Lovedale Hunter Valley Sémillon

Can’t improve or vary my tasting note from December 2022 of this excellent aged Semillon. Still quite pale for a 12 year old white wine. Notes of buttered toast and lime. Lanolin and lemon on the palate with that waxy texture. Medium weight with enough citric acid to carry on for a few more years. Such purity. Matured in stainless steel. Zero oak. A saline note at the finish.

Pale lemon yellow in colour - amazing how pale it is for its age. Barb initially said it was oaky and was gobsmacked when I told her it was vinified in stainless steel. This same error used to be made by Masters of Wine in the UK back in the day who swore that old Hunter Valley Sems were matured in oak. The wine had the trademark waxy lanolin texture with notes of lemon and touches of honey. Still with cleansing acidity. Would go on for another 5 years if you are lucky enough to have any. A stunning old Hunter Semillon. I can see why it won 7 Trophies and countless Gold Medals. One of Australia’s gifts to the Wine World.

A treat to have 2 of Australia’s leading whites as in the Art Series Chardonnay and now the Lovedale Semillon both from 2011. Ironically 2011 was an awful vintage in nearly all of Australia except for Margaret River and the Hunter Valley. This highly awarded old Semillon had aromas of Lanolin, buttered toast with wet straw. All the descriptors of quality aged Semillon. A sweetish palate with a soapy texture. Perfectly balanced with acid diminishing. You can see how UK MWs would swear in the earlier days that these Semillons had been put to wood. They know now that they only ever see stainless steel.

Very pale lemon in colour particularly for a 13 year old wine. Aromas of wet hay, toast, lime and lemon curd notes. On the palate that soapy lanolin like texture you get with aged Semillon. My last 2009. If I had another one it would be ok to drink in the next few years. A prolific trophy winner on the Australian Show Circuit as you can see from the label.

Young and delicious
It goes without saying

Long life ahead
Delicious wine
Taking the semillon on a next level up
Vertical, but still rich mouthful
Very complex, but still fresh and mineral
Long and enjoyable

#semillon tart. Interesting #australia #huntervalley

See previous notes 210 weeks ago. Pale Lemon in colour. Aromas of White flowers, lanolin, straw, toast and herbs. Typical soapy texture on the palate - creamy notes with mild acid and medium intensity. As stated in previous notes Hunter Valley Semillon puts on weight with cellaring - this is a good example. A multi Trophy and Gold medal winner on the Australian Show Circuit.

Notes as previous. Love these old Hunter Semillons. Lively and fresh, lemon, grapefruit and citrus in general. Some wet hay and lanolin with honey and toast developing.

Continuing on with the Semillon theme this is the multi awarded Mount Pleasant in the Hunter Valley from the Lovedale Vineyard first planted in 1956 by Maurice OShea. This was a typical aged Hunter showing Mid Lemon yellow in colour with aromas of wet hay, and buttered toast. On the palate citrus with a soapy texture. Has not seen oak but these aged Hunters used to fool MWs in London thinking that oak had been used. They definitely put on weight with age developing toast and honeyed characters. Murray Tyrrell famously said that putting oak to Semillon spoilt the wine and was a waste of good oak barrels.! Murray made many Trophy winning Vat 1s in his career with Vat 1 being the main rival to this Lovedale over the years.