Tyrrell's Johnno's Semillon 2010

Pioneers of the Hunter Valley – the birthplace of Australian viticulture – the Tyrrell family still set the benchmark for dry Semillon. While some might say that’s a low bar, a case could be made for this being the world’s most underrated grape variety.

Famed for its flagship (and eternally youthful) ‘Vat 1’ Semillon, Tyrrell’s rarer ‘Johnno’s’ cuvée recalls the region’s great white wines of the 1960s. Sourced from a single vineyard planted in 1908, this is hand-picked, basket-pressed, and fermented with indigenous yeasts. 

Don’t go near it in youth – austere, reductive, unyielding – but with a decade under its belt, it takes on new life: blossom, buttered toast, and honey, all wrapped up in a bone-dry, textural cloud and a gentle 11.5% ABV.

Shrimp? Barbie? Here's your wine.