Winemaker's Comments

Hunter Valley Semillon is one of the world's most uniquely regional wine styles. This vineyard, situated on a sandy/loam strip along Oakey Creek Road, Pokolbin (hence, The O.C.), was planted in 1976. Earlier vintages of this wine were made in a riper more generously flavoured, contemporary style, however we have since realised this particular vineyard is more suited to the classically styled Hunter Valley Semillon.

The lower yields experienced again from this vineyard in 2022 led to it being one of our earlier picked Semillons this year, and it has a slightly riper feel than we've seen in recent vintages. That being said, the core of fine acidity is still a defining feature of wines made from this wonderful patch of dirt. We yielded just over four tonnes of hand-picked fruit from our allocated rows which has resulted in a relatively small production of only 291 dozen.

Tasting Notes

Glowing in its star bright green/gold hue, this wine finds a blistering concentration of classic Hunter Valley Semillon character – tangy citrus flavours, steel-like mineral vein and a hint of grassiness over gentle tropical fruit characters are the wine’s forte. There’s some fine detail in this slightly riper expression of Semillon, taking time to unfurl in its very compact and sleek frame. Freshness is the motif – a wine built for satisfying thirst and curiosity now but will reward with time.

Bottled        2nd May 2022
Production  291 dozen 
Alcohol       11.0%