Cellaring residual sugar riesling

[grhm1961]

Hello all. I scored a half-dozen of the 2009 Sinapius Pipers Brook Riesling at auction. This is a residual sugar Riesling with 30gms/l of unfermented sugar and just 9.5% alcohol. The wine at nine years of age is golden in colour, smells strangely of leather and kerosene, but on the palate is a beautiful sweet, Mosel-style wine, well-balanced and quite lovely. It is not, however, a style we drink much of, so I am inclined to put some down to see how it progresses over even more years, but am curious to know if anyone out there has already done this with some cool-region Aussie off-dry Riesling, or just has some thoughts on the matter?

Anyone?

[Mahmoud Ali]

Hi,

I'm not familiar with Sinapius wines but am assuming that when you say "residual sugar riesling" you mean a late harvest wine. I have experience with two older Aussie late harvest rieslings. The first was a 1989 Lindeman's Botrytis Riesling that was elegant when it was young and developed very well over time. I recall it being equisite when it was about 15 years old. A subsequent bottle, perhaps a few years ago, was enjoyable though not as fIne. I may still have one bottle left. The other is the Mount Horrocks Cordon Cut Riesling. One of my bottles, either the 2000 or 2001 was still going strong a few years ago.

With a handful of bottles I'd encourage you to experiment with cellaring a few.

Cheers ................. Mahmoud.

[cuttlefish]

They’ll cellar perfectly well if stored well. I do not know the specific wine, but I have a bunch of similarly made Aussie rieslings that are marvelous drinking at 10+ years. The total acidity will play a role in keeping it fresh across the decades. Frogmore Creek have one called FGR, (Forty Grams Residual). Delatite might still make what used to be called their “Sylvia” Riesling, and then there are WA producers that also make this style like Frankland River with their “Smith Cullam”, and Bellarmine with their “Select” and “Half Dry”(?)
There are sure to be many, many others making wines of this type in Australia that I am unaware of or have not tried, but in general retail land the style seems scarce. It’s a good style and one that I enjoy very much.

[grhm1961]

Hi,

I'm not familiar with Sinapius wines but am assuming that when you say "residual sugar riesling" you mean a late harvest wine. I have experience with two older Aussie late harvest rieslings. The first was a 1989 Lindeman's Botrytis Riesling that was elegant when it was young and developed very well over time. I recall it being equisite when it was about 15 years old. A subsequent bottle, perhaps a few years ago, was enjoyable though not as fIne. I may still have one bottle left. The other is the Mount Horrocks Cordon Cut Riesling. One of my bottles, either the 2000 or 2001 was still going strong a few years ago.

With a handful of bottles I'd encourage you to experiment with cellaring a few.

Cheers ................. Mahmoud.

Actually, no, these are not late-harvest wines at all. Rather, the fermentation is stopped early, resulting in unfermented sugars providing the sweetness which is generally balanced by acid. In theory, I suppose, they should still age as well as botrytised wines, but I've not seen any aged wines of this type before. I'll give it a go.

[grhm1961]

They’ll cellar perfectly well if stored well. I do not know the specific wine, but I have a bunch of similarly made Aussie rieslings that are marvelous drinking at 10+ years. The total acidity will play a role in keeping it fresh across the decades. Frogmore Creek have one called FGR, (Forty Grams Residual). Delatite might still make what used to be called their “Sylvia” Riesling, and then there are WA producers that also make this style like Frankland River with their “Smith Cullam”, and Bellarmine with their “Select” and “Half Dry”(?)
There are sure to be many, many others making wines of this type in Australia that I am unaware of or have not tried, but in general retail land the style seems scarce. It’s a good style and one that I enjoy very much.

Yes, I've had the Frogmore Creek FGR before as well. Oddly, with 40 gms/l that was less sweet than the Sinapius at 30 gms/l. The style was popular a few years ago but seems to have faded somewhat. On the day after opening a bottle of the Sinapius it is still as fresh as yesterday, so I think it should indeed cellar well. I'll give them a whirl!

[sjw_11]

Bellarmine with their “Select” and “Half Dry”(?)
.

I have just remembered I have a Bellarmine sweet riesling somewhere in my cellar... It was bought for a specific reason (I think to show someone Aussie riesling), and when I realised it was sweet I never opened it. I didn't even put it in my database so I don't know what year it was, but I am going to guess around 2011 or 2012. ... I hope you are right that these can cellar well!

[swirler]

If this discussion isn't confined to Australian wines, I find better German examples on a different level to any local versions I've tried.

[Wizz]

Hi,

I'm not familiar with Sinapius wines but am assuming that when you say "residual sugar riesling" you mean a late harvest wine. I have experience with two older Aussie late harvest rieslings. The first was a 1989 Lindeman's Botrytis Riesling that was elegant when it was young and developed very well over time. I recall it being equisite when it was about 15 years old. A subsequent bottle, perhaps a few years ago, was enjoyable though not as fIne. I may still have one bottle left. The other is the Mount Horrocks Cordon Cut Riesling. One of my bottles, either the 2000 or 2001 was still going strong a few years ago.

With a handful of bottles I'd encourage you to experiment with cellaring a few.

Cheers ................. Mahmoud.

At 9.5% and 30g/l the best analog is German Kabinett rather than any of late harvest, botrytis affected or cordon cut. These would be harvested about the same time as grapes for a dry wine, possibly earlier to keep the acids up, and unlikely to have any bot.

I don't have any experience cellaring Australian examples but I have heaps of german ones older than this and a few kiwis as well. The cellar well as they usually have the acid spine to carry them for some time. They tend to taste drier as they age too. Not sure why this is, but it happens.
However - you have to like the taste of old riesling.

If anywhere in Aus is going to produce a decent example of this style it will be Tasmania (although the MacForbes ones from the Grampians really have my attention as well). Clare and Eden are too warm - acids generally drop off before sugars get high enough unless you''re in a cold climate. Mosel is the home of this style, and in NZ, Central Otago does it pretty well. I had some involvement in making this style of wine in Central until 2014,

[grhm1961]

Thanks, Wizz. The acid in the Sinapius is still apparent, although no longer 'backbone' in nature, but it is already 9 years old so not unexpected. I'm feeling more confident now that these will go the distance. And yes, I love old Rieslings!