Australian Semillon – Grand Cru stature? A food and wine matching tasting at Hakkasan

During 2004 I spent several weeks in the Loire and South Africa researching Chenin Blanc.  That autumn, I visited Australia in the company of  Christine Parkinson, wine buyer for Hakkasan, the Michelin-starred modern Chinese restaurant.  How very ironic that the first wine we were shown was a Chenin Blanc! 

My passion for Chenin baffled others and I recall feeling similarly perplexed by Parkinson’s passion for Semillon.  Its charms are subtle and it can be positively austere in its youth. 

My first glimmer of insight into Parkinson’s passion came last year after a vertical of Tyrrell’s Vat 1 and McWilliams Mount Pleasant Lovedale (reported here).  Following last autumn’s Landmark Tutorial and subsequent visits to the Hunter Valley, it’s fair to say that I fell hook line and sinker for the variety!

Yesterday, Parkinson and I got together to taste two dozen Australian Semillons and select the best matches to accompany several dishes on the menu at Hakkasan’s original Hanway Place restaurant.   I won’t give too much away because I’ll be writing the tasting up for a feature for Imbibe magazine, but it’s fair to say that, though many a back label touts Semillon as a great match with Asian food, you have to know your onions from your onions! 

For now I’ll leave you with a quote from Parkinson about yesterday’s stand out wine, the single vineyard (pictured) McWilliams Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon 1998, which Parkinson described as of Grand Cru Burgundy stature in terms of complexity and structure.  Echoing The Wine Society’s wine buyer Pierre Mansour’s concerns about the premature oxidation of Burgundy (Mansour was contrasting it with Australian Chardonnay – see this month’s Decanter magazine here), Parkinson added “you’d hesitate to put up a 98 Burgundy.”