IF patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels, what does that make semillon sauvignon blanc? Or the West Australians who are that white blend’s last bastion in Australia?
Perhaps the answer lies with semillon itself.
While sauvignon blanc has taken Australian wine drinkers by storm since its reinvention by kiwi winemakers, semillon’s charms as a dry wine remain largely ignored outside its strongholds in the Hunter Valley and south-west Australia.
Young semillon is certainly divisive. Aggressively acidic with only dimly perceptible appeal, even seasoned drinkers take a cautious approach to a wine sometimes compared with paint-stripper.
No Ugly Duckling
Like any ugly duckling, however, fans of the grape note this same acid eventually transforms the wine into a wine of warmth, depth and character. Which probably explains why twice as many wine show trophies for that particular variety are awarded to dry semillons older than 2 years (and sometimes up to 20) as current vintage labels.
Yet semillon’s blend with sauvignon blanc remains a steadfast favourite with West Australians.
Willow Bridge Estate winemaker Kim Horton admits he prefers sauvignon blanc over semillon for its aromatic and flavour profile. He said his winery’s location in the Ferguson Valley also suited sauvignon blanc. The vineyard’s east-facing blocks were arranged perpendicular to the vineyard’s contours and allowed for “lazy” vertical shoot positioning – a form of trellis management – that offered good canopy coverage during the hottest part of the day.
Pick me
Although both varieties were easy to grow, semillon’s tendency to “fall away” quickly during ripening offered a smaller picking window than the sauvignon blanc which was picked over seven days.
“In hotter years, [sauvignon blanc] retains its acidity and flavours with lower sugar [than semillon],” he sais. “The semillon berries start to go pink and lose their glossy look. They start to look dragged out and get wrinkly so we pick them first and then pick the sauvignon blanc.”
He agreed that blending semillon tended to dilute sauvignon’s aromas but said it also added weight and complexity to the final wine that lent itself to the local climate.
Delicious semillon
“It very much suits our lifestyle and our cuisine,” he said. “We have an Indian summer here with long warm afternoons so having a wine that’s lovely, cold and fresh and that’s not high in alcohol along with our seafood is what it’s all about.”
Willow Bridge offers the blend in two styles with both winning trophies last year. The Dragonfly label represents the fresh-fruited, zesty approach while the Bookends is a barrel fermented fume style wine.
Horton said the oak fermentation and barrel maturation regime was where semillon shone most brightly whereas stainless steel fermentation brought out the “thiolity” of sauvignon blanc.
“Our semillon has been in the barrel since the 3rd of March,” he said. “It captures beautiful fermentation characters – all grassy and asparagus – it tastes delicious.”
Horton admitted that the blend generally little appeal outside West Australia.
Home-town hero
“From a West Australian perspective, our market is very patriotic towards our wines so we get good demand for [semillon sauvignon blends] here,” he said. “But, to be honest, it doesn’t travel much. Retailers we speak to on the east coast don’t show much interest in the blend.”
This regionality is reflected in the wine show results. Of the 94 semillon sauvignon blanc (SSB) labels assessed by wine shows last year, 19 of the top 20 were West Australian. The exception is a Riverland product.
The two grapes contribute quite different flavour profiles: sauvignon brings pungent tropicals while semillon’s flavours lean more towards lemon and green vegetals. However it seems that neither meaningfully sways judges’ opinions of the blend.
While semillon-dominant exhibits outnumbered their sauvignon-dominant counterparts last year, neither style scored much better than the other across all 94 labels. This was less true of the top 20 ranked by us. Sauvignon-dominant labels outpointed semillon labels in the shortlist but the two styles pretty well shared the trophies.
Wine shows assessed 212 semillon, sauvignon blanc exhibits across 94 individual labels last year. Our list of (West) Australia’s top examples in 2025 follows:
The full list can be found here.