Wine Temptation

Wine Variety: Semillon

2009-04-16T07:53:00.006+07:00

My one and only favorite white wine used to be the Chardonnay, but when I started experimenting with the wines of Hunter Valley, NSW, I've got a new favorite! The Semillon....

The Semillon has been considered to be of mediocre quality, tasted rather bland / neutral and are not very well-rounded; it has relatively low acidity and less aromatic. Thus, it often disappears into a blend with Sauvignon Blanc which, as people have said, produces extraordinary wines. (*I would definitely try it some time.*)

The Aussies, however, craft delicious Semillon, full of toast, marmalade, honey, and lime flavours, making it able to be a great single varietal wine to be enjoyed by everyone. The Hunter Valley is well-known to produce this world-class Semillon wines.

For those of you who prefer sweeter wines, you should try the Botrytis Semillon, produced by quite a lot of wineries at Hunter Valley. One of my favorites: Keith Tulloch's Botrytis Semillon.

Food Pairing:

Younger, grassier Semillons and Semillon/Sauvignon blends are tasty with leafy salads, grilled white fish, or on their own.
A mature Australian Semillon should go well with fresh salmon or full-flavoured seafood like crab.

How to Store Wine

2009-04-13T19:31:00.002+07:00

Storing wine might not be a problem for people who are lucky enough to have a cellar in their home. But for those who are not, finding a perfect place for storing wine might prove to be a challenge. Here are some guides to find the right place:

The main thing to keep in mind when storing wine is to avoid light and heat, as well as vibration. You also need to keep the bottles away from strong smells as they can alter wine.

Some good spots that you may use to store your wine include: the space under the stairs; an old cupboard in a quiet corner; a dark and disused fireplace; and under the bed.

Bad spots: the garage or utility room (fluctuating temperatures and strong smells); the greenhouse or garden shed (too cold in winter, too hot in summer); the kitchen (too warm at times); the utility room (hot, juddering machines); anywhere near a functioning boiler or heater.

Keep it in the dark. Constant bright lights, especially direct sunlight and fluorescent fixtures, can affect the character of a wine. If you can't keep a bottle entirely out of the light, keep it lightly wrapped up in a cloth, or simply put the bottle inside a box out of the way.

Store corked wine bottles on their sides so that the corks don't dry out. This is intended to keep the liquid in contact with the cork, which keeps the cork plumped up and right in the neck of the bottle. If you stand the bottle upright, the cork dries out over time, shrinking and letting in air, which will eventually cause oxidized wine.

Keep the temperature constant. Wine storage temperature should never go over 24 degrees centigrade; otherwise, it will quickly deteriorate. The temperature needs to be kept steady, slightly chilly 10 to 12 degrees centrigrade.

Keep it still - not only because glass bottles are fragile, but also because motion affects wine. So, store it away from vibrations and knocks.

Some humidity is preferable to absolute dryness as it will stop the corks from dyring out.

Isolate the wine. Remember that strong smells would alter wine, so don't store your wine with anything that has strong smells, such as white spirit, petrol, or pongy paints.

Sources:

"Wine Made Easy" by Mitchell Beazley.
wikiHow: "How to Store Wine".

Review: Keith Tulloch's Botrytis Semillon 2006

2009-04-06T23:45:00.018+07:00

Keith Tulloch

Botrytis Semillon 2006

Variety: 100% Semillon

Alcohol: 11.5%

Notes:

Rich in flavour and very intense with a restrained sweetness on the finish so it definitely doesn't cloy and has a refreshing end.

Due to its intensity, it's definitely not something that I would gulp down hastily, but it rather needs to be savoured carefully to enjoy its utmost complexity.

I bought and kept it for about 6 months before I finally opened it... should've waited longer as I found out later that the taste would improve after some cellaring (5 - 7 years, as noted on the website). So I haven't had the final say here... definitely one of my favorites, but I'm going to buy another one for ageing.