Semillon and Brachetto - unloved and unknown

"I find Semillon to be one of a few dry white wines that can age for decades" Dan Berger/Napa Valley Features

Last night was our annual trek to our local fine diner Mercer's for 'diner à deux' but I have talked about Mercer's before, and yes the food was gorgeous - this is dessert - a kind of pavlova, but the thing that struck me most perhaps about the meal were two of the wines. We had decided to go with the wine matching options and they were all really, really nice - which to me demonstrates how, although the wines we drink on a regular basis are very nice - and mostly from Aldi - they really are not as good as a special wine. And yes a special wine costs more. Because of the picture shown here I'll start with the Brachetto - a pink and slightly bubbly, sweet but not too sweet wine that had been chosen to go with the dessert.

Brachetto? What's that? Well the one we drank last night was gorgeous and, moreover local - from the Yarra Valley vineyard Soumah, whose publicity people describe it thus:

"Brachetto is a north eastern Italian grape variety that has been a favourite since the time of Romans. Only a few vineyards in Australia grow the variety that is like liquid Turkish delight. The sweet flavour of rose water and strawberries fills your senses yet finishing clean and fresh. Soft bubbles, a light sweetness and lower alcohol make this wine the perfect start or finish to any meal."

You can probably guess from the name that it is an Italian grape - and indeed it is from Piedmont in the north-west of the country, bordering France and Switzerland - and mostly around the towns of Asti and Alessandria. Very little is grown here in Australia, but maybe - with the rise in popularity of rosé wine - something I learnt today from the AFR's wine guru Max Allen - maybe there will be more produced. For you seem to be able to make a rosé from almost anything. Which I guess is not a surprise because the same holds true for red and white wines.

The grape, however, is a red grape - well almost black and apparently: "they can be smelled, but not seen, in the vineyards, which emanate an unmistakable scent of roses".

On the Brachetto d'Acqui website there is also a rather nice legend built around Cleopatra:

"As with all true protagonists, the history of Brachetto is also imbued with legend and charm. One of the most evocative – and suggestive – has it that the VINUM ACQUENSE was thought to have astonishing aphrodisiac powers. Legend has it that in Roman times, first Julius Caesar, and then Mark Antony, sent many wineskins of the vinum acquense to Egypt and to the court of the famously beautiful Cleopatra before their arrival, which the queen is said to have used generously to rekindle the passion of her legendary lovers. A long chain of connections across history, land and wine characteristics seems to link the VINUM ACQUENSE to today’s Brachetto, which appears to be its true descendant, as it was already present in Acqui Terme and its surroundings in those times."

And it should be drunk young. The Soumah vineyard has three different versions of Brachetto - the frizzante, single vineyard and dolce tranquillo. Next time we're in the Yarra Valley we might have a look - it was truly lovely - and yes I got the rose bit.

But also Semillon. To go with our entrées - Potato and goats cheese tortellini with asparagus veloute and summer vegetables - which was delicious by the way.

Semillon - a golden grape - used to be a big thing here in Australia didn't it? But not so much these days. It must be very frustrating for grapegrowers keeping up with fashions in wine. And actually these days the main two places for Semillon world-wide, are France - in the Bordeaux region and here. Australia is in fact famous for it's Semillons. Apparently there is very little of it in America, and in South Africa and Chile where it used to be the dominant grape, it is also now little grown. In fact at one point Semillon was the most grown grape world-wide.

I found a piece on the Napa Valley Features website, in which an American writer Dan Berger waxed lyrical about Australian Hunter Valley Semillons:

"The winemaker, knowing of my love for this variety, served me the winery’s 1967 version. It was one of the greatest wines I have ever tasted. I’ll never forget the complexity — and the fact that it still had fruit in its aroma. Its alcohol was well below 12%."

A sentiment that Jancis Robinson - a renowned wine buff reiterated:

"Hunter semillons are one of Australia's great gifts to the wine world. Lean and screeching of citrus when young, they develop into ample and toasty wines after a decade or more, despite being often picked at under 11 percent alcohol and receiving no oak treatment."

Apparently the grapes should really be picked young if you want a Semillon that will age well - a time when they don't seem to taste of much but according to Dan Berger:

"Semillons with too much aroma and taste don’t seem to age as reliably."

And in the Bordeaux region they also grow Semillon for white wines as in the Hunter, although there they combine them with Sauvignon Blanc and age them in oak.

However, in the Bordeaux region they also want the grapes to grow old and start to rot - the famous botrytis that gives us Chateau d'Yquem - for the latest vintage - if you could find it - would cost $400 or more. It's an example of turning disaster - the rot to which the Semillon grape is prone - into something magic.

And last fun fact about Semillon. That name. The grape originated in Saint Emilion in the Bordeaux region - hence the name of the grape - a contraction of the name of the town. I certainly never made that connection.

Our Semillon, however, didn't even come from the Hunter Valley, it came from Western Australia and the town of Frankland River. Well I think it's a town. The winery must be small as it has no website. And I saw somewhere that most of the grapes it grows are sold to others. Very few are made into wine on site. Which is interesting. Dan Murphy's, for example, does not have it. Our bottle was from 2009 and it was just beautiful. Citrussy but also luscious.

I imagine that Mercer's owners or their lady sommelier, must visit wine shows and come across these treasures.

We do however have at least one bottle of the Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon, so maybe we should bring it out for a special occasion. It's the time of year for special occasions. In our house, besides the ones that we all in the Western world share, there is the anniversary - which is not really a good time for an anniversary. Indeed Stephen Mercer - the chef who came and chatted for a while - they are very good at that - did ask us why we got married then - with a slight tone of not quite disbelief, but a bit why one earth would you get married then? Because it was David's sister's birthday is the answer, and he thought this would mean he would not forget the anniversary! And he never has. And there is also our oldest grandson's birthday just to really pack everything into one week and this year he turns 18.

So there you go. Two lovely wines. And coincidentally - well not quite - in that article about rosé in the AFR by Max Allen he had done a blind tasting with a few people of a few different rosés varying in price from I think $18 to about $65 - and the cheapest one came out best - Jacob's Creek Petit Rosé. They'll have that in Dan Murphy's - but the Aldi Loire Valley cabernet franc rosé that I mentioned a while ago, is nice too.

YEARS GONE BY

December 21

2024 - Sundries

2023 - Nothing

2022 - Nothing

2021 - Nothing

2020 - Missing

2019 - Nothing

2018 - Not tiny or local at all

2017 - Gravlax or gravadlax, skin on skin off, beetroot or no beetroot, 24 or 48 hours, rinse, don't rinse

2016 - Heinz baked beans