Argentinian sommelier Florencia Rey has led the beverages team at award-winning Maido restaurant in Lima, Peru, since 2014. The Nikkei cuisine by chef-owner Mitsuharu Tsumura allows her to play around with sake as well as South American and European wines; she also runs an alcohol-free program. In November 2023, Florencia was named Beronia Latin America’s Best Sommelier 2023 as part of the Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants awards.
While its origins are in Bordeaux and it makes some of the world’s greatest wines of their type, today Semillon is also deeply rooted in the New World, in countries such as Australia, Chile, South Africa – and my home country of Argentina. I adore this white grape for its versatility because, on the one hand, it’s associated with legendary botrytised wines such as Sauternes and Barsac, but as a standalone variety it also offers up fresh, dry expressions typified by jasmine and camomile characters. And it’s a fantastic component in blends, too, most often supporting Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay.
Brought to Argentina in the mid-19th century along with the red Malbec, Semillon develops well in fresh-to-moderate climates such as as those in Mendoza’s Uco Valley and Río Negro’s Alto Valley. A low-to-medium acidity grape, it bursts with fleshy orchard fruits, depending on its origin and the stage at which it’s picked. While it’s usually aromatic and fresh, I tend to perceive honeyed notes and lemon or lime peel aromas.
It wasn’t very long ago that Semillon gained traction in Argentina,
