Molly Morgan Semillon 2010 (Hunter Valley, NSW)
11%, Screwcap, $25
Source: Sample
www.mollymorgan.com

Molly Morgan Semillon

As much as I want to champion Hunter Semillon at every opportunity (such is my love of the stuff), it remains a wine that rarely impresses in it’s youth. But, if you can sneak a glimpse of the glory that lies within, then the style actually makes sense. It’s almost like Hunter Sem – as a young wine at least – simply requires a second look.

Which brings me to this wine. I opened it up yesterday, on a steamy, I-need-a-drink Sydney evening, expecting something bright, crisp and quite generous. But it wasn’t. Rather, it was hard – hard acidity, hard fruit, with no generosity to speak of. It irked me did this unexpected character, and I barely managed a glass before trundling off in search of something cleansing. Something (ultimately) beery actually.

I left the bottle in the fridge though, and now, on another steamy night, I tried again. Perhaps my mind is a little more positive today, and perhaps I’m even thirstier than yesterday, but today this tastes good. It tastes like a wine of substance, of acidity and life. It’s probably not the most complex, or intense, or delineated Hunter Semillon, but it’s still long and green and sprightly.

Again it reminded me that Hunter Semillon is the ultimate chameleon. It’s a demanding wine style, that even in it’s supposedly more approachable form (such as this purports to be) it can still be a handful – a handful of a wine type that demands more than a cursory glance. And I, personally, absolutely love that about it. 17/90