Semillon
Semillon
grapes make up 80% of the blend in the most
expensive and famous dessert wine in the world,
Château d'Yquem. Semillon seems the
favorite foil of Botrytis
Cinerea,
the noble rot which concentrates the sugars and
flavors and intensifies the aromas for d'Yquem
and the other "late-harvest" dessert wines of
Monbazillac and Sauternes. These wines hold up
spectacularly in antiquity, unique in the
spectrum of unfortified wines.
Consistently
productive at six to eight tons per acre and of
vigorous vines, semillon is easy to cultivate.
It is fairly resistant to common vine diseases,
with the notable exception of rot, which most
often is hoped to be the noble type and not the
destructive strain. This viticultural profile
has led to widespread propagation and popularity
of semillon vineyards.
While semillon
is the majority white variety in Bordeaux,
Graves, and Sauternes, more grows in Chile than
anywhere else on earth. Early in the
viticultural development of Australia, semillon
(often incorrectly labeled as Riesling)
dominated as the major white variety, although
the vineyards are mostly Chardonnay and
sauvignon blanc today.
California has
an ongoing checkered relationship with Semillon.
Acreage has fluctuated up and down over the past
several decades, from 1,200 acres in 1961, to
2,800 acres in 1981, to currently over 1,500
acres planted.
Most
California Semillon today is blended with
Sauvignon Blanc and rendered dry, but an
experimental dessert wine created a sensation in
the middle of the 20th Century.
In
1956, winemaker Myron Nightingale, then of
Cresta Blanca winery, made a dessert wine by
spraying spores of Botrytis cinerea on
semillon and sauvignon blanc grapes to produce
French Sauternes-like results. The wine was a
breakthrough success in the industry, because
the California climate had always been
considered too arid for the Noble Mold to
naturally exist at a high enough population
level to any beneficial effect.1
Financial problems caused Cresta Blanca to
change hands and production ceased after the
1966 vintage.
The ripe
semillon berry is a rich yellow color at
maturity, although increasing sun exposure may
turn it amber-pink. In warmer climates, there is
always danger of sunburn and raisining. If
processed as a dry or semidry table wine, the
thin skins and tender, juicy pulp require speedy
but gentle handling.
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Semillon
Smell and/or Flavor
Elements
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Varietal
Aromas/Flavors:
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Processing
Bouquets/Flavors:
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Fruity:
fig, lemon, pear
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Botrytis:
apricot, quince, peach, honey,
pineapple, vanilla, candy
|
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Spice:
saffron
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Malolactic:
butter, cream
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Herbal:
grass, weeds
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Oak
(light): vanilla, sweet
wood
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Vegetal:
bell pepper, asparagus
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Oak
(heavy): oak, smoke,
toast
|
Wines
dominated by Semillon may lack much youthful
aroma, but have fairly full body and tend to be
low in acidity, even "fat" at times. This is the
flavor profile of a supporting role grape,
rather than a star, and most Semillon is
blended. Semillon is the soft, subtle, rich Yin
to balance the Yang of Sauvignon Blanc, which
can be aromatically aggressive and acidic.
Semillon even works well when blended with that
notoriously standoffish loner, Chardonnay,
providing weight and richness without diverting
aromatic delicacy.
by
Jim
LaMar
NOTES
1 Naturally
Botrytis-affected wines from Riesling, Sauvignon
Blanc, Chenin Blanc, and even Chardonnay are now
occasionally made from California vineyards
exposed to marine influence and higher humidity.
Botrytis can, on the other hand, also cause big
problems for California table grapes and other
fruits, vegetables, and even flowers.
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