Harkham Aziza's Semillon 2022

Description

The Hunter Valley is known for its unapologetically unblended Sémillon. The traditional way of making it is to harvest at low sugar levels, lightly press it, and then ferment it without skin contact or barrel fermentation. At Harkham, this is done in the exact opposite way (with the exception of maintaining the early picking to retain acidity and low sugar levels). Fourteen years ago, the Harkham family decided to turn the traditional way of making Sémillon on its head by letting the grapes see a short amount of skin contact prior to barrel fermentation and aging. The grapes are hand harvested early to retain their acidity. Once back at the cellar, they are chilled and left on their skins for about a day and a half before being whole-bunch pressed and racked into aged French oak barrels. The wine remains there for fermentation and aging before being racked back to tank and bottled. There are zero additions, including sulfur, to this delicate, unfiltered, and unfined wine.