Need Sémillon wisdom!

Almost two years ago I had the sad duty of divvying up my father's very small wine cellar between myself and my aunt. He had been a member of the Merryvale wine club in the late 90s and early 00s, thanks partly to their wine, which was reliably pretty good and sometimes pretty great, and partly to the fact that we'd always end our family wine-country visits there, since they had extended tasting room hours and were right next to Tra Vigne.

Now, mind you, I could have taken all the old Profiles and Oakville Grade and Beckstoffer Cabs for myself, but I was happy to share them. And when I came across a lone, stray white from the 2003 vintage, I could have stuck my aunt with it, but I figured I'd fall on my sword and put that one in my case. 'Twas a varietal Sémillon (though I think there was some Sauvignon Blanc in there too), which I know, of course, can be made to age; but I didn't figure a Napa Valley example would have staying power. So Andrea and I had quite a surprise when we opened it earlier this year and found it to be astonishingly lively, with a lot of tense play between the waxiness of age and the surviving fruit of youth. I even e-mailed the winery and told them that if they had any lying around they should either sell it to me or just drink it themselves.

They didn't. Nor have they produced that wine in more than a decade. And I gather that reflects a trend in, or rather against, Sémillon cultivation in California. Having now been instructed by Andrea to acquire more Sémillon, I'm therefore in need of a little help. I've already put together a sampling of Pessac-Léognans at various price points, in pairs and threes, figuring we'll try one of each early and then hold the others. But -- first question -- outside of Bordeaux, who makes good, age-worthy Sémillon (including blends where it's a significant part of the mix, of course)? Livermore? Australia? (the phrase "SemChard" makes me shudder a little but I'm willing to try.)

And, second question: at the higher end, and with wines really built to age, would you bother (risk?) opening a white Bordeaux young? I'm willing to sacrifice a pricey bottle for the education, but only if there are some pleasures to be had as well....

Australia is the place where 100 %Semillon is most well known, especially Hunter Valley. Some of the better ones can age 20+ years. I only own one bottle, a 2008 Kaesler Old Vine Semillon, and will probably wait until 2018 to give it some time. This varietal is very difficult to find in S. Ohio but I should try to aquire more when elsewhere. Good luck with your quest.

No wisdom, but some opinions
Livermore: I'm a big fan of the Kalin Semillons- late released (think 1999 is latest), great stuff.
Bedrock makes a Sem/SB blend- Caritas, but now think changed name to Karatas- that I like (though a bit oaky)
There are some great old vine straight Semillons from Oz as Jim said.
As to Bordeaux blanc- less expensive ones are mostly SB. The more ageworthy ones tend to have at least a significant percentage of Semillon. I love with age (closely guarding my last 2 bottles of '83 DDC) but since mid-90s - just as with white Burg- I think a significant percentage of Premox. So I don't shy from drinking young- a young La Louviere or Carbonnieux can be a great match with a richer seafood dish

Thanks to you both, this is already very helpful! Re: Kalin, I'd stumbled my way onto the Kalin webpage, but since the most recent "recent release" listed there is a 2001 Sauvignon Blanc, I figured for sure it was a defunct site. Re: Hunter Valley, I'll happily use this as an excuse to re-approach Australian wine -- much neglected in my exploration so far -- from a new angle. And re: white Bdx, '13 Carbonnieux is among my recent purchases. Since it's readily available around here I'll try one soon and maybe go back for more.... (Also '13 Clémentin du Pape-Clément, '13 Pape-Clément, and '12 Chevalier, Fieuzal, and Malartic-Lagravière.)

Kalin always works for me. From Australia, look for Brokenwood Semillon.

Hunter Valley semillons from Australia are definitely a good place to look. Other regions in Aussie grow semillon too (like the Kaesler mentioned from the Barossa Valley), but they don't age the same way (they are from a much warmer region).

The Hunter Valley examples are picked very early, so they are very low in alcohol and high in acidity. They get no oak treatment at all. So they are quite different than most other regions' version of semillon. After 10 or so years, they start developing interesting secondary flavours (e.g., toast, lanolin) that provides a slightly deeper profile. Tyrrell's Vat 1 semillon is probably the most famous example. Tyrell's also have the Belfords, HVD and Steven's semillons, which are harder to find but can be great too. The Mount Pleasant Lovedale semillon can also be a great wine with age. A cheaper version, though still quite tasty, is the Mount Pleasant Elizabeth semillon.

They are an acquired taste, but are really interesting and very idiosyncratic.

Don't know about wisdom, but I can offer some experience.

As in, don't overlook Washington state for semillon. Back in its absolute heyday, semillon was a major grape in WA, and there were several stand-alone, SBS blends, and yes, some of those often-sketchy SemChards as well, and plenty of sweeties. Now, not so much, as semillon never became the money crop there. Still several made though.

In Walla Walla, there's L'Ecole No. 41. Marty still does a good job on his semillon. Very glossy style, but he manages to keep it from being flabby (a constant problem with the low-acidity grape). Also, Buty Winery in Walla Walla does a really love SB-Sem-Muscadelle blend I really enjoy. There's another I have seen, but not had, so can't comment: Amavi.

The usual behemoths of CSM, Columbia Crest, Hogue and others of the area have all done, and many still do semillons, but not with significant style or flair to be interesting to you guys.

Apex (Brian Carter, one of the finest of WA's winemakers) has done a series of botrytised sweeties. His wine are always great; don't know that he's doing dry ones now.

Andrew Will has done some pretty tasty semillons in the past, but I'm not current with the winery, alas.

Second the Kalin. Those Sems were awesome. In a class by themselves. But again, it never went beyond limited cult. I recall that Portet made some sem-sauvs, in Napa, but I'm also not up-to-date with them nowadays.

Bordeaux: you're already on track there with the Graves-Pessac search, Don't overlook the many dry whites of Sauternes-Barsac (Chateau Guiraud's "G", for instance), as that is still the highest of semillon plantings. Also, the 'across the river' wines, i.e., the other bank over in the Entre-Deux-Mers classification, has some hidden jewels worth finding (the only difficult part there is knowing which are on the escarpment and which are low-lying next to the river where a lot of the semillon is located--because of the fog that goes along with the botrytis. I would say those secondary or satellite mini-appellations in the EdM have gone through a quantum leap of quality over the last several years. There has been serious investment of money there, and it is paying off in some good crisp whites and mid-bodied reds. Cadillac is worth looking at. Haut-Benauge, maybe.

South Africa: probably the Boekenhoutskloef for Semillon. There are others, but I'm not conversant. Chile has a bunch of semillon, but most of it is insipid and used for blends of SB and sem-chard, so blah.

Australia: yeah, Hunter River Valley gets most of the attention. Unique place, and the best to get that particular aged-tobacco leaf funky humidity-driven style that, if you're a fan, is remarkable. But Clare makes good semillon; just a different, snappier style. And way out in the west in Margaret River is the Leeuwin, and they do a great job with it. Also Vasse Felix makes a Sauv-Sem that's over 40% semillon---I've not had it, alas, but their chardonnay is so feckin brilliant and nicely priced that I'm willing to bet it would be excellent.

That enough for you, big guy?

That was just off the top of your head, was it?

Thanks (to Hoke and everybody)! Pretty sure Andrea's next instructions will be "buy less Sémillon." Never let it be said that I am not a man of strong enthusiasms....

That was just off the top of your head, was it?

Actually, it was. Kind of disturbing, innit? A whiff of idiot-savant, perhaps?

I did have to check the spelling on the SA brand. Never was very good at Afrikaner.