Loire sauvignon blanc-semillon blends?

originally posted by SteveTimko:
For a Bordeaux white to cost $700 a bottle I want it drizzled between Christina Hendrick's breasts before I drink it.

[Let's preserve the tone around here, shall we? -P.]
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How about no.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
originally posted by Mike Hinds:
I totally dig the Kalin - fascinating and complex.
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Agree—what a great wine the Kalin Semillon (or Semi-Semillon) is.
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yes, but not enough wood
 
originally posted by SteveTimko:
The Renaissance is a sticky, right?
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Nope, the Semillon Vin de Terroir (its full name) is utterly dry, even austere until it unwinds.

Can't believe I forgot to mention the Renaissance Carte d'Or, which is indeed a sauv / semillon blend and built to be a more approachable "drink now" wine than the straight semillon, but still has oodles of character and plenty of spine.
 
originally posted by Eden Mylunsch:
originally posted by SFJoe:

When do you find 6 y.o. Kalin Semillon? Isn't the current release 1998 or so?
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It's possible that different vintages of Kaline aren't released sequentially. If the 2005 is precocious, it might be available before the 1999 comes out...

-Eden (feeling rather non-sequential myself, tonight)
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6 years was just a crude estimate, reflecting a gut level assessment of many years of off-and-on Kalin Semillon drinking. I might well be off, but I'm not going to forage through ancient tasting notes to find out. I don't know about non-sequential vintages, but my recollection is that Kalin Semillon pre-release bottle aging waxes and wanes depending on the vintage, inventories, etc. It's not a standard amount of time.

Thinking of Semillon's that seem to develop with age, the Fenestra Livermore and Graeser Napa do pretty well. Has anyone laid down the L'Ecole versions for 10 years or so?
 
originally posted by Mike Hinds:
Of the few examples of Hunter Valley semillon imported into the US, are any recommended above and beyond the Tyrrell Vat 1 mentioned by Mr. Lipton?
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My go-to Hunter Semillons when I'm in Oz are the Tyrrell Vat 1 and two wines from McWilliams, their Lovedale and Elizabeth Semillons. They can be found occasionally in the USA, but aren't officially imported. Chuck Hayward at JJ Buckley in Oakland is probably the most consisten source for Tyrell and McWilliams wines (if he doesn't keep them for himself). They're relatively reasonably priced in Australia, so I usually try to bring back a couple of bottles whenever I'm visiting (good notes from Sarah Ahmed here ).

This is not to imply that those are the only two producers in the Hunter making Semillon worthy of drinking. Brokenwood has made some fine Semillons over the past years, leaning toward the traditional Hunter tooth-searing approach but needing only a year or two to mellow out. It is also probably the best-distributed Hunter Semillon in the USA, so it's a good point of departure. And then there's this one from McGuigan; more germane to Tom's initial question, I'm not sure that space will be given over in my cellar to this one.

Other Semillons from other Australian regions worthy of seeking out include South Australia's Torbreck, Burge Family, Henschke, and Tim Adams, plus Vasse Felix and Xanadu from Margaret River. This is not to say you should avoid anything else; with few exceptions, the quality-to-price ratio for these wines is in the consumer's favor.

-Eden (never had a L'Ecole 41 bottle more than a couple of years old, but they probably hold up okay)
 
originally posted by Eden Mylunsch:

Other Semillons from other Australian regions worthy of seeking out include South Australia's Torbreck, Burge Family, Henschke, and Tim Adams, plus Vasse Felix and Xanadu from Margaret River. This is not to say you should avoid anything else; with few exceptions, the quality-to-price ratio for these wines is in the consumer's favor.
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Just to add emphasis to Eden's perspicacious comments, tonight's wine in Coffs Harbour (you can look it up in Google Maps) was the 2011 Henschke Eleanor's Cottage Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc which proved to be a restrained example of the genre and vaguely Muscadet-like in its minerally goodness. It was great with Jean's 200 g of king prawns and also a treat with my spanner crab in saffron-chili sauce over linguine. Not to ascribe cause and effect to it, but the rainbow lorikeets are chattering noisily tonight. The water dragons, on the other hand, seem to have gone to bed for the night.

Mark Lipton
 
Do Terry and Frances receive visitors at Kalin Cellars?

If you happen to find yourself in Sacramento, (for some god-awful reason) Corti Brothers has several vintages of Tyrrell Semillon...some from the 80's, if I remember correctly.
 
By sheer coincidence, this somewhat novel (or comic?) side-by-side, compare-and-contrast exercise crossed my monitor yesterday.

While no questions really get answered, neither are others raised, but there's plenty of good information on Semillon contained therein.

-Eden (still basking in the warm glow of the aura of the cool 1997 Champalou Vouvray opened the other night)
 
Woot!! Will write up my notes when I'm not paying for Internet access by the minute. Thanks for the tips, Eden.

Mark Lipton
 
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