"I like to have a martini, Two at the very most. After three I'm under the table, after four I'm under my host."

Dorothy Parker

Maybe it’s the boredom, or it could be that my brain was just desperate to react to something other than boxed sets on Netflix but I tasted a white the other day that just made my palate fiz with excitement. The wine in question was a semillon from Tyrrells Winery in the Hunter Valley and it was the wine equivalent of a first kiss, leaving me bubbling with anticipation and wanting more.

Semillon is a native grape of Bordeaux, where it is the dominant variety in the classic sweet wine Sauternes. Sauternes is quite simply legendary, and the wines can be mouthwateringly intense with ripe, sticky apricot flavours and hints of honey. It’s also used in the dry Bordeaux Blanc styles but they are often so thin and disappointing that I’ve never tasted one I could recommend. That was largely semillon's lot until the Aussies took to the variety a couple of decades ago and the rest, as they say, is history.

Admittedly, in the early days there was a lot of confusion in Australia between riesling and semillon, with the latter often mistaken for the former but not any more. It has become my new guilty pleasure, sitting somewhere on the palate between a refreshing Mosel Riesling and a rich buttery chardonnay. As with riesling, they tend to be low in alcohol, usually around 10.5 to 11.5% and they have a similar waxy, mouth-filling palate but they also have the richness and complexity of barrel aged chardonnays.

The one I had was aged on the yeasty lees (yeah, I know we don't normally do technical in this column) which just added to the depth of flavour, but many of them are cask aged, leaving a toasty buttery flavour behind.

Anyway, with the sun coming out, semillon could well be the grape that romances your brain in these days of lockdown.

Watford Observer:

Gathering Sauvignon Semillon, Australia

A cracking blend of zesty, refreshing sauvignon with creamy and more complex semillon. Aromatic and full flavoured. Perfect with spicy asian foods.

Corney & Barrow £20.95

Moss Wood Semillon, Australia

What a fabulous wine this is with zingy tropical fruits, a creamy finish and a whopping alcohol level for the style. Try this with sole or langoustines.

Waitrose £16.99