho, and a little more, around 12 °C, for a golden vintage or for Chardonnay, whose texture closes up when it is too cold. The valley's Shiraz appreciates 16 °C, one notch below the temperature of a heated room, in a reasonably wide glass.
What to serve with a Hunter Valley Semillon?
With a young bottle, everything that comes from the sea and calls for lemon: oysters, shellfish, raw fish, fried smelt, with a particular success on spicy Asian cooking. With a vintage of ten years or more, move on to dishes in white sauce, sweetbreads, mushroom risotto and hard cheeses.
What exactly is Verdelho?
A white grape variety from Madeira, which arrived very early in Australia and stayed loyal to this valley when it had all but disappeared elsewhere. Vinified in tank away from air, it gives a dry, aromatic wine, on passion fruit, peach and citrus zest, with medium acidity. It is drunk within its first three years.