ILR Reserve Semillon
⏳ Drinking Window
2020 - 2035
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Fresh oysters, pan-seared scallops, roasted poultry
✨ Technical Specifications
Named in honor of Brokenwood's legendary managing director and winemaker Iain Leslie Riggs (ILR), who joined the estate in 1982, the ILR Reserve Semillon represents the pinnacle of Hunter Valley white winemaking. This iconic wine is crafted from exceptional Semillon grapes sourced from the sandy, alluvial flats of the Hunter Valley. Following the traditional regional style, the juice is fermented cool in stainless steel tanks with no oak contact and no malolactic fermentation, capturing the absolute purity of the grape. What makes the ILR Reserve truly extraordinary is its extended bottle aging program; Brokenwood holds this wine in their cellars for up to six years before release. This patient maturation allows the wine to magically transform from a tight, high-acid, citrus-driven youth into a complex, multi-layered masterpiece showing notes of beeswax, toasted brioche, and lemongrass, all achieved without a single splinter of oak.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1970 by Sydney solicitors James Halliday, John Beeston, and Tony Albert, Brokenwood Wines began on a ten-acre Pokolbin parcel initially intended as a cricket ground. Situated in the lower Hunter Valley against the Brokenback Mountain Range, the estate operates on alluvial loams and heavy clay soils, shaped by a warm, humid subtropical climate with cooling maritime breezes. While historically anchored by its renowned Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz, Brokenwood established equivalent global renown for its pure, cellar-worthy white wines. The estate practices certified viticulture under Sustainable Winegrowing Australia standards, supervised in cellar operations by Chief Winemaker Stuart Hordern following Iain Riggs's transformative tenure. Renowned benchmark expressions include the single-vineyard and aged ILR Reserve Semillon—celebrated for low-alcohol tension, racy citrus acidity, and nuanced toast developments without oak maturation—alongside single-site iterations like Stanleigh Park Vineyard Semillon and cool-climate chardonnays from Beechworth and Orange.
🍇 Grapes
Semillon
🍷 ABV
10.5% - 11.5%