2018 Brokenwood ILR Reserve Semillon

Concentrated, tense and steely with a long, bracing finish.

Brokenwood’s ILR Reserve Semillon is released only from the best years. The fruit for this year’s ILR Reserve was sourced from the Oakey Creek Vineyard on Oakey Creek Road in the heart of Pokolbin. The Oakey Creek Vineyard was first planted in 1982 by the pioneering Drayton’s family and is today one of the Hunter Valley’s most awarded sites.
Brilliant very pale straw colour with green tinted edges and a watery hue. Intense lemon and lime scents carry a gentle oily toast like overlay with some Granny Smith apple, bees wax and slatey mineral notes also chiming in. Driving lemon, lime and green apple skin flavours overlay a subtle oily toast, delicate bees wax and flinty mineral back drop. Concentrated, tense and steely with crisp acidity creating a chiselled effect across the long, bracing finish.
Drink over the next 5-6 years.
Alc. 11%

Other Reviews…..
This wine is an unmistakable ILR and is one of the season's highlights. Alluring smoky tones and hints of lanolin adorn the ripe, lemony fruit. The sweet-natured palate is generous, flavoursome and powerful with moreish lemon butter tones. The rate of progression in this wine is driven by the warmth of the '18 season. That said, it is no less lovely, and the upside is that it's ready to drink now, so you won't need to wait years to enjoy it. Drink by 2028.
97 Points
Toni Paterson – James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion

Always one of the superstars of Hunter Valley Semillon, the ILR is never released without at least a good five years ageing under its belt, at which time it is usually just beginning to show the glories that are ahead of it. The vineyard source varies from vintage to vintage, depending on which shines best – so if none measure up, then no ILR. This vintage is from the Oakey Creek vineyard, planted in 1982 and which the team purchased in 2021, although they have been sourcing fruit from it for several decades. This is a cracking ILR, indeed a cracking Hunter Sem, and, while it is drinking impressively now, has two decades of improvement ahead of it. A lemon/green hue. Early days, but already some appealing complexity. There are hints of lemon butter on toast, but surely much more to come. There are notes of figs and stone fruits and limes. Even that whiff of ginger. Immaculate balance, bright acidity, ideal focus and impressive length, this is a wine which has so much more to offer in the coming years. And whilst one can never confirm or deny such matters, it is entirely possible that, as I sit and write up all today’s tasting notes, there is a chilled glass of this very wine next to me. But, as they say, I couldn’t possibly confirm that. Drink 2024-2044.
96 Points
Ken Gargett – WinePilot.com