I’m getting itchy palms. This denotes a new chirpsome, cheapsome wine with impeccable winemaking credentials.
The Ozzies call Sauvignon Sav or Savvy B, and make Semillon rhyme with chameleon. Sem, usually harvested early as per Hunter Valley, can be the lean green ugly-duckling-machine that metamorphoses into a form of swan with time and may convey interesting secondary notes of toast, honey and apple. In Margs, it is occasionally swaddled in new oak clobber and loses its varietal signature, the more appealing examples having the descriptive epithet “lanolin” appended.
Semillon, usually harvested early as per Hunter Valley, can be the lean green ugly-duckling-machine that metamorphoses into a form of swan with time and may convey interesting secondary notes of toast, honey and apple.
This particular novel little number is part of the Continental Platter range, and is a wine for those of a highly shellfish disposition. The Continental Platter wines are vinified by a pair of good friends down under, the project being a collaboration between them, Puncheon Bottles and us, to create a range of organic/BD wines with a more natural inclination (low yields, manual harvest, native yeast ferment, minimal or zero filtration, and moderate to low levels of sulphur). Biodynamic guru, Mike Sleegers, is the man behind the farming.
The dry-grown vines are located in the biodynamically-farmed McHenry Hohnen vineyard in Margaret River, three hours south of Perth in Western Australia, planted in 1988 grow in ancient sandy, schisty soils. The western end of the vineyard comprises of sandy loam on a clay base with the eastern end of the site shifting to sandy clay loam soils. The vines run east west on a slightly sloping northern aspect. The vineyard is moderated by cooling sea breezes and is situated about 20km from the Indian Ocean.
Continental Platter Semillon is a wine for those of a highly shellfish disposition.
Grapes are harvested by hand, destemmed and pressed straight into tanks. Ferment is with indigenous yeasts – which is rare for a wine at this price which tend to be more chem-eleon than chameleon – with temperature control at 12c to inhibit malolactic for that Semillon “steel.” It is bottled without filtration.
Australian Muscadet! Or Picpoul, if you prefer to be on trend. Pure, crisp and raw. The nose suggests herbs – dried mint and oregano – and lemon/lime zest at the same time. Packed full of citrus, a hint of peach stone, and super crunchy. Have the platter with a platter – of seafood.
2019 Continental Platter Semillon
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Interested in finding more about our Aussie Semillon? Contact us directly:
shop@lescaves.co.uk | sales@lescaves.co.uk | 01483 538820