Best Hunter Valley Semillon

Q: What is the most famous wine in the Hunter Valley? What wine is the Hunter Valley famous for?

The Hunter Valley in NSW, Australia is best known for its semillon. The Hunter Valley is the international home of single varietal semillon wines.

The Hunter Valley, Australia’s oldest wine region, is synonymous with semillon. This golden-skinned, classic French grape was first planted in the Hunter Valley in the 1830s, where it often went under the misnomers of Hunter Valley Riesling and White Burgundy.

Semillon’s thin skin makes it easily susceptible to Botrytis and in its native Bordeaux it’s used to make the world’s most famous dessert wine: Sauternes. Once also widely planted in South Africa and Chile, today its only significant plantings are in France and Australia, particularly Bordeaux and the Hunter Valley. In Bordeaux it’s usually blended with other white grapes, making the Hunter Valley the international home of single varietal semillon wines. Known for its zingy citrus and green apple freshness and ability to age, semillon is a remarkably versatile wine as this diverse list of some of the best Hunter Valley semillon shows.

Vinden Wines Headcase Somerset Vineyard Semillon
This beautiful example of young Hunter Valley semillon, produced from 50+ year old vines, has spent extended time on lees giving it a wonderful complexity. The citrus zing and nice minerality make it a great all-rounder with anything that has a touch of richness, such as Salmon Tails with Lebanese Yoghurt Sauce.

Tyrrell’s Wines Vat 1 Semillon
Aged Hunter semillon is one of the world’s great wines! It needs a good few years, some say 5–10 but I lean more towards 10–15 or longer. Patience is required but richly rewarded as the citrusy zing of young semillon mellows and develops into something more akin to preserved lemons. Try it with Vietnamese lemon-cured tuna salad as it’s a great match for the complex flavours of fish sauce and Asian herbs.

Sabi Wabi Sugi Semillon
I can’t get enough of Peta Kotz’ lightly-skinsy Hunter Valley semillon with hints of honeysuckle and fennel. It’s spent a couple of weeks on skins then several months on lees in oak. It’s a mouth-filling, creamy, savoury wine, delicious with Swiss mushrooms in cream sauce. Peta’s Hunnybee semillon is textural and creamy from almost a year on lees, without the phenolic notes of skin contact. It’s great with risotto Milanese (see video below).

Binet Family Wines Muscat Semillon
I love this limited release from Dan Binet, made by aging muscat of Alexandria wine on semillon skins.

Pierre’s Wines Sparkling Semillon
Peter Went makes delicious sparkling wines using the traditional grapes and method of Champagne. He also sneaks in a methode traditionelle sparkling semillon to create a serious fizz with distinctive Hunter DNA. Matured for at least 22 months on lees, it’s citrusy, toasty and great with oyster omelette.

Thomas Wines Six Degrees Off-Dry Semillon
While off-dry semillon is rare, this delicious drop from Andrew Thomas makes me wonder why more winemakers aren’t giving it a go. He stops the ferment while there’s still a touch of sugar left to balance the limey acidity. I love it with Asian dishes that combine sweetness with a little chilli and acid such as a good sweet and sour fish with a proper black vinegar sauce.

De Iuliis Late Picked Semillon
This late-picked Hunter Valley semillon is like a mouth-filling fruit salad with citrus, tropical and stone fruit all getting a look in. There’s a nice zesty finish to balance out the sweetness and I love it with a frozen dessert such as creamy Philadelphia-style ice cream – I even drizzle a little over the top for an extra treat.

risotto Milanese

What Other Food & Wine Lovers Say

Had so much fun at the truffle forage weekend. Loved meeting truffle farmers Lisa and Carmine, and Frank was such a beautiful hard working truffle puppy. Everyone seemed to get into it, with soil sniffing and digging like kids in the dirt for our buried treasure. The final lunch was a beautiful way to end the weekend. Food was amazing and plentiful. The dining room was a great shape and size to relax and share our thoughts on the adventure we'd had.

The truffle forage was an unforgettable weekend. It’s obvious the winemaker, restaurants and the truffle farm pulled out all stops for Roberta’s tours. The meals were feasts, winemaker tapped barrels for us, and we dug for and found plenty of truffles at the truffle farm. The other travellers were great company.

I went on Roberta's truffle weekend. She was amazing – great communication skills, friendly and knowledgeable. The truffle forage hosts were lovely with a wealth of knowledge and experience. The truffle dog was gorgeous, we found lots of yummy truffles and were given a generous discount on purchases at the end plus a gift of some truffle salt. Meals were amazing, lots of truffle at dinner and so many delicious dishes at lunch. We were well looked after. This was a well thought out and planned weekend and I would definitely do it again.

The recent Be Inspired truffle foraging weekend was a superb experience in a friendly environment. We met welcoming, informative and knowledgeable producers and enjoyed memorable meals with other food and wine lovers. Beautifully organised. Roberta's expertise in bringing together producers, winemakers and chefs provides a delightful experience for anyone who enjoys food and wine.

Our small group was expertly guided through some of the best places in the Hunter Valley by super host, Roberta. Thank you Roberta for such a great weekend of food and wine and the enthusiasm and knowledge you brought to our group. I had a beaut time learning lots of new things in great company and can't wait for the next experience.

Semillon FAQ

What is the most famous wine in the Hunter Valley? What wine is the Hunter Valley famous for?

The Hunter Valley (in NSW, Australia) is best known for its semillon. The Hunter Valley is the international home of single varietal semillon wines.

What is Australia's best Semillon?

Australia’s best single varietal semillon wines are produced in the Hunter Valley of NSW. In this wine region 2 hours north of Sydney, semillon is used to make a wide variety of wines from young to aged and sparkling to sweet.

What does Hunter Valley semillon taste like?

Hunter Valley semillon is zingy and fresh when young, developing more complex flavours as it ages. Hunter Valley semillon is also used to make off-dry, skin-contact and dessert wines as well as sparkling wine in the Hunter Valley.

Where does semillon come from?

Semillon is a native grape of the Bordeaux region of France.

When was semillon first planted in Australia?

Semillon was brought into Australia in the early 19th century and planted in the Hunter Valley in the early 1830s.

What wines is semillon used in?

In Bordeaux, semillon is blended with sauvignon blanc and muscadelle to make dry Bordeaux Blanc. It’s also the main grape used in the famous botrytised dessert wine of Sauternes and Barsac, including Château d’Yquem. Margaret River in Western Australia is known for its semillon and sauvignon blanc blends.