When Semillon is good, it is extremely good. Indeed I think it is heading for varietal stardom in rather the same way as Cabernet Franc is. (When it is not so good, ie, unripe, it tends to smell just like Sauvignon Blanc, and when it gets too ripe it has a dangerous tendency to lose far too much acidity and become flabby and, especially, oily – but that is another story.)
What I'm looking for in Semillon is a combination of the green leaf raciness of Sauvignon with real palate weight, sometimes a bit of fig, sometimes a bit of honey, a certain fatness that Michael Broadbent has long called lanolin, I think. This wine from Margaret River's first-growth property Moss Wood has all this and more. After the leafiness is a lovely undertow of fully ripe fruit and the sense that while this wine is delicious now, there is no desperate hurry to drink it. Any time over the next two, three, maybe four years should be fine. (Imagine predicting that for the Sauvignon Blanc that Semillon is routinely blended with in Western Australia.)
Another great asset of this serious white wine is its price. In fact for once, heavily taxed British wine drinkers are not paying through the nose for it. Even at WineSearcher tend to ask slightly more – especially the Australians.
I tasted the Moss Wood alongside the considerably more expensive 2001 from Boekenhoutskloof, arguably South Africa's most respected producer of Semillon, and the Australian was much finer, less oily and less obviously sweet. Alkoomi's Wandoo Semillon 1998, on the other hand, another Western Australian, was too green.
Moss Wood Semillon 2002 would make a great white wine for food – same sort of refreshing but full-bodied build as last week's Languedoc white, I'm afraid.
Note too that Moss Wood has recently launched the 2000 vintage of its top wine, its luscious and eminently age-worthy Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2000 vintage will be £27.95 from Jeroboams and probably worth it, not least for its beautiful texture.
Jeroboams sell these wines by the case at a 7.5 per cent discount.