Andrew Thomas Braemore 1.5lt Magnum Semillon 2015

With the Bordeaux town of Saint-Émilion the most likely origin of this distinguished golden skinned grape, its no wonder that its sophistication lends itself to some of the best ageing whites and sweet dessert wines like Sauternes and Botrytis. It is planted in almost all wine growing areas, but it is Australia that has put varietal Semillon wines on the world wine map with our unique signature style loved by winemakers and lauded by wine critics everywhere. The Hunter Valley is renowned for developing this style originally marketed as ‘Hunter River Riesling’. This unique bottle-aged buttercup yellow wine was pioneered by Lindemans, Tulloch, McWilliams, Draytons and Tyrrell's and is distinct for its toast and honey characters and complex flavours. The modern youthful style of Hunter Semillon is almost always dry with citrus flavours, which blend well with Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. The Barossa Valley, Margaret River and Adelaide Hills also produce wonderful Semillon and blends, a match of pure harmony when enjoyed with seafood.

Australia's oldest wine region boasts vines first planted in the 1820s and presided over by generations of famous wine names like McWilliam, Tyrrell and Wyndham. Australian wine pioneers like Maurice O'Shea, Audrey Wilkinson and Len Evans put the Hunter on the global wine map as did Sydney wine merchant Leo Buring who marketed the first commercially successful Hunter Valley Semillon under the label 'Rhine Gold' in the 1960s and Murray Tyrrell whose first commercial bottling of Chardonnay signalled the beginning of the Australian Chardonnay craze. The region hangs its hat on its iconic and world-famous Semillon style and is also famous for producing light and elegant styles from a wide variety of grapes including Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Verdelho.