Sémillon

Sémillon is the grape behind Sauternes and behind Hunter Valley's most unusual white. It has thin skin, which makes it highly susceptible to botrytis cinerea, the noble rot that dehydrates the berry and concentrates its sugar and acid. That susceptibility is a disaster in the wrong conditions and the entire point in the right ones.

In Sauternes and Barsac, the cold Ciron river meets the warmer Garonne and produces autumn morning mists that induce rot, followed by dry afternoons that stop it spreading into grey rot. Pickers go through the vineyard repeatedly, taking individual shrivelled berries. The result is a sweet wine of great concentration that keeps for fifty years, blended with sauvignon blanc for acidity.

Dry sémillon is a different proposition. In the Hunter Valley in Australia it is picked early at around 10 to 11 percent alcohol, made without oak, and bottled as a lean, neutral, almost austere wine. Left for ten to fifteen years it develops toast, honey and lanolin without ever having seen a barrel, which is unique among white wines. Bordeaux blanc and South Africa also make dry versions.