Calling All Riesling Lovers

[phillisc]

Yes Matt, would agree, there would be a fair bit of cross pollination of the Florita vineyard...Clos Clare for starters and yes a 75 acre site certainly makes a lot of Riesling.
Wizz, I have RG Watervale going back to the 96 vintage, made by John Vickery...back label states small parcels of selected Watervale fruit, so odds on some of this came from the Barry's.
Reminiscing...you bet, found another clipping of a property in the early 1990s on Hughes Park Rd Sevenhill, not far from Skillagalee...run down 6 room blue-stone cottage with 20 acres of non irrigated Riesling managed by and contracted to Petaluma to go into Hanlin Hill. Again sub $200g...would have been freehold years ago with both a wine and tourism income stream...if only!
Cheers
Craig.

[Mahmoud Ali]

Thinking back I can still see in my minds eye a small house adjacent to a road with a clos Clare sign. Also there was a white signboard with the name Florita alluding to the adjacent vineyard. It was closed, likely sold out, so we drove past.

I've now checked the clos Clare site as well as the Jim Barry site. The latter make several single vineyard rieslings including The Florita. The information on their regular Watervale Riesling says that it comes from special parcels of the Florita vineyard by which I assume the younger vines. Now the clos Clare also makes a Watervale Riesling and they have this to say about it:

"As the third generation of the Barry winemaking family, we now hold the keys to this boutique winery. Riesling is the Clare Valley's signature variety and this is our ninth vintage from clos Clare's Riesling patch, adjoining the historic 'Florita' vineyard in Watervale."

However, it appears that this is not the entire story. I believe that the clos Clare riesling patch is a part of the original Florita vineyard but the Barry's have decided not to "dilute" the Florita name with two separate wines of the same name. Here is an excerpt from the clos Clare website about the history of the vineyard (emphasis mine):

"By the mid eighties, Lindemans, now owned by Philip Morris, began selling assets including the Florita vineyard. These were fairly tough times for the wine industry, but long-term Clare company, Jim Barry Wines, seized the opportunity, albeit at a stretch. “We sold five acres with some vines and a house. We had to. But we kept seventy-five acres”, recalls Peter Barry. That little slice of Florita was sold to local artist Ian Sanders, who estalished clos Clare in 1993 and engaged Jeffrey Grosset to make the Riesling. Noel Kelly purchased clos Clare from Ian in 1996 and ran the business as his retirement from the petroleum industry until 2007. At this time Noel offered the 5 acres of vines and the house back to Peter Barry, who purchased it with his two sons Tom and Sam. Since then the boys have run clos Clare and continue to make the Watervale Riesling from the origional clos Clare 5-acre parcel in the South-West corner of the Florita vineyard."

As I see it, the clos Clare Watervale Riesling, made from the "adjoining patch" is in fact a part of the original Florita vineyard.

The history of the Florita vineyard is amazing. Apparently the first time the name of the vineyard was used was for a sherry called 'Florita Fino' made with flor yeast cultures John Vickery "pirated" from Xeres (Sherry) in Spain. It's an amazing read, Chateau Leonay, Leo Buring, John Vickery, Lindemans, Jim Barry, clos Clare, and Geoffrey Grosset, all names associated in one way or another to the Florita vineyard. For those with an interest:

http://closclare.com.au/florita-vineyard

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

[phillisc]

Well Mahmoud, thanks for confirming, if I may say so, my recount was pretty accurate, if only I had the balls to buy the 5 acres and the house, even at the price, I do remember interest rates were 18.3% at the time, so the wives talked us out of it ...there would be blood in the streets and anarchy on a scale not seen since the Roman invasion if interest rates were that today. What a life that would be, making premium Riesling off a single vineyard and being Lord of the manor!
Still it appears that the artist was always going to do the right thing by the Barry's and it was a closed deal so to speak.

One things for sure though...at 18.3% interest rates, wine in Australia in 2018 would have be shit cheap, but of little consequence.
No one internationally would buy it at the price set by those who make it, to cover costs of borrowings and to service debt, and no one in the domestic market who had a mortgage could afford to purchase any

cheers
Craig

[Mike Hawkins]

As I mentioned earlier, I spent an afternoon with Sam last month touring their vineyards. Shame my memory is so poor as I know he discussed the subjects above in detail ! He’s a top bloke if you get a chance to spend time with him.

But as for a Florita, it was noteworthy in the AGT Wine magazine a few months ago, some of the critics had it in their 6 wines to showcase what Oz can do. As a Rizza fan, I can’t help but agree

[JamieBahrain]

Just bumping this out of interest .

I’m doing a JIm Barry Armagh vertical soon and Sam Barry put together a few back vintages and current release Florita Rieslings to break up the tasting and add additional interest.

A four bottle min-vertical look at Australia’s Clos St Hune ! Weight, purity, length - devoid of austerity and the curse of kerosene! Can’t wait

[Mike Hawkins]

Sam is a good bloke and loves showing their older rizzas. You’ll have a good time. Even their second tier wines are great at 15+ years

[phillisc]

Sam is a good bloke and loves showing their older rizzas. You’ll have a good time. Even their second tier wines are great at 15+ years

2014 Clos Clare cemetery Shiraz that I had on Sunday was fantastic.
Cheers Craig

[JamieBahrain]

Sam is a good bloke and loves showing their older rizzas. You’ll have a good time. Even their second tier wines are great at 15+ years

Yes he extended an invite . I’ve a few weeks in ADL for a driving holiday and maybe I make the Clare . After so much good living, I need to avoid wine regions and get on the mountain trails .

[Matt@5453]

Sam is a good bloke and loves showing their older rizzas. You’ll have a good time. Even their second tier wines are great at 15+ years

Yes he extended an invite . I’ve a few weeks in ADL for a driving holiday and maybe I make the Clare . After so much good living, I need to avoid wine regions and get on the mountain trails .

Plenty of good cycling to be had in the Clare Valley.

[Mahmoud Ali]

Tonight I'm drinking a 2014 Grosset "Alea' Riesling (12.5%), something I bought earlier in the day. It's supposed to be an "off-dry" style and that may be so in the context of Grosset, but it really is rather dry. The wine has good extract judging by the viscosity and legs in the glass. The nose is quite lovely, fragrant and floral, lime blossom, honeyed, and a hint of oil, not petrol but a fragrant extract that might come from a bottle of attar, maybe jasmine. The palate is tasty but a bit of a let down, there isn't the intensity of a Polish Hill (how could it) and the acidity is on the low side. It certainly fills the mouth but does not deliver what the nose promises. It finishes with a savoury, herbal note and is quite satisfying nonetheless. I'm not entirely sure how it will age, if at all.

The opinion of any Riesling lovers on this wine would be highly appreciated.

Thanks ……………………… Mahmoud.

[paulf]

Yep the Alea is more dry than many. I can't remember the 2014 specifically, but I've always had the impression that these would age gracefully. I still have a few of 2011s around somewhere. They just called it "off dry" that year and introduced the "Alea" in 2012 which I also have a few of but haven't opened any. I've tasted most vintages, but haven't bought any since 2012, mainly because there is a lot of good, and interesting Riesling being made in Australia at the moment. i'd take the Crawford River over any of the Grossets these days. Ravensworth has become a regular buy for me too.

[sjw_11]

Apparently I have a bottle of 2012, 2014 and 2017 Alea in the cellar. I think I only ever had the 1 bottle of the 2014 so I cannot offer any advice- but thanks for the note! I might try and dig it out next time, but I always have a hard time working out which of my identical looking Grosset boxes to open- mental note, I need a better filing system!

[Polymer]

It is definitely off dry...but for sure less dry than what you typically mind find as off dry for a German Riesling.....and I think that's typical for AU Riesling given that most people in AU don't seem to like having much more than 2-3 g/L of RS in their Riesling...

The acidity isn't low (Objectively it is not) but the RS will give it the perception of having less acidity than it does....

Personally, I don't mind the Alea...but I'm not a Grosset Polish Hill fan either...I tend to like the Watervale a bit more..but there are just so many great AU Rieslings out there that I just prefer more...

[Mahmoud Ali]

Thanks for all the commentary guys, much appreciated. You are all correct that in the context of Australian Riesling the Alea is off-dry and perhaps at only five years of age it might be at the cusp between youth and maturity. Another consideration is that it had been in the wine shop for some years and was discounted for sale ($25). As for Grosset in general I tasted the '07 Polish Hill a couple of years ago and thought it was excellent and was equally impressed by their 2017, albeit at a much younger stage, at the Riesling festival in Sydney a year ago.

I do recall being impressed by Best's 'House Block' Riesling that was definitively an off-dry style in the German fashion.