Oz Wine Facts – Semillon

A pale golden-skinned grape variety, Semillon is generally used to craft sweet as well as dry white wines. Native to the Bordeaux region of France, the grape made its way into Australia in the early 19th century.

Easy to cultivate, Semillon exhibits an oily texture, is quite heavy and features low acidity. It is also used to craft sweet wines such as Sauternes, when it’s been affected by Botrytis (noble rot).
The following is the data compilation of the growth, production & export of Semillon grapes and wines in 2017 –

Viticulture

Of a grand total of 135,133 hectares of grapevines cultivated in Australia in the year 2017, Semillon was spread across 4,569 hectares. This amounted to 3% of the total vineyard land, and about 9% of the white wine grape cultivation across the country.

Grape Production

A whopping 1,929,630 tonnes of grapes were crushed across various Aussie wineries in 2017. Of this, the crushing of Semillon grapes was calculated to be 70,432 tonnes – making up just 4% of the total crush. With respect to the crushing of white varieties, the crushing of the Semillon grape was roughly 8%.

Below are the top 5 wine regions that focused on the maximum crushing and juicing of Semillon grapes –

• Riverina: 47%
• Murray Darling - Swan Hill: 19%
• Riverland: 16%
• Margaret River: 5%
• Barossa Valley: 4%

Export Data

811,001,000 litres of Aussie wine was exported to various countries in 2017, of which the export of Semillon wine amounted to 9,430,000 litres – making up just 1% of the total wine export & 3% of the white wine export.

Top 5 countries to which Aussie Semillon was exported –

1. United Kingdom: 19%
2. Canada: 15%
3. China, Pr: 11%
4. Japan: 6%
5. Thailand: 6%

The following were the most common Semillon label claims in 2017 –

• Semillon Chardonnay
• Semillon Sauvignon Blanc
• Sauvignon Blanc Semillon
• Semillon
• Chardonnay Semillon