Birichino 2022 Semillon Old Vines, Yountville, Napa Valley

The Birichino 2022 “Old Vines” Semillon opens softly, like sun-scorched air just turning cool. Beeswax and lemon pith rise first, edged with nectarine and lanolin’s quiet warmth. Underneath, a glint of crushed stone—more preservation than show.

On the palate, it doesn’t swell—it breathes. A whisper of white peach, citrus function, then a pinched minerality tightens the arc. Acidity is electric but disciplined, holding the weight of beeswax and spice without letting sweetness clog its frame.

This isn’t bottling technique—it’s rootedness. The grapes come from the venerable Yount Mill Vineyard, planted in 1962 and among Napa’s oldest surviving Semillon. The few remaining acres are farmed organically and without irrigation. That care—unchanged over decades—shapes every thread of this wine.

Birichino gives this bottling a light structural edit—fermented and aged in a mix of stainless steel and neutral oak for nine months. The aim was texture and clarity, not oak resonance. The result is a wine that tastes like hillside memory more than style.

This Semillon isn’t built for spectacle. Open it with fresh oysters, soft-rind cheese, or let it spin beside speechless moments. It lingers—like memory, not performance.

Birichino 2022 Old Vines Semillon—vintage grounded, weightless, and quietly carried.