New Release! SALVIS GRATIA* Barossa Old Vine Semillon 2023

Whether it’s searing heat where you are, or stormy skies like here in the Barossa this week… this refreshing and sumptuous Sem has you covered! So throw some prawns on the barbie or grab a roast chook, and crack open our newest vintage Old Vine beauty:

SALVIS GRATIA (‘Saving Grace’)

Hand-harvested from some of the last remnants of the Madeira Semillon clone in the Barossa, planted by the Fechner brothers in 1983. This small-batch gem (only 300 dozen made!) is all lemon curd, beeswax, and toasted nut deliciousness. It’s zesty, textural, and downright luxuriant... the perfect pour for a lemony roast chook, some pan seared buttery scallops or even a soft, tangy goat’s cheese snack.

2023 
93pts "Old-vine, Madeira-clone semillon from the Fechner Vineyard in Eden Valley, wild ferment, 33% in Sirugue French oak puncheon on lees. Pale with a green flash and sporting lanolin-brushed characters of pithy lemon, honeysuckle, grilled cashew, clover blossom, soft spice, crushed quartz and distant marzipan. There's a slinky textural aspect with a touch of grapefruit pith and a real vitality to its minerally line. Great dry, textural drinking." - Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion

91pts "Lemony, waxy aromas along with nougat, butter and lemon curd. Textured, , mouth-filling and layered in flavour. Nutty, creamy and with a drive of lemon butter goodness. Long, grippy and with plenty to like here." - Aaron Brasher, The Real Review

2022
Trophy for BEST SEMILLON in show!!! 2024 Barossa Wine Show

Ranked #7 of 55 The Real Review Top Rank
"Ultra-pale lemon and lime hues shine brightly through the glass. Waxed lemon and short crust pastry aromas. Light to medium in weight with beeswax, lemon zest and a touch of sherbet showing as it floats across the tongue. Good length and drive with bright yet supple acidity carrying it long to a crisp, dry finish with an attractive phenolic crunch." - Stuart Knox

93pts "Pale colour. Lifted exotic aromas; lemon curd, papaya, nectarine, tonic water, honey and subtle flinty overlay. Round and expressive with lemon curd, nectarine and tropical fruit notes. Wonderful mid-palate viscosity, creamy/lacy textures and an appealing honeyed acid line. Drink now and over the next couple of years." - Andrew Caillard MW, The Vintage Journal

93pts Silver "Light straw tones of Meyer lemon, spent yeast, honeysuckle, soft spice, lemon butter, clotted cream, crushed stone and white flowers. Textural, creamy and gloriously lemony with a swoop of gingerbread, roasted cashews and whey. Such lovely slinky drinking with a briny acid line that sets the saliva glands working and screams for a roast chook." - Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion 22nd May 2023

93pts "Medium pale lemon hue. Picks up where the 2021 left off with lemon curd and roast chicken skin, honeysuckle, candle wax and gingernut biscuit. Depth and heft: oak and lees work give creamy, leesy richness with ginger spice, fine phenolics and zesty citrus cuts. That briny signature leaves the palate in a dichotomy: salivating and refreshed both at once. Unique and worthy." - Regan Drew, Vino Notebook

"Brilliant, youthful yellow, with lemon zest, pastry, knife through cold butter aromas. Medium-weight, chunk of a glass of wine. Hits your pallet and doesn't forgive. Tangy with viscosity and lime, lemon, ruby grapefruit, green apple skin and powdery tannins. Flash of Solo, the original thirst crusher. That's Aussie soda 😉! So looong it touches my toes. Old vine Barossa sem. 2022. Benchmark stuff." - @frasermackenzie.wine

2021 
SILVER - 2022 Barossa Wine Show

93pts "Medium pale lemon hue. Lemon curd, malt biscuit, ginger, roast nuts, roast chicken briny tang and with slightly sweeter structures of honeysuckle and birthday candle. Refreshing yet complex. The oak work giving nutty nuance with chewy phenolics while the well built fruit is ginger spiced, citrus focused and dry. There’s a very good counterpoint of weight and acidity creating a fundamentally delicious drink." - Regan Drew, vinonotebook.com

93pts "Barossa Valley old vine semillon, done right. Gosh this is good. It sees some oak and so, accordingly, it has some texture, but the flavour profile is all fruit, and all good. Brine, honeysuckle, citrus and stonefruit characters all get a good run here, the palate full-ish and the finish long. The perfume, the flavour, the feel; all are in tip-top nick here. I particularly love the briney aftertaste here, it just begs to be teamed with food." - Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

92pts "An unusually wine-y and waxy, rich and textural style of semillon, but this also has an impressive freshness on the well-proportioned palate with quite an exciting interplay of creaminess and limey acidity. Wild fermented partly in French oak puncheons, then aged 6 months on the lees. Unfined. Vegan. Drink or hold. Screw cap." - James Suckling

90pts "

Pale and bright straw-yellow colour. Lemon curd, lime zest and caramelised cashews on the nose. The palate fills and builds texture as it flows, sweet lime and lemon fruit notes alongside a smoky and nutty spice line. Quite full for a semillon and it works." - Stuart Knox, The Real Review