2022 Brokenwood Wines Semillon Hunter Valley Australia 750 ml

Brokenwood’s Hunter Valley Semillon is a delicious study in contradiction that extends from its unique terroir to its absurd price-to-quality ratio. Their 2022 has a solid 15 years of life ahead of it in your cellar—if you can avoid drinking this laser-focused white the second it shows up at your door. 

From what Wine Advocate calls “one of the Hunter Valley’s most respected estates,” this bottling is a delicious and zippy collage of lime zest, green apples, and acacia. As it sits in your cellar, those flavors will develop deeper tones, producing a dialectic between richness and energy that makes this wine one of the world’s great bargains.  

In Hunter Valley, chilly winds off the South Pacific lower temperatures in Hunter Valley, allowing Semillon grapes to retain their vibrancy and zip. While the region has been under vine since the early 19th century, it wasn’t until the mid-20th century that the combination of Hunter Valley’s unique terroir and Semillon’s early-ripening brilliance took the world by storm.

Almost 50 years later, Brokenwood has become a standard bearer for Semillon—and all of Australia—with winemaker Iain Riggs at the helm. He celebrated his 40th vintage in 2022, and as one of the Hunter Valley’s living legends, he still has “an unerring ability to keep Brokenwood’s high profile fresh and newsworthy,” according to Halliday Wine Companion.

Riggs picks the grapes early to preserve the zesty acidity that’s a signature of the bottling, then ages the wine entirely in stainless steel. The result is a low-alcohol knockout with the energy and the ability to go the distance. It’s captivated fans around the globe, and once you take a sip you’ll instantly see why.