The Journey of Semillon

My love for Semillon started way back in 2006 at Mountain Ridge Wines in Wolseley. It was my first vintage as assistant winemaker under the guidance of Francois Agenbag that we made Semillon in different styles. 

The Bizoe journey started in 2008 and the first grapes I sourced was Semillon. I wanted to bottle a single variety Semillon in 2008, took advice from the industry friends that it’s very difficult to sell Semillon as a single variety. My first wine I have made under Bizoe label in 2008 was a Semillon-Sauvignon blanc blend called Bizoe Henrietta. We opened a bottle of Henrietta 2008 just the other night, and it was amazing. 

The Bizoe Henrietta 2008 received recognition around the world, amazing scores from the likes of Jancis Robinson, International Wine Challenge, Wine Spectator Magazine, Robert Parker (Wine Advocate). Bizoe Henrietta 2010 being named in the Top100 Wines of the World by Wine Enthusiast Magazine in the US

In 2017 I travelled with Estalet to the Hunter Valley in Australia with the sole purpose to taste Semillon. With the help of Winsor Dobbin, whom I met through the wine industry we scheduled our travel plan to taste with some the winemakers in the Hunter Valley. I was amazed to find that some of their Semillon vines was close to 100 years old. Bruce Tyrell from Tyrell Wines mentioned to me that some of the first Semillon planting material in the Hunter Valley is from South Africa. 

After tasting the Hunter Semillon, I have decided to see if I can do a similar Semillon style wine in South Africa from the 2018 harvest. I sourced grapes from Morningstar in Darling and Robertsvlei Road, Franschhoek. 

What is the Hunter style? Hunter for me is wines that picked at a low ph and high natural acidity. The most important aspect for me it to give the wine time in the bottle to mature. Just the other day we have submitted our Bizoe Robertsvleipad Semillon 2018 to Tim Atkin MW. We are excited to announce the wine scored 92points in his South African Report for 2024.