Pepper Tree Alluvius Single Vineyard Semillon 2013

Pepper Tree Alluvius Single Vineyard Semillon 2013 (Hunter Valley, NSW)
10.7%, Screwcap, $35

This is sourced from Ken Bray’s ‘Braemore’ vineyard, which is also where the fruit for Andrew Thomas’ ‘Braemore’ Semillon and Meerea Park’s ‘Alexander Munro’ Semillon comes from. Important dirt indeed. All three producers are quite protective of that fruit too, with (rumoured) marker posts within the vineyard designating who gets which rows – and the occasional jostling to get extras.

Given just how good quality this fruit is (and from a great Semillon vintage), the secret here is just about translating that into the bottle, which this wine does with aplomb. It’s quite a big wine this year, with ripe lemon citrus fruits. Bombastic fruit even, with a big green apple palate starts quite generous and then tends more linear through the finish.

That finish goes on for minutes too, again generous and in a mode that had me thinking of 2005 for its power and penetration.

Ripe and powerful, but with spectacular length, I’d like a few more months for this to come together, but on length alone this is a superstar. Gold medal quality Semillon.

Drink: 2013-2033
Score: 18.5/20, 94/100
Would I buy it? Absolutely.
Andrew Graham Avatar

Andrew Graham was once voted the 23rd most trusted wine critic on the planet. A WCA Journalism Young Gun now old hack with 25yrs as a buyer, judge, journalist, marketer and too much more.

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