Riesling for the common man

[Sean]

deleted

[Matt@5453]

Great write up Sean.

Over the last 6 or so months I have been working my way through the Clare Valley trying as many Rieslings as I can. There are some fantastic wines around from the V2015; my ‘go to’ wines at the moment are:

Jim Barry Watervale – so approachable now
Knappstein Watervale – like the Jim Barry so approachable
Pikes Traditionale – a top drop, very consistent performer
Crabtree Watervale – more acid than the other 3 above – I think will look great in 5 years
The list can go on and on but also honourable mentions at the moment to:
Shut the Gate Polish Hill (V2014) – very smart wine
Sevenhill St Francis Xaiver – cracking wine. Have had the V2010 a few times also which is drinking very well now, the 2015 should be good in 5-6 years also
Claymore Wines Superstition – laser like acidity – look forward to seeing it in 5 years also.

A couple of articles worth a read on Riesling:

http://www.winecompanion.com.au/articles/news%20articles/2016/march/regal-riesling

http://www.winecompanion.com.au/articles/news%20articles/2016/march/high-and-mighty

[Ozzie W]

Nice notes, Sean.

I actually had a 2003 Best's Riesling last night, so it's an excuse to write it up.

Jeremy Oliver and James Halliday had a drinking window up to 2005 and 2007 respectively. This is still drinking extremely well after 13 years and it's got plenty more years up its sleeve. My bottle was sourced directly from the winery as a museum release just a few months ago. Just goes to show what good storage can achieve. Before releasing, I believe that Best's checked each bottle one by one for fill level and cork condition and then washed and re-labelled each bottle.

Aging has resulted in a rich golden colour. Crisp, complex and balanced are the words I'd use to describe this wine. Still very lively with plenty of peach and lemon fruit. Some typical aged kero in there too, but not too much. It missing that X-factor to make it a stand-out wine, but very nice to drink nonetheless.

[Sean]

deleted

[paulf]

There is so much available for around that $20 mark or less. You've covered off some good ones there.
My personal go to rieslings under that mark would be the O'Leary Walker Polish Hill, the Jim Barry Lodge Hill and the Pikes.
For just over the $20, I've been enjoying the Adelina Watervale, which I don't think will be a long term prospect, but that doesn't seem to be a problem since I have already got through all the bottles I bought at the start of December.

Some of the Tassie rieslings are definitely worth a look, as are examples from Canberra (I've bought Ravensworth the past couple of years). For the most part you will pay a little more for them though as they don't have the same economy of scale as the more established South Australian brands.

[Scotty vino]

Worth a mention....The Wilson Vineyard in Clare Valley.
Their Standard issue watervale Riesling is $19.00
Great gear and quite often overlooked IMO.