Hunter Valley Tasting Report – 2016 Semillon plus a few (good) surprises

I traveled to the Hunter Valley recently to taste through the 2016 semillon wines and the very highly anticipated 2014 shiraz wines. It’s a great region for these two long-established wine styles but there’s also a human factor that makes the Hunter stand out.

There’s a strong culture around the wineries and winemakers that means they are deeply connected to the terroir and the unique climate of the region, very northerly for Australia, which means a very early harvest and often semi-tropical rain patterns that threaten January and February harvesting. 

Semillon is the signature white and the most unique contribution of the region to the world of wine and it’s very racy, super fine and capable of very long, majestic aging. The acuity of the local palates is no doubt due in part to the fact they work with such a fine wine style every day. They also drink widely and well and in good quantity. Beer is delivered to Hunter Valley wineries by the pallet, where most would take it a case at a time. Burgundy arrives in cases not singles.

Now the 2016 vintage was a tough one for these girls and guys, super difficult in fact. It was early, there was an unsettled summer, hail was an issue and it rained coming into harvest. In fact, it rained a lot. To make anything close to a great wine, there was the need to be very selective in the vineyard.

The state of the vines meant that machine picking was going to be a liability and there was a real need to harvest very selectively. Handpicking costs were astronomical for those that were willing to take the leap and there is a real argument that this is one region to embrace the use of leading edge mechanical sorting technology to underpin fruit quality where hand harvesting is not an option.

But for all the dreary weather and talk of difficulty, tasting these wines was an unexpected surprise. At the top end (where higher handpicking costs can be absorbed) these wines are strong and I like the stylistical lean towards more racy and punchy styles. In the scheme of semillon, 2016 is one of the stronger vintages of the last decade, especially at the top.

The best of these wines have weight and lightness, power and elegance and plenty of lime juice, citrus character. They’re nicely refined and evocative of the old Hunter River Riesling style wines, an historic name for these more racy, leaner styles of semillon, nothing actually to do with riesling grapes. They’d call the fuller styles Hunter River Burgundy, again, a stylistic name for purely semillon wines in more generous style.

And speaking of white Burgundy, there are a few extra wines here that I tasted at various meals, notably a few very good chardonnays. I’d requested only semillon and shiraz, but the winemakers here are irrepressible, so a chardonnay ambush at lunch was no big surprise, in fact, a pleasant one.

There are a few reds here too that are outside the 2014 shiraz parameters, but wines that you should know about, especially the pinot shiraz blends. This was a traditional style dating back to the 1940s and '50s and has been revived recently to great effect.

My 2014 Hunter Valley shiraz report will follow, enjoy the semillons. 

Photos from top to bottom: vineyards at Tyrrell's Wines in Hunter Valley; Beautiful winery of Andrew Thomas Wines

- Nick Stock

Nick is a renowned Australian wine writer, author, presenter and filmmaker who reports on his worldwide wine tasting experiences for JamesSuckling.com.