A More or Less Semillon Tasting

Last night three mostly Semillon white Bordeaux plus three presumably one-hundred percent Semillons from Washington State and one from the Barossa Valley made for a pleasant if not entirely spectacular blind tasting at Casa Hall. My TNs and my/group rankings, in the order the wines were tasted:

2007 CHATEAU DUCASSE BORDEAUX This unpretentious lightweight came through with a good long finish and proved a friendly food wine with the evening meal. No big deal, but its modest $14.45 price earned it the evening's QPR award. My 3rd place/ the group's tie for fourth.

2007 CHATEAU GRANVILLE-LACOSTE GRAVES Another inoffensive lightweight. I got some argument on this one but for my taste there just wasn't much there. My 7th/ the group's 3rd.

2005 CHATEAU OLIVIER PESSSAC-LEOGNAN Yummy stuff with just the right Sem-Sauv viscosity. Its complexity and delicious finish put it way above the Ducasse/Granville-Lacoste class. Might be even better with more time. I've got to buy a couple. My 2nd/ the group's 2nd.

2006 CHINOOK SEMILLON YAKIMA VALLEY Year after year Chinook turns out pleasant drink-'em-now Sems for modest prices. This one is no exception, although thanks to this year's extra weight I don't think I would have nailed it as a typical Chinook. Worth every penny of the $13.59 price tag. My 4th/ the group's tie for 6th.

2006 FIDELITAS SEMILLON COLUMBIA VALLEY A faintly caramel-like mid-palate is sandwiched between an unimpressive nose and finish. My 5th/the group's tie for 4th.

2006 TORBREK BAROSA VALLEY WOODCUTTERS SEMILLON Except for the slightly bitter finish I wouldn't call this unpleasant, just monolithic and dull. My sixth/ the group's tie for sixth.

2006 HESTIA SEMILLON COLUMBIA VALLEY If this were a double-blind tasting I would have guessed Hunter Valley. This impressive, viscous, oak-tinged wine should be even better with at least a few more years in the bottle. After that, who knows. (The winery is only about three years old.) I'm happy to have a half-case in my cellar, but years from now I may wish I bought a couple of cases. My 1st/ the group's 1st.

After the votes were in I poured a last-minute buy, a 2007 ARDENVOIR SEMILLON COLUMBIA VALLEY, another wine in more or less Hunter style -- thick and in this case almost very slightly off dry, a worthy Semillon I would have given third place to had it been part of the tasting.

[David M. Bueker]

Very interesting. I had a bottle of the Chinook way back in 1999 & liked it very much. I'm glad to see they are still doing well.

[Jenise]

Now here's something new. I'm in several tasting groups, and in all the years in all the tastings I've been to, semillon has never been a topic or even suggested. I'll bet many others will read your excellent TNs and think exactly the same thing. Considering it's value as a blender, it's probably the most important grape we never talk about!

Interesting results too. Will have to find that Hestia (never even heard of this winery) just to find out what a Best of Class semillon would taste like. Haven't had but one or two Washingtonians--Chinook yes, which wasn't this vintage but which I thought was heavy at the time, maybe it was after tasting other whites in the Chinook line-up, and Dunham comes to mind too. Dunham's style is slightly off-dry like the Ardenvoir you describe.

Jenise, maybe your Chinook seemed heavy on its own or by comparison with the other non-Sem whites in your tasting; that is if the Chinnook was the only Semillon, a varietal known for its viscosity. The Chinook Semillon, though, is relatively light compared with some of the ageable Hunter style Sems and is designed for early drinking.

I ran into Hestia for the first time at a tasting put on a couple of months ago at Seattle's Museum of History and Industry. Owner-winemaker Shannon Jones' most recent releases are the Semillon, a pleasant but forgetable Sangiovese, a Merlot that sings thanks to twenty percent Cab Franc, and a delicious Bordeaux blend. He made altogether only a few hundred cases but says he will be up to about two thousand in a year or two. He is a few miles outside Carnation, of all unlikely places for a winery

[Jenise]

Jenise, maybe your Chinook seemed heavy on its own or by comparison with the other non-Sem whites in your tasting; that is if the Chinnook was the only Semillon, a varietal known for its viscosity. The Chinook Semillon, though, is relatively light compared with some of the ageable Hunter style Sems and is designed for early drinking.

Yes, that's precisely what happened. I was actually tasting the Chinook line-up two years ago with the winemaker. Not sure which vintages whe was pouring, but the timing wouldn't be off for her to be pouring an 03, a year that could have produced a heavier wine.

Is Hestia available through the state distribution system, or is it a winery-only purchase?

Jenise, the winemaker tells me Cascade Trade, tel. 206-223-0410, is Hestia's distributor in Western Washington, your (and my) area, and anyone outside Western Washington can call Cascade Trade to find out who distributes in their area. For buying directly from the winery see http://www.HestiaCellars.com or email sales@hestiacellars.com.

Back to my TNs. I see today the two McCarthy & Schiering wine shops in Seattle are featuring the 2007 Ardenvoir Semillon in their August newsletter. Says the newsletter, "The complexity of this wine takes Semillon to a new level in this state." One must make allowances for customary retailer hyperbole but MCCarthy & Schiering are relatively conservative in praising their wines, and I'll go along in saying Ardenvoir is a heck of a fine Semillon and will be even better with age. It's not a big stretch to say that Hestia and Ardenvoir (made by Chateau Rollat in Walla WAlla, Washington) have raised the bar for Washington State's Semillons.

Last night a dinner guest brough me a bottle of Steenberg Semillon 2005 from Constantia, South Africa. Anyone have any idea of the drinking window and what to expect?