2023 Thomas Wines The O.C. Semillon

Highly Rated
A typically slightly riper style of Thomas Semillon in scintillating, Trophy-winning form!

Price:
Sale price$29.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
Rendering loop-subscriptions

Description

The Trophy-winning, 2023 Thomas Wines The O.C. Semillon is a vibrant expression of the Hunter Valley’s iconic style. From a single vineyard planted in 1998 along Oakey Creek Road, this wine captures the unique character of its terroir in producing typically riper wines.

This vintage saw lower yields and a delayed harvest, resulting in the earliest Semillon pick of the year. Despite a cooler growing season, the grapes achieved a slightly riper profile while maintaining the vineyard’s signature fine acidity. Only 363 dozen were produced in total.

Pour a glass, and you'll be greeted by tangy citrus, subtle tropical notes, and a hint of freshly cut grass. The palate is linear and focused, with a steely mineral vein and a whisper of hay and straw. Its bracing acidity and lovely phenolic grip make it perfect for pairing with seafood and a squeeze of lemon.

With 95 points and the Trophy for Best Young Semillon at the 2023 Winewise Small Vignerons Awards, this is another standout Semillon from Andrew Thomas.

95 points
"This wine has real personality with its intense fruit aromatics. Gorgeous feijoa and warm-scented lemon aromas. The palate is ultra-soft and refreshing with good flavour and brightness. It's an absolute delight to drink. Sourced from a single vineyard, planted in '76, located on Oakey Creek Road ('OC') on a transitional sandy loam strip. Great value."
- Toni Paterson MW (Halliday Wine Companion)

Winemaker's Comments
Hunter Valley Semillon is one of the world's most uniquely regional wine styles. This vineyard, situated on a sandy/loam strip along Oakey Creek Road, Pokolbin (hence, The O.C.), was planted in 1998. Earlier vintages of this wine were made in a riper more generously flavoured, contemporary style, however we have since realised this particular vineyard is more suited to the classically styled Hunter Valley Semillon.

The lower yields experienced again from this vineyard in 2023 led to it being the very first Semillon to be picked this year, although the cooler growing season delayed that picking by about two weeks. Whilst it has a slightly riper feel than we've seen in recent vintages, the core of fine acidity is still a defining feature of wines made from this wonderful patch of dirt. We yielded just over six tonnes of hand-picked fruit from our allocated rows which have resulted in a relatively small production of only 363 dozen.

The Len Sorbello Trophy - 2023 Winewise Small Vignerons Awards (Best Young Semillon)

Tasting Notes
This wine bolts straight out the gate with classic Hunter Semillon character; tangy citrus, touches of gentle green tropicals, a steely mineral vein, and a whisper of freshly cut grass. It’s a linear and focused wine, full of energy, a lovely phenolic nip and bracing acidity. Delicious, well-textured and tangy, just add your seafood of choice with a squeeze of lemon.

95 points - "This wine has real personality with its intense fruit aromatics. Gorgeous feijoa and warm-scented lemon aromas. The palate is ultra-soft and refreshing with good flavour and brightness. It's an absolute delight to drink. Sourced from a single vineyard, planted in '76, located on Oakey Creek Road ('OC') on a transitional sandy loam strip. Great value." - Toni Paterson MW (Halliday Wine Companion)

93 points - "The 2023 O.C. Semillon is crunchy and glassy tight on the nose, with hay and straw, scratched lemon, ocean spray and crushed shells. The wine is crystalline and pure, completely taut and thrumming with energy. A beauty. And it has miles to go before it sleeps." - Erin Larkin (The Wine Advocate)

Thomas Wines

Andrew Thomas is a modern-day legend in the Hunter Valley, crafting some of the region's greatest wines for over three decades. His personal label is regarded as a benchmark winery, with a focus on premium Shiraz and Semillon— the Hunter Valley's hero varieties. Thomas has access to some of the region’s best vineyards, allowing him to create wines that truly capture the essence of the Hunter.

Originally from McLaren Vale, Thommo moved to the Hunter Valley to join the winemaking team at Tyrrell's Wines. After 13 years, he ventured out to develop his own label, making single-vineyard wines that highlight the subtle differences between Hunter’s subregions.

Thomas Wines is known for its classic Hunter Valley Shiraz and Semillon, but it also occasionally explores innovative styles without compromising on value. The white wines are delicate and cellar-worthy, while the reds are full-bodied and classic in the best sense of the word, making them one of the benchmarks for modern Hunter Shiraz.

A mentor to much of the next generation of Hunter producers, if you want to try the essence of the Hunter Valley, Thommo's wines are a must-try.

The Thomas Wines Braemore Vineyard Hunter Valley, NSW Thomas Wines

Others also liked

Recently viewed

Shipping

Delivery is free on orders of $150 or more!

For orders under this amount, delivery is calculated at checkout based on your postcode. You can order in any quantity or combination of wines you like. Straight dozens are not required.

We will dispatch your order the same or next business day.

Estimated delivery transit time varies depending on your location. Please review this page for specific estimates.

Sydney (Our Vans): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions our driver will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so if not, they will return the item to us and hold your order until further instruction from you. 

Melbourne (Anonymous Wine Freight): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions, the courier will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so. if not, they will return the item to their dispatch centre and hold until further instruction from you.

Australia Post: Australia Post will leave the parcel if they have been given authority to leave and it is deemed safe to do so. To give your Authority to Leave, please enter this in the 'SPECIAL REQUEST' box at checkout.

Ordering

We want Different Drop customers to always be getting the best price. If you see a lower price elsewhere, just get in touch and we will sort it out for you. We handle all our price-matching on a case by case basis.

Some things to keep in mind: 

  • Retrospective price-matching is available for 30 days after you have purchased from us.
  • The price match cannot be used in conjunction with a coupon or one-off deal we are offering. The idea is for you to get the best price in the market so if that is already achieved through a coupon then we won't price match on top of that.
  • We don't price match clearance or fire sales.
  • We’ll match the listed price as long as it is a legitimate offer and the competing store is actually able to fulfil the order (they have stock or more stock is en route). Essentially we won't price match cheeky vendors listing wines they have no hope of actually getting for you...
  • It must be a publicly listed price. We won't match a price that has been achieved through a coupon/cash-back arrangement, or through a non-advertised offer over the phone or otherwise.  
  • It is limited to a reasonable retail quantity.

We'll treat each price match request on its merit and reserve the right to refuse where we deem fit. For example, particularly rare wines, from non-trust-worthy vendors, in circumstances we deem illegitimate or if we feel our policy is being unfairly taken advantage of.

At the end of the day, we'll look after you and use common sense to ensure you're getting the best price, please just don't take the p%$$!

No, feel free to mix it up! There is no minimum requirement. You can order wines in any quantity or combination, 1 or 50+ bottles.

We stock three different sized gift boxes (single, three bottle and six), all are available for purchase for a flat rate of $8. They look great and make an awesome impression.

To add a gift box to your order, simply add at checkout. The special requests box is your friend, please give us as many details of what you are looking for and we will try our best, or get in contact to discuss it with you. 

If you want to bulk order gifts or if you have any trouble please email hello@differentdrop.com or call and we can try and help.

 

If you can't add more wine to your cart it means we are low on stock of that wine. For example, if you are only able to 3 bottles and no more that means we only have 3 bottles left of that wine. If it's a must have, please contact us and we may be able to order more in for you.

Call Us

Send a message