2025 Thomas Wines Braemore Semillon, Hunter Valley

This young Braemore has incredible purity, with the fruit focused on the mid-palate. It is the essence of lemon, with flecks of soft green pear. The palate has intense flavours, rounded edges and satisfying persistence. This special site produces wines that are unique in style, and I suspect this will age beautifully. Drink to 2033.

96+ points & Special Value Toni Paterson for Halliday Wine Companion, March 2026 

Almost water-white in the glass; very reserved and shy to sniff, with a faintly cedar-like note. The palate is likewise reserved and delicate, taut and dry, with a lemony intensity, a refreshing crispness and bone-dry finish. This seems built to age and is very reserved on the day, but there is intensity of fruit and persistence that bode well for the future. Drink to 2037.

95 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, December 2025

Thomas Wines was established in 1997 by winemaker and Tyrrell’s alumnus Andrew Thomas in 1997. Today, eldest son Dan works along his father, their focus remaining firmly on premium Hunter Valley Semillon and Shiraz.

The Braemore Vineyard, planted in 1969 on the sandy alluvial flats off Hermitage Road in Pokolbin, is widely considered one of the best vineyards in the Hunter and is known for the longevity of its wines. Thomas is one of the dozen or so growers on this narrow, two-kilometre strip of premium Semillon dirt.

The fruit is handpicked, with each round meticulously hand-sorted to ensure only the very best fruit goes through for whole bunch pressing. After fermentation, the wine spends time on lees before early bottling for a classic, low-alcohol and cellar-worthy expression of one of Australia's greatest gifts to the world of wine..