Semillon grapes assume the starring role in the most expensive and sought after dessert wine in the world Château d'Yquem. When infected with noble rot, Semillon late-harvest grapes combine concentrated sugars and flavors with intensified aromas for unforgettable late-harvest dessert wines or Sauternes. These wines are spectacularly long-lived.
Semillon is consistently productive and vigorous at 6-8 tons per acre, easy to cultivate, and resistant to diseases, with the notable exception of rot, which is hoped to be the noble type. California is typically too arid for noble rot, so most US Semillons are blended with Sauvignon Blanc and rendered dry, although an experimental Californian winemaker named Myron Nightingale caused a sensation in 1956 when he successfully made a Sauterne-style wine by spraying spores of Botrytis cinerea on Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. The ripe Semillon berry is a rich yellow color at maturity, although too much direct sun can burn the grape or cause raisining. Its flavor profile includes apricot, quince, peach, honey, pineapple, vanilla, and even candy. Wines dominated by Semillon are soft, subtle, rich and full bodied and low in acidity.
Clone: FPS 02