Simply Sublime Blend: Top 50 Semillon Sauvignon Blancs
If Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon were wines, they’d be Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. In that order.
Whoever first thought of putting these two grapes together was obviously an entertainment genius because these two are the Odd Couple of wine. Separately insufferable. Brilliant together.
Think Semillon and you think austere, possibly insipid young wines that slowly ripen into majestic, toasty mouthfuls of intense fruit amplified by sometimes confronting acid. If you like ‘em young, this is not the grape for you.
Sauvignon blanc, on the other hand, is the grape Kiwis have redefined into Australia’s favourite summer white. They’ve taken sauvignon blanc from its smoky, flinty French origins into the aromatic mouthful of grassy, tropical fruit salad of passionfruit, gooseberry and pineapple wine drinkers around the world have come to love. But this one’s not for keeping. Sauvignon blanc, or its New World version at least, is all about this summer, not next year’s.
But put them together and you have a delicious wine that’s everything you could want in a glass: front of mouth, aroma, middle palate and enough length to keep you wanting more until the next gulp.
Semillon Sauvignon Blanc is Western Australia’s gift to Australian wine drinkers (right alongside cabernet merlot). Nearly every example of any note comes from Margaret River, leading one critic to ponder why any other region would possibly bother competing.
Indeed, all of the Top 10 of our Top 50 wines in this category hail from the west including, for the first time, a private label from the Woolworths stable. Here’s our list of Australia’s Top 50. Make that Western Australia’s:
| 1 | Rosily Vineyard Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2016 |
| 2 | Grape Expectations Vintners Miles From Nowhere Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2016 |
| 3 | Pinnacle Drinks Cormack & Co Steadfast Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2016 |
| 4 | Xanadu DJL Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2016 |
| 5 | Devils Lair Margaret River Hidden Cave Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015 |
| 6 | Xanadu Exmoor Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015 |
| 7 | Amberley Secret Lane Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2016 |
| 8 | Forester Estate Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2016 |
| 9 | KarriBindi Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2016 |
| 10 | Xanadu DJL Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015 |
| 11 | Deep Woods Estate “Ivory” Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2016 |
| 12 | Amelia Park Trellis Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2016 |
| 13 | Amelia Park Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2016 |
| 14 | Cowaramup Wines Clown Fish Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2016 |
| 14 | EVOI Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015 |
| 14 | Pinnacle Drinks Gallows The Bommy Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2016 |
| 14 | Streicker Bridgeland Block Sauv Blanc Semillon 2015 |
| 18 | Aravina A Series Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015 |
| 19 | DeBortoli Wines Sacred Hill Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2016 |
| 20 | Churchview Estate Range Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2016 |
| 21 | Windance Estate Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2016 |
| 22 | Watershed Premium Wines Shades Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2016 |
| 23 | Sileni Cellar Selection Cape Sauvignon Blanc 2015 |
| 24 | Deep Woods “Hillside” Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2016 |
| 25 | Evans & Tate Classic Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2015 |
| 26 | Hamelin Bay Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2016 |
| 27 | Butler Crest Table Talk Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2016 |
| 28 | Brookland Valley Verse 1 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2015 |
| 29 | Evans & Tate Metricup Road Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2015 |
| 30 | Peccavi Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2014 |
| 31 | Flametree Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2016 |
| 32 | Vasse Felix Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015 |
| 33 | Pinnacle Drinks Franklin Tate Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015 |
| 34 | ALDI Stores A.C Byrne & Co Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2016 |
| 35 | Juniper Crossing Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2016 |
| 36 | Peccavi Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015 |
| 37 | Harmans Estate Regional Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc 2016 |
| 38 | Penna lane Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc 2015 |
| 39 | Bonking Frog Foreigner Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2016 |
| 40 | Jamiesons Run Limestone Coast Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015 |
| 41 | Hay Shed Hill Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2016 |
| 42 | Coward & Black Vineyards Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2014 |
| 42 | Willow Bridge Estate Dragonfly Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2016 |
| 44 | Hay Shed Hill Block 1 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2015 |
| 45 | The Lake House Denmark Premium Reserve Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2014 |
| 46 | Bird in Hand Two in the Bush Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2016 |
| 47 | Knee Deep Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015 |
| 48 | Oakover Wines White Label Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon 2016 |
| 49 | After Hours Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2016 |
| 50 | Miles From Nowhere Best Blocks Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2016 |