The Auswine Forum

I am a Riesling liver but I missed the boat on this as I only decided to get serious about collecting late last year.

Does anyone know of any retailers or cellars (who will post) who still have stock of any recommended wines? Feel free to PM if you prefer.

Cheers

I would also be keen to get some feedback on quality 2012 vintage Rieslings form various vineyards. I am not a white wine drinker but would like to have some in my stock to offer those that are..

maybs wrote:I am a Riesling liver but I missed the boat on this as I only decided to get serious about collecting late last year.

Does anyone know of any retailers or cellars (who will post) who still have stock of any recommended wines? Feel free to PM if you prefer.

Cheers

Anyone answering this question should do it by PM only.



This website is run by an online wine retailer (Auswine - see that white box with the hyperlink in the top left corner of the page?), and Gavin doesn't need any advertising of his direct competitors here.

Thank you.

Sorry, I was more after info on the wine itself rather than the stockist/reseller. Must have read the post incorrectly.

ads_11 wrote:Sorry, I was more after info on the wine itself rather than the stockist/reseller. Must have read the post incorrectly.

Talking about what wines are available is fine, even what's available at cellar door, but if the question is about other retailers (which the original post was) any answers should be confined to PM to protect the guy who gives us this place for free.

Yep I totally understand. I did take a look and unfortunately Gavin seems to have very limited options for SA 2012 Riesling, hence why any info as to where I could get my hands on some would be appreciated

I am just ordering some Dandelion Wonderland of the Eden from Gavin...
Cheers

So many good wines from 2012. I know Gavin has the Dandelion 2012 listed, and this is a very good example of Eden Valley from the vintage. I'd also speculate that if you ask Gavin nicely, he would be able to get some Mesh 2012 in, which would be an excellent example of Clare 2012. Superb wine, with a great record, made by some very famous names... Lastly the Gleatzer Dixon 2012 is available from Gavin, and is reported to be a cracking Tassie Riesling (though, I have not tasted).

You could do a lot worse than a mixed case of 4 of each...

simon1980

n4sir wrote:

ads_11 wrote:Sorry, I was more after info on the wine itself rather than the stockist/reseller. Must have read the post incorrectly.

Talking about what wines are available is fine, even what's available at cellar door, but if the question is about other retailers (which the original post was) any answers should be confined to PM to protect the guy who gives us this place for free.

Yep, fair call

Thanks Simon. I ordered a dozen of the Dandelion Wonderland from Gavin. It seems to get a good write up and since (a) I quite like many different Rieslings and (b) good Riesling can be had for such reasonable prices, I don't mind having a bit of a stab un-tasted

maybs wrote:Yep I totally understand. I did take a look and unfortunately Gavin seems to have very limited options for SA 2012 Riesling, hence why any info as to where I could get my hands on some would be appreciated

I am just ordering some Dandelion Wonderland of the Eden from Gavin...
Cheers

Good choice. I also saw he still had some of this wine for sale and it was one I wanted to pick up a case of. In terms of what you might want to search the web for:
- grosset springvale 2012 still some around
- petaluma - ditto
- leo buring Clare Valley at around $15 or the big daddy Leonay at around $35
- pikes traditional at around $18 or merle at $35 again. there is still some of the latter floating around so I am keen to grab some of this too
- Sons of Eden though I have already drunk half the case which buggers up the idea this wine will last past Christmas
- Tim Adams
- Kilikanoon _ though most of it has gone by now.

maybs wrote:Thanks Simon. I ordered a dozen of the Dandelion Wonderland from Gavin. It seems to get a good write up and since (a) I quite like many different Rieslings and (b) good Riesling can be had for such reasonable prices, I don't mind having a bit of a stab un-tasted

A couple of suggestions as I have tried this wine in the past. It has a massive acid structure and will go decades !!!! By all means try one bottle now but it really needs 3-4 before trying the next as I found the acid quite aggressive. Also remember riesling goes into a deep hole after 3-4 years and often does not emerge for 10 years so if your cellar conditions are stable, bury it deep and leave it alone for at least 8 if possible.

Thanks Rooman they are all producers I am familiar with except I haven't tried the Kilakanoon Riesling so will continue searching around. It will be stored in climate control offsite so should go the distance.

Great thing about Riesling is I can stash away some of great vintages like this and bode my time but still enjoy drinking other fresh vintage stuff whilst I wait as I do also enough younger Rieslings. Will definitely end up trying one or two bottles though, just can't help myself.

Will hope to grab a few more dozen worth laying down towards the back of the cellar.

I've tasted a couple of hundred 2012s by now and collected about 5 cases of 2012 riesling and still expanding.

Agree with the Pikes, the Merle had plenty of guts and the 2012 Traditionale is the best QPR of all the ones I have tried. At last year's laneway tasting the Pikes was a shining beacon in amongst some very ordinary stuff.

Another +1 for the Merle..one of my favorites in Australia...It doesn't seem to get a lot of press but I think the style is really great...very good structure with great acidity and just a touch of residual sugar...

Another vote for Petaluma. The 2012 hanlin hill is an absolute cracker!

Also worth hunting down is moores hill. They are in the Tamar valley in Tasmania.

So as well as ordering a case from Gavin I found some other stuff online today and, well, I rounded out the order with some hunter Semillion to age and, well....it got a bit exxy

I appreciate that 2012 was a great riesling vintage ( a great everything vintage really), but it is worth looking at Canberra riesling from 2013 as there are some absolute belters like Clonakilla, Shaw, Ravensworth etc but I'd hurry as they are selling very quickly.

Oh yeah, another unmissable vintage of SA riesling. Just like the legendary 1997s.... <snort>
GG

In terms of other Australian rieslings worth tracking down, we spent the Christmas before last down with a friend in the Macedon Ranges. Since he is a fellow wine tragic, it was a superb holiday. One of the finds of the holiday however was an afternoon spent at Knight Granite Hills drinking their riesling. The riesling has a great structure with a full blown palate of lemon, limes and granny smith apples. The vineyard is high in the mountains so it creates a crisp superb acid structure. Victorians really are very lucky to have so many superb wine regions close to Melbourne.

My pick of the 2012 rieslings was the Crawford River. I bought mine late last year so there might still be some around.
From Clare, I liked the O'Leary Walker Polish Hill and the Jim Barry Lodge Hill, but these may not be so easy to find as they are released quite early and the 2013s are the current release.

GraemeG wrote:Oh yeah, another unmissable vintage of SA riesling. Just like the legendary 1997s.... <snort>
GG

??
Is the sarcasm intended Graeme.
Sorry you will have to explain that one.

Cheers Craig.

Well, as I recall the 1997, 2002, 2005, Clare/Eden vintages were all greeted with 'vintage-of-the-century' type acclamation. I was just starting to buy wine (properly) from 1996, so I believed anything (sort-of) I read in those early days.
How great the fruit was, how brilliant the acidity. How they were 20-year certainties.
And didn't those 97s fall over fast? I still remember vividly Petaluma; dead in no time flat. Most of the 97s had seen their best by 5 years old.
Maybe the screwcap has fixed things; although I haven't exactly been knocked over by life-changing 2002s either. Perhaps it's too soon still for those.
cheers
GG

maybs wrote:I am a Riesling liver but I missed the boat on this as I only decided to get serious about collecting late last year.

Does anyone know of any retailers or cellars (who will post) who still have stock of any recommended wines? Feel free to PM if you prefer.

Cheers

Don't go past Crabtree wines in watervale. Their Rieslings are excellent. Made by Kerri Thompson I believe, from KT and the falcon.
Also check out Knappstein, Pauletts and Wilsons for riesling. Wilsons are probably one of my absolute faves.
Their watervale and polish hill rieslings are worth hunting down. Priced well too.

I'll be heading to Clare valley on thursday for a few days (rubs hands together ) and be sampling/purchasing some of the aforementioned.

Funny you should say that Scotty, I had a 2004 Crabtree Watervale on Saturday night. Despite not being stored in ideal conditions for a reasonable chunk of its life it was very good drinking.

GraemeG wrote:Well, as I recall the 1997, 2002, 2005, Clare/Eden vintages were all greeted with 'vintage-of-the-century' type acclamation. I was just starting to buy wine (properly) from 1996, so I believed anything (sort-of) I read in those early days.
How great the fruit was, how brilliant the acidity. How they were 20-year certainties.
And didn't those 97s fall over fast? I still remember vividly Petaluma; dead in no time flat. Most of the 97s had seen their best by 5 years old.
Maybe the screwcap has fixed things; although I haven't exactly been knocked over by life-changing 2002s either. Perhaps it's too soon still for those.
cheers
GG

Clearly one man's meat is another's poison. I thought the 2002 Petaluma was stunning and until the price started to increase, picked up and consumed with passion two cases of it at Langtons. As for 05, the Grosset Springvale I had at Xmas was also superb. The question however is really what are you looking for? Clearly they are not made in the more accessible Germanic style; therefore are you sure the ultra dry Australian style appeals to you?

maybs wrote:Funny you should say that Scotty, I had a 2004 Crabtree Watervale on Saturday night. Despite not being stored in ideal conditions for a reasonable chunk of its life it was very good drinking.

About a year ago I went to a 'museum' tasting at the Crabtree cellar door. Tried and bought some 04,05 and 06 Watervale rieslings.
Some really nice stuff. Think there's maybe a couple left in the collection.

maybs wrote:I am a Riesling liver

A liver that functions on Riesling. Genius!

2012 was also a good NZ vintage, as is 2013.

My initial reaction to the 2012 Aust Rieslings was that they were quite ripe and lacked the depth of better vintages. I find that ripe vintages quickly develop overt kero flavour profiles and then go down hill. They may turn out to be very good but they didn't grab me with that must buy feeling. The 2013s in my view are much better than the 12's. This is of course a generalisation. I like the 13 Pikes in particular for its freshness and depth. The exception for me is Tas where the opposite seems to be true. I like the 12 Glatzer Dixon Uber Blanc, Derwent Estate, and Freycinet. 12 v 13 Bream Creek is chalk and cheese with the 12 the much better wine. I have purchased 3 Heemskerk 12s to try but haven't opened them given they cost in high 40's! Third Child has proven to be good from both vintages and is quickly becoming my house pour; well made wines, clean, bright and good depth.

odyssey wrote:

maybs wrote:I am a Riesling liver

A liver that functions on Riesling. Genius!

My partner would argue that I have one of them!

I know that down the Limestone Coast (if anyone here drinks Riesling from there) The 13's were a lot more acid driven that the 12's. And as mentioned the 12's often tended to be on the riper end of the scale, which often is bad news down the track.
However, due to Riesling being a difficult beast to master down here, a lot of 13's have little fruit to carry the acidity through and will fall into a hole very quickly (12-24 months). It becomes a case of knowing the Producers and there past vintage history with the variety.