DE BORTOLI DEEN VAT 5 BOTRYTIS SEMILLON 2021 375ml

Trophy for Champion Botrytis Wine & 96/100 – International Wine Challenge UK 2025
Trophy for Champion Sweet Wine – Riverland Wine Show 2024
Gold Medal & 95/100 – Decanter World Wine Awards 2025
Gold Medal – International Wine Challenge UK 2025
Gold Medal – Melbourne Royal Wine Awards 2024
Gold Medal – Riverland Wine Show 2024

This brilliant sweet wine caught our attention last week after taking home a Trophy at the 2025 International Wine Challenge UK, one of the world’s most prestigious wine competitions. Made from Semillon – the same grape behind iconic botrytis wines like Sauternes and Château d’Yquem – it delivers luxurious flavour without the eye-watering price tag.

In fact, you could buy over 30 bottles of this for the cost of one Yquem, but that’s not the point. What matters is that, at this price, it’s the kind of wine you’ll always want chilled in the fridge, ready for celebrations, desserts, or simply a well-deserved treat.

Winery notes (2021 Vintage)
"The fruit for this wine is sourced from a vineyard that has a long history of growing exceptional quality Botrytis fruit for De Bortoli wines. Enticing aromas of candied citrus peel and honey tropical fruit give a great deal of personality to this wine. With its subtle oak interplay and excellent balance between the acidity and sweetness ensuing a harmonious finale to this captivating wine.

The 2021 vintage is all about the fruit with only 22% of the blend matured in older French Oak barriques to impart nuances of vanillin oak, leaving the fruit to shine bright in your glass. A wine that can be both enjoyed now and also into the future as it evolves into the beautiful aged botrytis flavours."

IWC Judges' Comments (2021 Vintage)
"Bright lemon rind, honeysuckle, ginger, almond, and walnut skin, with baked pear. Well-balanced, long, and refreshing, this classic, unoaked Semillon offers appealing colour and subtle caramel flavours."

DWWA Judges' Comments (2021 Vintage)
"Intense and engaging notes of honey, toffee, candied citrus peel and vanilla ooze over the profoundly viscous palate with an overriding energy supplied by the rapier-like acidity."

92/100 The Real Review, March 2025 (2021 Vintage)
"Rich straw gold colour. Candied citrus, dried mango and wood polish aromas. Sweet and rich on the palate, toffee and butterscotch with mango and dried fig notes. Good length and detail into the sweet but balanced finish. Fantastic value here."