Winemaker's Comments

Hunter Valley Semillon is one of the world's most uniquely regional wine styles. The 54-year-old Braemore vineyard (planted 1969) is situated on the sandy alluvial flats of Hermitage Road, Pokolbin, and consistently produces Semillon featuring freshness, vibrancy, and remarkable longevity. This wine has achieved an enviable reputation over the years as being one of the finest examples of classic Hunter Valley Semillon.

The Hunter Valley experienced another relatively cool and wet growing season throughout the 2022 growing season with mother nature delivering another 1350mm of rain over the vineyard during the 2022 calendar year which is just under double the 760mm long-term average. Fortunately, the predictions of the La Nina conditions easing and neutralising towards the end of 2022 were in fact correct, and the rain virtually disappeared for the critical ripening months in early 2023.

The cooler conditions throughout the growing season led to one of the latest vintages for many many years in the Hunter. The various blocks across the Braemore vineyard were picked between the 11th and 20th of February (about two weeks later than normal). Some patience was required to make sure the fruit reached its full phenological ripeness and balanced acidity. The hand-picked fruit is run across our state-of-the-art vibrating sorting table to ensure that only the absolute highest quality bunches get through to the press. The grapes are then whole-bunch pressed to minimise phenolics, and fermented with our specially selected neutral yeast to enhance the varietal purity. At the completion of the fermentation, the wine spent five weeks resting on its yeast lees prior to preparing for bottling.

Stylistically, the 2023 Braemore is classically shaped with impeccable purity and precision. The internal concentration and intensity/energy are always a hallmark of this pedigree vineyard, resulting in a wine that will provide great current drinking as well as being an absolute belter for the cellar.

The 2023 vintage is the 24th consecutive bottling of Braemore Semillon under the Thomas Wines label.

"Braemore is a distinctive vineyard, and this is a distinctive wine. For a semillon, this is uncharacteristically fruity, with feijoa and passionfruit notes wrapped around a Tahitian lime core. The fullness of the palate is captivating, as is the intensity of the flavour. A joyous wine with great character and appeal."
96 Points - Toni Paterson MW winecompanion.com.au

"Very fragrant nose: citrus blossoms and fruits, fresh herbs, gently yeasty; the palate shows a wonderful combination of concentration and refinement. It has more richness and generosity than other 2023 semillons without sacrificing delicacy. Long finish. Seriously promising young semillon."
95 Points - Huon Hooke, The Real Review

“Braemore Semillon is one of the iconic wines of the Hunter Valley. Although delicious in its youth, age reveals the true magic of the Braemore site. It is one of Australia’s best value ‘fine wines’ and an absolute bargain in the broader wine world.”
Toni Patterson MW, Gourmet Traveller Wine

Tasting Notes

Sourced from one of the Hunter Valley’s most celebrated Semillon vineyards, this wine displays a pale lemon colour with an iridescent green hue. The nose is greeted with an attractive 'tropical' lift and lime zest fruit characters which follow through to the palate with a succulent, vibrant fruit purity. The mouth-watering acidity provides impeccable balance and precision ensuring the wine can be enjoyed as a youngster, or cellared for 5 – 15+ years.

Bottled        17th May 2023
Production  940 dozen + 100 Magnums + 12 Double Magnums
Alcohol       11.3%