Semillon

Vibrant with ripe, tropical and gooseberry fruit flavours with a zingy finish and impeccable balance.

A great aperitif or seafood wine, made for drinking young.

Country: New Zealand

Region: Marlborough

ABV: 12%

Grapes:  85% Sauvignon Blanc, 15% Semillon

Food Match:  Mussels, garlic prawns

Sileni Estates: The winery is named after the Sileni who featured in Roman mythology alongside Bacchus, the God of Wine. They celebrated good wine, good food and good company. The vineyards and winery are based near Hastings, Hawke’s Bay ­ the oldest wine region in New Zealand.

A good dash of Semillon into this Sauvignon Blanc gives additional layers of complexity. 

This traditional French blend has aromas and flavours of citrus fruit, passion-fruit and greengages, cut grass with a hint of dried herbs.  The low crop levels have particularly emphasised the Semillon component in the wine, filling out the palate and giving good concentration as well as structure.  It has a crisp, dry finish and a lingering after-taste on the palate.  

Country: New Zealand

Region: North Canterbury

ABV: 15%

Grapes: 70% Sauvignon, 30% Semillon

Food Match: We love this wine for its complexity of aromatics and concentration of flavours on the palate. White fish with fresh asparagus or Samphire is a great pairing.

Wonderfully rich and fleshy  from hand harvested bushvine grown grapes in Franschhoek. Wild Yeast fermented. Beautifully poised and elegant. Excellent food wine.

Country: South Africa

Region: Franschhoek

Grapes: 100% Semillon

ABV: 13%

Ideal with white fish dishes, fresh oysters and prawns.

https://www.wildeberg.co.za/

Certified Heritage Vineyards planted in 1905.

Kaalvoet Meisie (‘barefoot girl’)  is a richer style of Sauvignon Blanc because it ferments and ages in both new and old oak for 12 months. Elegant aromas of exotic fruit like dragon fruit, passion fruit and pineapple as well as ripe yellow peach and apricot. The concentrated fruit profile is complimented by aromas and flavours of wild herbs. Vibrant acidity and a lingering, minerally finish gives this beauty of a wine at least 7 years of ageing potential.

Country: South Africa

Region: Sondagskloof, Walker Bay

Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon

ABV: 12.5%

Food Matching: Asparagus and and goat's cheese salad

You’ve probably heard of the quaint beach town of Hermanus, situated on South Africa’s famous Whale Coast. Between 1855 and 1902, it was called Hermanuspietersfontein. In 1902, the local postmaster decided to shorten the name of the town to make addressing letters to the locals easier.

150 years later, the wine farm Hermanuspietersfontein, or HPF for short, craft outstanding wines with a serious sense of place. Their grapes come from Sondagskloof (they produce 90% of WO Sondagskloof wine), which competes with Elgin and the Ceres Plateau for South Africa’s coolest wine growing region. This area is perfectly suited to Bordeaux varietals and, with the exception of Shiraz, is exclusively planted with them.

The Afrikaans wine names might look like a bit of a mouthful, but they are good fun; Bloos (‘blush’), Kaalvoet Meisie (‘barefoot girl’), Kat Met Die Houtbeen (‘cat with the wooden leg’), Posmeester (‘postmaster’), Kleinboet (‘little brother’) and Swartskaap (‘black sheep’).

Petit Guiraud 2016 seduces with incredibly fresh fruit: grapefruit, passion fruit, pineapple. Thanks to a very rigorous plot selection, Petit Guiraud expresses something different of the Château Guiraud's terroir. The wine is floral and feminine, very tasty and light.

Country: France

Region: Sauternes, Bordeaux

Grapes: Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc

ABV: 13%

Scrumptious, complex white wine. Distinct aromas of ripe pineapple, passionfruit and a hint of toasted sesame. In the mouth, it is full-bodied, yet fresh and zesty.  This wine will evolve nicely over a few years, although it's so delicious now, it will be hard to resist drinking immediately.

Country: France

Region: Bordeaux

Grapes: Sauvignon, Semillon

ABV: 13.5%

Devine treat of a wine! Astonishingly complex and layered - a must for pudding wine fans.

Country: France

Region: Monbazillac

Grapes: Sémillon, Sauvignon blanc and Muscadelle

ABV: 12%

Organic

Textured and delightfully sippable, this orange wine is incredibly accessible, immediately greeting your senses with aromas of ripe peach and apricot. Naturally fermented and macerated on the skins with twice-daily punch downs to increase flavour and texture, before being put through a basket press. Once pressed, this juice is left to settle in tank before being transferred to concrete eggs and flexcubes, then into bottle. This is all about marrying the technique of skin maceration with brilliant drinkability to give a South African wine that’s textured and delicious.

Country: South Africa

Region: WO Paarl

Grape: Semillon

ABV: 12,5

Style: Orange, Natural, Vegan

Created as an ode to the bounty of the sea, Miss Lucy can turn the many other delights safe to grace our tables into a celebration of the ocean.

Only a salty breeze and a sunny day can improve what is already a perfect match. This unique blend bursts with citrus pamplemousse (Paw Paw) flavours. 

Country: South Africa

Region: Robertson

ABV: 12.5%

Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Pinot Gris 

Springfield Estate goes against the grain in order to make sure the drinking experience is perfect at the consumer end and sustainable at its end. The wines are all about the rocky, unforgiving terroir of Robertson, and stand head and shoulders above most producers for sheer quality.

https://springfieldestate.com/

94 points Tim Atkin MW

5 Star Platter Winery

Country: South Africa

Region: Stellenbosch

Grapes: Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc

ABV: 12.5%

Organic and Biodynamic

Vegan/Vegetarian

Hunter Semillon at its very best!

This wine possesses intensely flavoured, pristine fruit with a clean and zippy palate and fresh fruit flavours of sherbet, lemon, passion fruit and pineapple. Fresh cut grass notes too.

Country: Australia

Region: Hunter Valley

ABV: 12.5%

Grapes: Semillon

The superb Sémillon grapes for this wine have been sourced from the Korhaan Vineyard, block number 11, planted in 1988. The nose shows intense citrus, white flowers, honey and spice. Stunningly focused, complex and well balanced with a crisp acidity.

Country: South Africa

Region: Stellenbosch

Grapes: Semillon

ABV: 14.5%

Golden Mullet Fury skin contact white wine has become a hallmark of AB&D wines. Notes of reserved lemon, curry leaf, nectarines, hint of marmalade on the nose. Racey acidity with chalky tannins and a real mouthwatering finish. Refreshing yet textural.

Country: AUSTRALIA

Region: McLaren Vale 

Grape: SEMILLON 86.5%, RIESLING 13.5%

ABV: 12.5%

Food Match: Morroccan chicken, seafood and blue cheese.

A luscious, tropical and rich botrytis sweet wine with complex notes of citrus peel, honey, dried apricot and marmalade. A 2eme Grand Cru Classe Sauternes owned by the Casteja family.

Country: France

Region: Barsac, Sauternes, Bordeaux

Grapes: Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc

ABV: 13.5%

Food Match: Fois Gras or creamy blue cheese

A stunning example of Hunter Semillon.

Cut grass and lime zest nose with a clean and zippy palate and fresh fruit flavours of sherbet, lemon, passion fruit and lemon. Lovely long finish.

Country: Australia

Region: Hunter Valley

ABV: 11%

Grapes: Semillon

Vergelegen’s special dessert wine made from the Sémillon grape grown in Vergelegen’s Korhaan and Niel-Suid vineyards. This wine is only produced in certain years. Abundant ripe, tropical fruits on the nose and a marvellous acidity and freshness on the palate.

Country: South Africa

Region: Stellenbosch

Grapes: Semillon

ABV: 12%

The notes of quince and white flower with ripe yellow fruit and green spice on the nose. On the palate it starts with spiced ginger biscuit. The wine shows a bright acidity and fleshy fruit.

Country: South Africa

Region: Western Cape – Franschhoek / Bot River / Durbanville

Grapes: 70% Semillon, 30% Chenin blanc

ABV: 12%

Food pairing: guanciale carbonara, lightly toasted hot cross bun, lashings of butter and a sliver of sharp cheddar.

Intense aromas, hawthorn flowers, fresh fruit, with a minty note characteristic for the vintage. The sweetness is gentle and consistent. Great precision and freshness.

Country: France

Region: Sauternes, Bordeaux

Grapes: Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc

ABV: 13.5%

The nose is delicate, restrained and elegant with its grapefruit, greengage, chamomile and apple blossom aromas and whiffs of exotic spice. The floral character of the nose follows through onto a richly textured mid-palate, showing yellow peach, poached pear and nectarine against a backdrop of fresh mandarin and green fig flavours with integrated acidity and a full body. The ripe stone fruit character adds to the complexity on the palate and the spicy finish with hints of fenugreek, black cardamom and Cape fynbos complements a very balanced wine.

Country: South Africa

Region: Franschhoek Valley

Grapes: Semillon (97%), Muscat d'Alexandrie (3%)

ABV: 13.5%

Great with Cape Malay dishes such as beef baboti - a well-known South African dish consisting of spiced minced meat baked with an egg-based topping.

Tim Atkin MW
96 points. Boekenhoutskloof's world-class Semillon uses grapes from three distinct blocks in Franschhoek, planted in 1902, 1936 and 1942, combining these with 3% Muscat d'Alexandrie. Showing more acidity and restraint than the stunning 2020, and less of the struck match character, it has notes of lemongrass, custard and beeswax and a core of chiselled acidity. Drinking 2024-32