CHAFFEY BROS SALVIS GRATIA* SEMILLON 2022

Trophy for Champion Semillon – Barossa Wine Show 2024
Top Gold Medal & 96/100 – Barossa Wine Show 2024

Winery notes (2022 Vintage)
"SALVIS GRATIA* (meaning 'Saving Grace') is a small-batch labour-of-love, carefully hand harvested from some of the last remnants of the Madeira Semillon clone in the Barossa, planted by the Fechner brothers in 1983.

SALVIS GRATIA* is an exciting addition to our 'Barossa Nouveau' series joining our established Old Vine Grenache stars Pax Aeterna and Lux Venit* Rosé. This series is all about championing these remnant Old Vine varietals that have always been special, but have sometimes fallen off the radar as new varietal fads come and go.

Like PAX and LUX, SALVIS is made in a minimal intervention style – hand harvested, gently whole bunch pressed, 25% completed ferment and matured in new sirugue french oak puncheon. SALVIS GRATIA* is a sublime, zesty, elegantly opulent expression of Barossa Semillon… it's an absolute ripper!

Smells: Beeswax / White Florals / Citrus
Tastes: Lemon Curd / White Nectarine / Toasted nuts."

93/100 Dave Brookes, James Halliday's Wine Companion, May 2023 (2022 Vintage)
"Light straw tones of Meyer lemon, spent yeast, honeysuckle, soft spice, lemon butter, clotted cream, crushed stone and white flowers. Textural, creamy and gloriously lemony with a swoop of gingerbread, roasted cashews and whey. Such lovely slinky drinking with a briny acid line that sets the saliva glands working and screams for a roast chook."

93/100 Andrew Caillard MW (2022 Vintage)
"Pale colour. Lifted exotic aromas; lemon curd, papaya, nectarine, tonic water, honey and subtle flinty overlay. Round and expressive with lemon curd, nectarine and tropical fruit notes. Wonderful mid-palate viscosity, creamy/lacy textures and an appealing honeyed acid line. Drink now and over the next couple of years."

Stuart Knox, The Real Review (2022 Vintage)
"Ultra-pale lemon and lime hues shine brightly through the glass. Waxed lemon and short crust pastry aromas. Light to medium in weight with beeswax, lemon zest and a touch of sherbet showing as it floats across the tongue. Good length and drive with bright yet supple acidity carrying it long to a crisp, dry finish with an attractive phenolic crunch."

Reviews for the 2021 vintage below…

93/100 Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, January 2022 (2021 Vintage)
"Gosh this is good. It sees some oak and so, accordingly, it has some texture, but the flavour profile is all fruit, and all good. Brine, honeysuckle, citrus and stonefruit characters all get a good run here, the palate full-ish and the finish long. The perfume, the flavour, the feel; all are in tip-top nick here. I particularly love the briney aftertaste here, it just begs to be teamed with food."