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 lawyers Tony Albert, John Beeston, and acclaimed wine critic James Halliday, Brokenwood Wines began on a modest 10-acre block in Pokolbin within the Hunter Valley of New South Wales. Guided for decades by veteran managing director and chief winemaker Iain Riggs, the estate evolved from a passionate weekend venture into one of Australia's most prestigious and benchmark wine producers. Brokenwood embraces a philosophy of precise, low-intervention winemaking designed to let terroir and varietal clarity shine across both estate-grown Hunter Valley fruit and carefully selected parcels across Australia. The winery has achieved global acclaim particularly for its crisp, cellar-worthy Hunter Valley Semillons and its flagship Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz, alongside popular lifestyle bottlings like the iconic Cricket Pitch label.
🍇 Grape Varieties
Semillon
🍷 Alcohol By Volume (ABV)
10.5% - 11.5%