Drinking The World

Peter Lehmann Barossa Valley 2006 Botrytis Semillon is 12.5% abv. / 25 proof and bottled at 13.5 brix. According to Aussiewines.com the Botrytis affected fruit was picked on the 26th April, sourced solely from the Peter Lehmann Semillon vineyard on the banks of the River Para. Chief winemaker Andrew Wigan declared 2006 the best vintage for botrytis development that he has ever experienced. The vintage conditions were perfect. Weather in the latter part of the growing season gave ideal conditions for the natural development of Botrytis on the late picked Semillon grapes which were allowed to develop their intense characters while still on the vine. Approximately 20% of this wine was fermented in new French oak hogsheads. Botrytis affected wines are the most complex and longest lived of all sweet table wine styles. The 2006 vintage is an outstanding edition, and the winemakers are fully confident that it will give pleasure for many years to come. It was a Medal Winner at the Sydney & Melbourne Wine Shows. Peter Lehmann 2006 is a great release from an outstanding vintage for the Barossa's Botrytis Semillon.

The color is a nice medium-light gold with a hint of yellow/green to it. I expect the color to mature over time to a full, rich gold. The aroma is of bright fresh fruit like, pineapple, lemon, pear, with hints of hint of citrus and honeyed botrytis notes. The taste is that of fresh, ripe apricot, lemon zest, orange blossom honey, citrusy acid and botrytis flavors, over the classic semillon taste. This is a young, bright, and fresh tasting dessert wine that should age very well for decades, developing depth and complexity.

I have to pick up a few bottles to lay down to age and see how they develop, because the wine is an excellent young desert wine that shows promise of aging into an amazing mature one. The suggested price of just under $20 for a 375 ml. bottle is a good buy but if you shop around you can pick it up for much less. I paid $13.99 at the New Hampshire State liquor store and that was a steal.

Hardys 2003 Botrytis Semillon is 11.5% abv. and packaged in 375 ml. bottles. The wine is 18.2 brix at harvest and the wine has residual sugar of 210 grams per liter.

The Hardys Winery in South Eastern Australia was established in 1853 and they have been making fine wines, including dessert wines, what the Aussies call 'stickies' for over 150 years. Their wines are made from premium grapes sourced from and grown in diverse areas and multiple vineyards then blended and crushed together depending upon the type and style of wine.

This is the second vintage of Botrytis Semillon released in the US by Hardys, following the 2005 launch of their 2002 Botrytis Semillon. In the near future I will do a vertical tasting of the two and compare them.

The color of the wine is a medium golden yellow, with a medium to full body with a nice, slightly syrupy mouth feel. It has that classic Australian "stickie" feel in your mouth, like many other fine dessert wines.

The aroma is that of a combination of a young dessert wine type of fruits, like green apple and one of the sweeter pineapple varieties such as a 'Gold' or a South African 'Victoria'; and more mature wine flavors like golden sultana raisins.

The taste is a melange of both young and mature wines, again with the afore mentioned pineapple and golden sultanas; as well as dried apricots, hints of figs, and honey, with a nice presence of botrytis, and carried by some slight oak.

The finish is medium to long lasting and very complex as all the flavors meld together.

This in excellent wine and at an approximate cost of $14.99 for 375 ml. it's a bargain as well.