Semillon is a French white grape traditionally blended with Sauvignon Blanc in Bordeaux, with a soft texture and a susceptibility to noble rot used in sweet-wine production. California's numbers show a long, steady decline: bearing acreage fell from 1,339 acres in 2000 to 463 acres in the latest report, spread across 28 counties with one grower and a single tech sheet on file. It survives here mostly as a small-lot blending partner for Sauvignon Blanc, occasionally bottled on its own, but it is not a variety California has been expanding.
What kind of grape this is
- Species
- VITIS VINIFERA LINNÉ SUBSP. SATIVA (DE CANDOLLE) HEGI
- Berry color
- BLANC
- Country of origin
- FRANCE
- Synonyms
- 59
- Approved on a US label
- Sémillon
- FPS selections
- 11
names this grape is known by elsewhere, per VIVC
the names TTB permits on a bottle
distinct clones and selections held at UC Davis
Registries
What is published
Counts describe what this atlas holds for Semillon, not what California grows. A zero is a published answer: it means the source names the grape and reports nothing under it, or does not name it at all.
- 570
county-years of acreage
28 counties, 463 bearing acres in 2025
- 369
district-years of crush
17 of 17 crush districts, 26 crop years
- 369
district-years of Brix
tonnage-weighted at the crusher, Crush Report Table 3
- 15
producers in this atlas
producers whose curated wine list names it — a curated roster of 2,772 producers, not a census of California
- —
regions with a maturity date
not one of the eight cultivars with a
Acreage in California
loading acreage…
Counties and concentration
loading concentration…
Where it is planted
Reported by county — never by AVA
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Share of each county's vineyard
Reported by county — never by AVA
loading county shares…
The counties
Reported by county — never by AVA
loading counties…
Tonnage and price by district
Reported by crush district — never by county or AVA
All 17 districts on one axis →
loading crush report…
Brix at the crusher
Reported by crush district — never by county or AVA
loading must chemistry…
Growers in this atlas's roster
- Bedrock Wine Co.bottled
Winery · Heritage Wine, Nervo Ranch Heritage Wine, Oakville Farmhouse Vineyard
- Cliff Lede Vineyardsbottled
Winery · Marla Blanc
- Clos du Valbottled
Winery · Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley
- Darioushbottled
Winery · Late Harvest Shahpar
- Duckhorn Vineyardsbottled
Winery · Napa Valley Legacy Blanc
- Ferrari Caranobottled
Winery · Tré Terre Chardonnay
- Longboard Vineyardsbottled
Winery · Late Harvest Semillon
- Nichelini Family Winerybottled
Winery · Caterina Reserve Sémillon, Roman Press White
- Quintessabottled
Winery · Illumination
- Ridge Vineyardsbottled
Winery · Ridge Historic Vines Blanc 2024
- Silver Oak Cellarsbottled
Winery · Sauvignon Blanc
- Silverado Vineyardsbottled
Winery · Late Harvest (375mL)
and 3 more in the roster.
15 of this atlas’s 2772 curated producers, 13 of them with a named wine in the atlas made from it. A roster is not a census — this is who the atlas has entered, not who grows the grape in California.
Measured chemistry, from one producer's own sheets
Ridge Historic Vines Blanc 2024
3% semillon13.2 %
alcohol
3.68
pH
6.14 g/L
TA
—
RS
1 wine from 1 producer, each read from that producer’s own tech sheet and linked to it. No average is shown, and none should be computed from these. Wineries that publish tech sheets are selected by their own marketing departments, so a mean across them describes publishing habits rather than a grape.