The grapes are heavy and the juice from them is thick. The wine produced from it may be either dry or sweet, and tends to produce high-alcohol wines that have good texture, while being low in acid. In France, it is the major white grape in the Bordeaux wine regions and Côtes de Gascogne. In Australia, it is widely grown in the Upper and Lower Hunter Valley, to the north of Sydney. The history and origin of the grape is something of a mystery; it was noted as being cultivated in Australia and South Africa in the 1800s, and it is also grown in Portugal, Israel, Tunisia, California, Argentina, and Chile, and yet no one can say for certain whom first imported it from whom.

Semillon has a number of distinguishing characteristics that set it apart. It is an unusually high-yielding plant and the grapes ripen early, which together with it's relative ease of cultivation, makes it a grape almost any vineyard can produce. Many versatile wines can be produced from Semillon: it is blended with other wines from the Bordeaux region to make both sweet and dry white wines, while in Australia four wines are produced from it, ranging from a sweet wine similar to Sauternes to the bottle-aged Hunter Valley Semillon.

While Semillon is not as common as the other white wines, it does have a niche of fanciers. Bordeaux wine producers have just recently formed an association to grow their own clones of Semillon, which may yet change the course of history for it. The Semillon you find today, especially from Australia, might exhibit characteristics of butter or honey flavors, or lemon, lime, or green apple taste undertones.

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