Once again folks, we are going back to the state of Arizona for this wine review, This time we are in the town of Jerome (http://www.azjerome.com/jerome/) Arizona. For those of you who don't already know, I believe that Arizona happens to grow some really wonderful wine. My last review of an Arizona wine was the 2011 Sultry Cellars (Cellar 433) "Crop" (http://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2016/07/2011-sultry-cellars-cellar-433-crop.html) which I rated at 89 points (has character, is well balanced, & distinctive) and I really enjoyed it. The first item of note that I would like to point out is that this wine contains 4 different varietals. The wine is a blend of 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Sémillion, 10% Chenin Blanc, and 10% Grenache Blanc.The one varietal I would like to pay particular attention to for a minute here is the varietal known as the Semillon (pronounced "sem-ih-yon." ) grape. I don't know about you but prior to this wine I had never heard of the Semillon grape and up until experiencing it in this wine I knew nothing about it. Let's go ahead for a few minutes and talk about this varietal a little bit.
Semillion is the actually the third most poplar grape in France with the first and second most popular being in order of popularity of the Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc varietals. The Semillon grape is often used to blend with the varietal Sauvignon Blanc (as it is here) as well as the Muscadelle. The characteristics of the Semillon are Lemon, Pear and green papaya and can be aged in Oak to bring about a rather rich, creamy lemon notes. In this case there is certainly a nice amount of that "creamy note" to be enjoyed by the way. The lemon note seems to be sort of a mixed with an almost over ripe Nectarine, there are certainly no complaints here whatsoever. The Semillon varietal also lends itself to a higher Alcohol content (in this case 14.06%) yet is low in acidity. As a little side note the worlds most exalted dessert wines, Sauternes is made mostly with Semillon grapes. The varietal is an important blending component in White Bordeaux as well. The varietal of Semillion is also very prone to the development of Botrytis which enables the production of the amazing characteristics that lovers of sweet wine love so much. While being a late budding varietal it is also an early ripening grape. I ended up enjoying this varietal in the wine.I could just end this review right here and give you my rating and be done with it but as George Michael says in his Blu-ray of Live in London (yeah I'm watching it now :), "I'm not that kind of guy, I wouldn't do that to you" so I will indeed, not do that to you. The strong note of the Semillon varietal of grape really brought this wine to life and I was rather impressed with it. Notes of Lemon and Nectarine showed themselves off each fighting for notice and in competition with the Semilon certainly winning. A medium bodied Peach presented itself along the way as well as a Papaya note which was present as well to impress you. A sense of Alcohol on the Pallate was noted here as well but was in no way to the point of being offensive which is of course indeed good. The Chenin Blanc varietal which is in here from France as well brought a brilliance to this wine which compounded a slight tartness to the finish that also was not offensive to the Palatte. An did I mention a hint of tartness on the back end? Yes, there is a hint of lemony tartness on the sides of the Tongue as well as the back Palatte. Let's go further and tell you that there is a bonus of a buttery note that is almost behind the scenes here that helped cut and and add a smoothness to what otherwise might have been a possibly slightly harsh wine. This is a wine where the sides of your Tongue are dazzled with the zesty Lemony note. There is a surprise of a Vanilla note as well. Yeah I said a Vanilla note. Are you imagining the wine yet?
In an effort to wrap this up I am going to rate this wine at 92 (Wine just blows you away. Just makes you yearn for more.) points on The Desert Wine Guy rating Scale. Very full bodied white wine that I really enjoyed and highly recommend to you guys. Next time you are up in the neighborhood of the town of Jerome Arizona you simply must stop in at Cellar 433 as well as the other 3 wineries located there. Jerome also happens to be part of the Verde Valley Wine Trail (http://www.vvwinetrail.com/) as well that incorporates the surrounding cities of Cottonwood, Sedona, Clarkdale and
Cornville.
The Desert Wine Guy
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amazing characteristic sought by lovers of sweet wines
Read more at:http://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-topics/wine-educational-questions/grapes-for-wine-making-flavor-characteristics-explained/semillon-wine-grapes-flavor-character-and-history/
Read more at:http://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-topics/wine-educational-questions/grapes-for-wine-making-flavor-characteristics-explained/semillon-wine-grapes-flavor-character-and-history/
characteristic sought by lovers of sweet wines
Read more at:http://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-topics/wine-educational-questions/grapes-for-wine-making-flavor-characteristics-explained/semillon-wine-grapes-flavor-character-and-history/
Read more at:http://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-topics/wine-educational-questions/grapes-for-wine-making-flavor-characteristics-explained/semillon-wine-grapes-flavor-character-and-history/
characteristic sought by lovers of sweet wines
Read more at:http://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-topics/wine-educational-questions/grapes-for-wine-making-flavor-characteristics-explained/semillon-wine-grapes-flavor-character-and-history/
Read more at:http://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-topics/wine-educational-questions/grapes-for-wine-making-flavor-characteristics-explained/semillon-wine-grapes-flavor-character-and-history/
