A recent Sem-posium in Sonoma County shone a light on Sémillon on both sides of the Atlantic. Could now be the time for it to break free of the shadow of Sauvignon?

I’m a fan of Sémillon, I found my way to Bordeaux thanks to Sauternes, where the elastic skins of Sémillon make it the perfect host for Noble Rot (botrytis cinerea) and produce the famous elixir. Only 2-3% of Bordeaux is dedicated to sweet wine production, but Sémillon is also an important part of some of the most prestigious dry white Bordeaux. The small percentage (approx. 10%) of white grapes in Bordeaux is planted to equal parts of Sémillon and Sauvignon (43 % to 44% respectively) with the rest to Muscadelle and other complementary varietals. 

A tsunami of Sauvignon

Sauvignon Blanc has powered through Bordeaux, more familiar to consumers by name and by aromatic profile than Sémillon, often considered a ‘nice to have’ in a blend, bringing depth and ageing potential rather than aromatic complexity.  It’s a similar story in California, Scott Knippelmeir, viticulturalist at Lambert Bridge Winery in Sonoma County, talks about a  ‘tsunami of Sauvignon’ sweeping across the region.

Sem-posium

This comparison was one of many at the recent ‘Sem-posium’ organized at Lambert Bridge Winery in Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County. An opportunity for growers, wine makers and the Sémillon curious to discuss and discover more about this too often over-looked variety. Jennifer Higgins, general manager and wine maker at Lambert Bridge was the instigator of the event. In 2016, Jennifer came to Bordeaux and tasted white Château Haut Brion. 

It changed her perspective on Sémillon. Returning to Sonoma, she looked for some Sémillon grapes to make a similar blend. Originally a one off ‘Lambert Bridge Cuvee Blanc’, (a blend of 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Semillon) it was so well received that she’s been making it ever since.

Sauternes to Sonoma
These links with Bordeaux, and Sémillon became closer in 2020. With few grapes to vinify, thanks to wildfires and smoke taint, she turned to Bordeaux to make a red blend with Viniv but also a Sauternes Cuvée, ‘Sigalas Lambert’ with Château Sigalas Rabaud, 1^stgrowth Sauternes. Born out of her friendship with owner winemaker Laure de Lambert, it was another deep dive into the complexity and versatility of this grape variety.

Old bottles, new wines 

Laure is the perfect partner, a champion of Sémillon, both sweet and dry. She took over the reins of family property in 2006, and, despite family resistance after six generations of sweet wine producers, in 2009 she introduced a dry white Sémillon-Sauvignon blend, La Demoiselle de Sigalas. Although emblematic of Sauternes, Laure feels that Sémillon remains under-appreciated and its potential still largely unexplored. She’s doing her best to change this. She praises the  ‘aromatic richness of Sémillon, that evokes and becomes more complex with age’. It has a fabulous aging potential both in dry and sweet expressions. ‘With age it’s like an excellent Chardonnay even top tasters can be confused’.

As she found her dry Sémillon more and more interesting, she has increased it’s percentage in the blend (it is now around 95% Sémillon) and two 100% dry Sémillon cuvées followed, La Sémillante and Château Sigalas Sémillon, both vinified and aged on lees in Burgundy barrels. In 2020 she introduced La Marquise, a 100% sparkling Sémillon Crémant de Bordeaux, aged for 30 months on its lees, (with a drop of Sauternes in its ‘liqueur de dosage’ – to keep it the family). All this alongside the classic Château Sigalas Rabaud 1er cru Classé Sauternes.

These multiple expressions of Semillon from a small 14 ha property perfectly showcase the diversity and potential of the variety. For Laure, Sémillon allows ‘the terroir to express itself, which is wonderful for a wine maker’. The gravel soils at Sigalas Rabaud bring finesse and tension, on clay, depth and structure and on sandy soils more simple wines. ‘It’s a real French wine, slightly austere at the beginning but elegant and flavorful as it evolves’.

Laure worked with Jacques Lurton to perfect these dry expressions of Semillon. Jacques is 5^th generation Lurton, owners of half a dozen properties in Pessac-Léognan, and is a fan of Sémillon in all its expressions, including Australian Sémillon from his Islander Vineyard on Kangaroo Island.  You can see them chatting about their collaboration here when they launched.

Dry Sauternes ?

Although no specific appellation exists for dry whites in Sauternes and Barsac yet, (wines are labelled “Bordeaux Blanc”) there is a history of ‘dry Sauternes’. Researching Sémillon, Laure found a 1948 Château Gilette labelled ‘Sauternes Sec’. 

 Château Doisy-Daëne in Barsac traces dry white production back to the early 1950s, as does Château Lafaurie Peyraguey  when, under the ownership of Cordier, it was bottled in Alsace bottles as a nod to the family origins.

Since the 1980s there’s a renewal of interest in dry whites here, the names may lack imagination (G de Guiraud, R de Rieussec, S de Suduiraut, M de Malle – all inspired by Y d’Yquem) but the wines are delicious. The gravel, clay and limestone soils of Sauternes and Barsac are perfect for dry whites with Sémillon increasing in blends. Opalie, a 50/50 blend from Château Coutet in Barsac was introduced in 2010, Château Lafaurie Peyraguey reintroduced a dry white in 2014 and Asphodele, a 100% Semillon from Château Climens arrived in 2018. The team from Domaine de Chevalier, who know a thing or two about white Pessac Léognan, produced their first Clos des Lunes in 2011 where, in the heart of Sauternes, they only produce dry wines .

Historic Sémillon 

Sémillon has a long and prestigious history in Bordeaux, it’s at the heart of the whites of Graves Pessac Léognan, the only classified dry whites in the region. Bordeaux may be the world’s largest Sémillon vineyard, but it’s not the only place with history. 

Unlike Bordeaux where grapes are estate sourced, upon her return to Sonoma, Jennifer could shop around for her Sémillon grapes, although they’re hard to find, (California has approx. 500 acres of Sémillon compared to 17 000 Sauvignon Blanc).  She started sourcing in the Russian River Valley, before working with Brenae Royal in 2O20, at the Monte Rosso Vineyard, where Brenae farmed 3.82 acres of Sémillon planted in 1886. Dry-farmed, head-trained (no trellising) and at about 1,000 ft elevation, these are the world’s second-oldest Sémillon vines – just 20 years younger than Hunter Valley’s oldest. 

Kendall Hoxsey’s family has been farming in Yountville for over 200 years, including 10 acres of Sémillon planted by her father. She says the workers love picking it, also head trained, there’s no wires, which gives them freedom. ‘We’re hoping that our new planting down in a cooler area is going to retain acidity, fog goes through and really keeps it cool, so we try to have most of the whites there’.

A range of wines 

Lambert Bridge now makes two Sémillon wines, the original ‘Cuvée Blanc’ blend with 30% Sémillon partly from Monte Rosso Vineyard and a single varietal from Sei Querce Vineyards in Alexander Valley. Jennifer has been known to throw in ‘a touch’ of Sémillon to round out her Sei Querce Sauvignon Blanc.  

Diversity of terroir, diversity of style 

Sémillon is tricky to find in Sonoma but also tricky to grow. Jennifer and Scott are working with growers, learning about the farming all the time, quality really depends how and where it’s grown. Scott farms Sémillon, and a lot more, across the region, even pulling up some red grapes to replant with white grapes specifically for Sauvignon Sémillon blends. ‘I think in the next couple of years we’ll plant in four different places, maybe 10 in 12 acres’. Most is for blends for wine makers who want to create a white wine blend with two to four different varieties.

Place 

Drainage is important on these volcanic soils, if the subsoil gets saturated and becomes anaerobic, there can be some manganese toxicity. Not dissimilar to Sauternes, where Sémillon thrives on Laure’s naturally well drained south facing gravel slopes.

For Sémillon in Sonoma cluster spacing is important to avoid rot, especially in where the Petaluma fog comes in. Unlike Sauternes they are not looking for noble rot. The few noble rot wines grown here are thanks to Botrytis introduced by the grower. Not something you’ll see in Bordeaux!

With its high elevation, the Monte Rosso Vineyard enjoys a cooling influence from the San Pablo Bay but is above the fog line. Also, with a southwestern-facing aspect, which means midsummer sunshine from 5 a.m. to about 9:30 pm but with a 150 foot drop – a very different topography to Sauternes. A swift diurnal shift of 15 and 20 degrees softens tannins, rounds off the edge, but keeps acidity that helps these wines age really well. 

Sémillon is definitely a grape you have to pay attention to, it’s very reactive. Kendall Hoxsey remembers the  horrible heat wave in 2022, ‘Four days prior to the heat wave, nothing was ready, so we were all forced to wait then boom, it’s overripe’. Consensus is that Sémillon has a short window of picking opportunity, going from under to over ripe quickly. Not dissimilar to Merlot.

Lost in Chardonnay 

In 2015, Brenae took over the historic ranch of Monte Rosso vineyard in the Moon Mountain District outside the town of Sonoma.  ‘Nobody really cared about Sémillon, it was lost in some Chardonnay programme, forgotten about and didn’t get a ton of a TLC’. She started to give the Sémillon a little more attention. ‘These are really vigorous vines, with roots that go about 32 feet through the bedrock’. Brenae shared a photo on Instagram where she’s standing next to a six foot tall Sémillon vine. Many are over five and a half feet with huge variability, ‘There’s fruit low near the ground, some at six feet, and then some on the inside’. 

Impressive yields and interplanting

There’s a big difference with Bordeaux yields that are (legally) tiny in comparison. Brenae’s 100 year old vines still produce three and a half tons to the acre, despite being completely dry farmed. ‘Cluster weights were just shy of a pound apiece, they’re massive. I need both hands to hold them because they’ll usually have like two wings on them as well’.

If you aren’t paying attention to the farming, these clusters become enormous, and they’re on top of each other and they’re like water balloons.’ She trims the wings, to reduce weight on these very fragile limbs, after about four pounds canes start to snap.  

Managing maturity 

Nick said he’s seen some varietal characters just drop off the ledge if you push the tonnage too much, ‘you just get ‘shitty’ juice, and variety goes away quite quickly’. But if you’re not overwhelming the vine with too much fruit, that precipice, doesn’t come as swiftly. 

‘We kept the leaves up top, and then go inside and strip the middle, to get airflow without getting the direct sun’. The vines are interplanted with Folle Blanche, Burger, Lenoir, Pinot, St. George and more, a historic legacy. They started mapping but eventually stopped looking and called it 100% Semillon. 

In Lolonis Vineyard in Redwood Valley, Scott dry farms Sémillon interplanted with Viognier that sits about two feet higher than the Sémillon.  He’s curious to see how that shade cover works. He trellises horizontally for even ripening, with Semillon there’s a real delicate balance between pushing it to ripeness and being diligent about managing the fruit load. Brenae agrees, ‘Semillon is super reactive to the weather’, she’s happy to have vines where she can keep the acidity, but with sweet notes, not just in the aromatics, but on the palette as well. She likens the finish to ‘Bodega Bay or something with some oysters’.

Her sweet spot is between 20 bricks and 23 bricks, 19 brix is too low and acid is high, with sharp tannins. ‘Past 23, and you’ll get bigger, flabbier ‘California style’ Sémillon. At the Monte Rosso Vineyard Sémillon harvested between 20 to 23 brix, will get beautiful aromatics, lots of citrus and honeysuckle and melon, and if you find the balance some nice salinity, with spice notes from the volcanic soil.’ 

Laure tells a similar story from Sauternes. The Sauternes harvest needs several passages through the vineyard, hand picking the grapes affected by noble rot. She applies this same philosophy to her dry Sémillon with at least two passages through the plot, picking grapes at different maturities to keep that balance between freshness, aromatic complexity and the depth and structure that Sémillon brings. A structure she reinforces by fermenting and aging on the lees in barrels. 

The consensus is that farming is essential to get the quality and balance, if not you can get ‘fruit balls’ in California. Patience is key, to wait until the flavours come in, a peach nose note, but like peaches, you have to wait for it.

Château Sigalas Rabaud has an historical advantage of having a diversity of excellent old Sémillon vines, on her gravel and sandy, south facing soils that offer perfect conditions for ripening and concentrating the aromas. Planted to 85% Sémillon, she is working with the Chamber of agriculture to preserve and clone the heritage of her 45 year old vines.

Climate Sensitivity 

Sémillon seems to be very reactive to the weather on both sides of the Atlantic, particularly sensitive to extremes of temperature. Laure finds her Sémillon is suffering more than previously. She feels the challenge is less the increasing temperatures but more a chaotic climate. Sémillon seems to be suffering from the more brutal changes between hot and cold, with both younger and older vines showing a higher mortality rate than before. 

Previously Laure was coplanting the vineyard, replacing dead vines one by one, a slow process but respectful of the vineyard. Historically planted on riparia rootstock, she uses the more vigorous SO4 for the coplants. ‘In Bordeaux’, she says ’you’re not really supposed to talk about vigour’ but she feels this vigour protects the new Sémillon vines from the variation of climate they’re seeing. 

Now, with this accelerated mortality she has changed her strategy, four years ago deciding to uproot a small plot in front of the château, planted in 1955. The first plot they’ve completely in 70 years, ‘it was hard to uproot such beautiful old vines’.

After three years lying fallow, they replanted in April, using the massal selection, to preserve the typicity of those old vines. Here she’s replanting with 110 Richter on the deep gravel, vigorous but also better at managing water scarcity, even if the deep roots are slower to become established. On the clay less susceptible to drought, they are using 10114.  

After the 2017 fires and high winds broke vines at Monte Rosso, Brenae kept the St. George rootstock and grafted on Sémillon, also using parent material from the Sémillon block. ‘In vineyard management, it’s not a popular thing to use old and diseased parent material because you’ll shorten the expected lifespan of the new vines, but we didn’t want to lose the heritage of the vines’.

Ageworthy weight 

The lots are small, so the majority of Sémillon in Sonoma is fermented in small stainless steel barrels and some in neutral oak with a bit of new oak to finish. There’s an idea that keeping it on new oak for too long and ‘You lose kind of that essence’. It’s a different approach to Pessac Léognan where Sémillon’s acidity and ageing potential from the temperate Bordeaux climate is reinforced by barrel ageing building wines designed for ageing.

Sémillon doesn’t go through malo on either side of the Atlantic. In Bordeaux retaining acidity is key especially for wines destined for ageing, it’s very rare to see malo on any whites in Bordeaux.

At Lambert Bridge, Jennifer treats it as she does her Sauvignon. ‘In general, the malic is not very high, the acid is definitely the soft part of the blend. That’s what’s being added when you blend with Sémillon’. She also used a concrete egg, ‘It turned out beautifully, it preserved the fruit but with that texture that you get out of concrete. We’ve also fermented Sauvignon Blanc in the egg and then blended it in, it just depends on the year’. ‘If you want more spice and a little bit more weight, the barrel does a great job’. 

Brenae is releasing a 2023 Sémillon under her new brand, Violet’s Paradise. ‘It was quite a cool vintage and initially, the wine was a little lean, so I put it in 100% new French oak for three months, to round it out and bring out some of the vibrancy and it worked beautifully with spicy typicity’. 

Laure ferments her Sémillon and Sauvignon differently for her dry white. The Semillon is fermented and aged in oak and for Le Demoiselle, the Sauvignon is fermented in stainless steel, both are aged on fine lees before blending. The 1er Cru Classé Sauternes is fermented and aged in new oak for 18 months and the crémant spends 30 months on the lees in the bottle before disgorging. 

Lighter brighter

As well as the arrival of dry white, Sauternes is adapting. Consumers are looking for a lighter, brighter Sauternes and there’s a desire -y many to create wines that are accessible young. Laure has produced a zero sulphite semi sweet ‘Le 5’, specifically for this market. She serves it over ice with a twist of orange peel.

Hard sell or a hand sell? 

In California there’s a market for grapes and a market for finished wine. Kendall Hoxsey says, ‘We’re selling the fruit to wine makers that want to try something different, they want to expose people to different wines, winemakers that have a story to tell.’  When Brenae took over grape sales in 2019, she started looking for people who ‘gave a damn’ about Sémillon, and Jennifer came along!’ Jen purchased one ton of Semillon fruit from Monte Rosso Vineyard in 2020. She remembers ‘The vines were taller than me, and grew beautiful fruit’.

A white wine option for the red wine drinker

In California, Sémillon wines are hard to find, they often sit in a portfolio of a majority of red. It’s about having options, people want options. When they come into the tasting room, they know the Chardonnay, they know the Sauvignon, but some will be willing and wanting to try something new. They are easier to sell with brand equity behind them. ‘Semillon acts as a nice reprieve for the red wine drinkers’ says Brenae, it always has a little bit of weight to it.

The Lambert Bridge Sémillon has been very well received, with their DTC model.  Sémillon is a hand sell and they can tell a story. If consumers trust you and know the winemaker, they’re more willing to experiment. It’s about getting people to try it, be seduced by the wine and letting the Semillon speak for itself. 

 ‘It’s not Chardonnay!’ says Brenae ‘It’s just something different. Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc are doing well and they’re running the market right now. So, here’s something different that doesn’t stray too far in style’. 

Bordeaux dry Sémillon needs a story too, many consumers have never heard of it. As Laure says, ‘In Sauternes we’re used to a difficult sell, selling sweet white wine is not always easy’. Relying on sales of Sauternes is hard, the expense of production, the low yields and the extreme climate sensitivity needed for the Botrytis magic to operate, means these wines are expensive, difficult and unreliable to produce. Producing a more reliable and more approachable dry white is a welcome, steadier source of income. Bottled earlier and with higher yields (although well below California!) they help cash flow. They also offer a more affordable introduction to the region. Offering a range is still relatively unusual in Bordeaux chateaux and is a huge advantage with wine tourism. Château Sigalas Rabaud is open for visits, tastings and lunches with five guest rooms in the Chateau. A glass of dry white on arrival is always welcome.

Experiments and enthusiasm  

Laure sees these experiences as nurturing a greater understanding of the grape variety, its maturity, the impact of botrytis cinerea, the ageing and ageing potential for both dry and sweet. An analytical and pragmatic approach allows for evolution whilst preserving the chateau style. ‘It’s an opportunity to share the richness of our terroir, to show Sauternes as a centre of experimentation that offers a diversity but faithful to a long tradition’. 

Challenges

Sémillon presents challenges on both side of the Atlantic in the field, the cellar and in the market but it has its fans. There’s other great terroir for Sémillon, we touched on Australia and I tasted some wonderful Sémillon blends on a recent trip to Margaret River where another group of dynamic women are leading the charge.

More than fans, these growers and wine makers are evangelical, experimental and excited about the potential of this too often overlooked variety. Perhaps the next Sem-Posium will be in the Southern Hemisphere? 

Thanks for reading, please feel free to share with anyone interested in discovering Sémillon and learning more about Bordeaux. Sign up here to receive future posts directly to your in box.  Read the new Green Edition of Bordeaux Bootcamp, and explore Wine and Wellness, with  The Drinking Woman’s Diet   or say hi  here.

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