TN: Duke's Magpie Hill Reserve Riesling 2017

[Waiters Friend]

G'day

Apparently this wine was awarded some astronomical number of Halliday points, and is therefore wonderful. I buy a six-pack of this every year, so missed out on the fuss (and got hold of it before it sold out).

Very pale straw in the glass, and clear as a bell. These are wines for the cellar (Duke reckons 20+ years) and I was therefore expecting some restraint and reserve at this early stage in its life. It's there - but the pristine citrus fruit is evident in spades, and the lime and lemon is supported by pink lady apples.

Acid is not as sharp as I expected, and the wine sits nicely at the moment (just as well, now we've opened the bottle!) and is most enjoyable now. I will cellar the rest, however as I expect this will age superbly, as have previous vintages. There's almost a latent power waiting to develop, and it's finishing very long now.

Cheers
Allan

[Mahmoud Ali]

Where is Duke's from?

[conformistpete]

Great Southern overlooking the Porongorups.

[Waiters Friend]

Apparently the most highly pointed (by Halliday) Australian white wine ever (99). I shared a bottle today and I can see what the fuss is about, and look forward to seeing it mature.

Note the 2018 is being pre-sold by Dukes now at $42 a bottle instead of the $30 it has been going for, for some years. .

[Ian S]

Is Halliday actually tasting the wines these days? I understood he took on a partner a while back with the intention of handing over to him

[phillisc]

Is Halliday actually tasting the wines these days? I understood he took on a partner a while back with the intention of handing over to him

Partner Ian...
no its actually a team now...Campbell Mattison from TWF for a while, but noted 3 separate tasters in the last JH bible

He turns 80 this year so suspect like the saying goes...time waits for no one...so there will either be more tasters or that's it
Cheers
Craig

[swirler]

It's very nice indeed