Houghton Frankland River Riesling 2001

[Waiters Friend]

I am amazed by the ability of Houghton's Frankland River rieslings to age. See also a previous note on the 2000 model viewtopic.php?f=1&t=12544&p=100202&hilit=houghton+frankland#p100202

This one is similar, although if possible, even less developed now than the 2000 was two years ago. Screwcap may be responsible for this. The wine is yellow with th barest gold tinge, and again I would have placed it at least 6-7 years youngr than its actual age.

The nose is a little shy at first, but opens up with the expected lemon, lime and a hint or orange blossom. There is little in the way of honey / toasty notes (as you might expect on an older riesling) and the acidity is providing the backbone of the wine. It's got a reasonably long finish without any cloying or oiliness, and the palate is clean and mouthwateringly refreshing.

Just as well I still have a couple more. This will go longer, but who's complaining at 13? This is a beauty.

Cheers

Allan

[Waiters Friend]

We broached my last bottle of this last night. Some changes from 2014.

There's now a fair amount of the honey / toasty notes you'd expect from an old riesling. Colour is still yellow, however, and only just tending towards golden, indicating some time left. There's still some fruit, although this is now candied and cordial-like - again as you might expect - but not entirely so.

The wine still tastes far younger than its (now) 16 years of age and this is testament to their ageing potential. Happy to have drunk this now before it becomes entirely a tertiary curio.