Saturday, October 1, 2011

PETER LEHMANN SEMILLON 2010

- Barossa Valley, SA
- $7-$16
- Screwcap
- 11.0%alc

The recent consistency of Peter Lehmann's bargain-basement semillon has been little short of spectacular for a wine of its price (for those of us who appreciate the style of course). Even then, with the fine vintage report and a fantastic wine like Rick Burge's unwooded 2010 Olive Hill (92pts) already released, it's the 2010 Peter Lehmann Semillon I've really pinned high hopes on. I am interested to know how this relates though.

Very restrained and clean, with a slightly spicy nose of under-ripe green pears, melons, lemon and straw, Peter Lehmann's 2010 is one of those young semillons whose shy fragrance suggests its palate should do all the talking. The medium-weighted palate does follow a similar path initially, speaking clarity through youthful, restrained flavour, but if you read between the lines it mentions a few extra details. Firstly, there's a genuinely understated concentration of clean, juicy texture, followed by a mid-palate evolution in flavour profile. It proceeds to reveal more dry grass aspects trailed by a surprisingly savoury, lanolin-like note, which lingers calmly into the aftertaste alongside a soft push of simultaneously creamy, sour-citric acids marked by a faint bitter edge.

ü For under $10 there's a bit more going on here than your average quaffing white and, it probably tastes (and reads) like more than it is. Simple, yet cleverly complex. Drink to 2016.
88 points


No comments:

Post a Comment