There’s often a lot of confusion over how you pronounce this wine’s name – it’s Sem-ee-yon – so now that’s out of the way! For many years, Semillon was THE main variety planted in SA – so much so that it became known as ‘groendruif’ or ‘green grape’ and accounted for much of the white wine made in the first couple of hundred years of winemaking in the Cape. Gradually this has dwindled, and now Semillon specialists are finding it a tricky grape to sell as a single varietal, tending instead to blend it with Sauvignon Blanc. Which is a crying shame because a good Semillon is a great wine, giving complexity, length, food-friendliness and distinctly-delicious flavours. Long live Semillon!