I'll drink to that where we get behind the scenes of the beverage business.

I'm Levy Dalton.

I'm Erin Scala and here's our show today. Oh, Likely from Bordeaux and possibly from Saint-Amillion, Semyon's name may come from an old pronunciation of Saint-Amelian.

In France, Semyon is usually blended with Savian Blanc to make Bordeaux Blanc.

Its thin skins are fairly prone to petritus in the right areas, and if

harvested with petritus, it can make excellent dessert wines in Sauterns and Mombosiac. Like many iconic French varieties, Semian has spread throughout the world,

and in the diaspora you'll find strongholds in South Africa, Chile,

and down under in Australia.

If you focus in on New South Wales in Australia,

particularly in Riverina and Hunter Valley, you'll find an incredible wine culture that orbits around Semion's uniqueness.

Like Bordeaux, here you'll find dry Semion and Petritus Sweet Semion. On the sweet side, Deborah Toli has been making

Petritus semion since 1982. And on the drier side, you'll find some different styles.

There are crisp young wines with zesty citrus notes meant to be a counterpoint alternative

to the ocean of Assi Savian Blanc that's out there.

And you'll also find some dense wines with intense

concentration and compaction that are released on the later side. Hunter Valley is

famous for these serious and powerful aged semions, and they can be pretty magical at the table with food.

You'll usually see them with about 15 years of age on them, but they can last much longer.

These wines are one of the great treasures of the wine world.

Semion's history in the Hunter Valley dates back at least since the mid 1800s, where it was known as

Hunter River Reesling.

And vines have been in the area since at least 1823, when 20 acres of vineyards were reported and that acreage rose to

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