TN: 2002 Clare Valley & Eden Valley Riesling Horizontal 13/2/17
Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2017 7:40 pm
Last week on their 15th anniversary I attended a horizontal tasting of Rieslings from the classic 2002 vintage in the Eden & Clare Valleys. All of the following wines were bottled under screwcap, and served blind in regional and sub-regional groups – overall the Eden Valley wines were not in the same league as those from Clare, which were uniformly richer and much better balanced, the best of them truly outstanding.
2002 Peace of Eden Riesling, Eden Valley: 13.5% alc. Medium yellow with a bare hint of green. Very toasty and spicy, brown lime, oyster shells, talc and vanilla, seemingly developed yet without showing any sign of honey. The palate has a lovely sweet entry of brown lime followed by heavy toast, tingly acidity and a little bacon fat on the grippy mid-palate, finishing dry and a little bitter. Not sure I would hold on to this any longer.
2002 Jacob’s Creek Steingarten Barossa Riesling, Barossa & Eden Valley: 12.5% alc. Medium yellow with a little green. After so many years this still opens with a cheesy/sulphur stink, opening up to more pleasant grassy, talc and lime characters; the palate’s sweeter with apple and lime, but is also very tight and steely, dominated by acidity with some turpines and that stink still in the background. This seemingly been in a hole for the last nine or so years – will it ever dig itself out?
2002 Pewsey Vale Contours Museum Reserve Riesling, Eden Valley: 12.5% alc. Medium yellow with a hint of green. Tight and minerally, some lanolin with still a faint hint of orange blossoms in the distance, apple and lime; the palate’s steely, with a slightly grassy mid-palate and dry lime juice on the finish. This was the best of the Eden Valley group with the fattest palate and (comparatively) softer acidity, but like all of the other 2002 Eden Valley wines it’s on the austere side compared to the Rieslings of Clare and lacks their overall balance.
2002 St Hallett Riesling, Eden Valley: 12.5% alc. Medium gold. The most heavily developed wine of the tasting, while the nose is shy with slender, pithy lemon characters, the palate is sweet and lemony with some lanolin and soft acidity, finishing very dry with a little toast but also bitterness on the end. Drink now or yesterday.
2002 Penfolds Reserve Bin Riesling, Eden Valley: 13% alc. Pale to medium straw with a hint of green. Grassy and lemony with a hint of kiwi fruit, quite tropical and more than a little like Sauvignon Blanc at times; a soft entry leads to a big mid-palate with a creamy texture and crisp acidity, finishing tight and slightly sweet. A bit of an odd wine at the moment, it will be interesting to see where this heads.
2002 Mesh Riesling, Eden Valley: 13% alc. Pale-ish straw with a hint of green. The only wine of the Eden Valley group to show any slate characters on the nose and palate, which are limey with grass and a little fennel, the mid-palate punchy with very high acidity before finishing slatey. Very good.
2002 Jim Barry The Lodge Hill Riesling, Clare Valley: 13.5% alc. Pale straw/yellow. Very toasty and spicy nose with brown lime, the palate just as limey and toasty with nice, creamy acidity mid-palate and some soursob on the finish. One of the most developed Clare rieslings of the 2002 tasting, but it’s still hanging in there and well balanced.
2002 Petaluma Hanlin Hill Vineyard Riesling, Clare Valley: 12.8% alc. Very pale straw with a little green. Opens with a bit of stinky sulphur/diesel at first, followed by grass and apple fruit; the palate’s looser knit than the nose, lovely and round with lime and a hint of toast, tropicals and talc, finishing long with a hint of fennel. Bottles of this have been variable, and this looked a little clumsy next to the Tim Adams. Still good though, but clearly still needs time.
2002 Tim Adams Riesling, Clare Valley: 12.5% alc. Very pale straw with a hint of green. Smells of pristine Watervale, lime juice and limestone, grass and a hint of soursob, and some lemon blossom; the palate’s even better, slowly building in the mouth to an explosive mid-palate, the rapier-acidity softening to become crunchy on the soft finish with apple sweetness. Absolutely brilliant, a shining example of a great 2002 Clare Riesling.
2002 O’Leary Walker Polish Hill River Riesling, Clare Valley: 12.5% alc. Pale straw/yellow. Like the colour this was the most obviously developed of all the 2002 Clare Rieslings, very toasty with Bickford’s brown lime cordial, cinnamon and a touch of soursob; the palate’s soft with lovely, creamy acidity, but the finish is dry with a little bitterness creeping in on the end. It’s nothing like the Grosset and it may be in a dull phase at and bounce back, but at present the O’Leary Walker Watervale is significantly better.
2002 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling, Clare Valley: 13% alc. Very pale straw. Tight, lemony and minerally at first, apple and lemon blossom, a little banana cake with breathing; the palate’s still beautifully floral and delicately perfumed, lemon, talc, bath scents, chalk and quartz with a spritzy finish. It’s always austere but has an elegance and beauty that’s lacking in the Eden Valley equivalents: a stunning counterpoint to the 2002 Grosset Watervale, and just as exquisite.
2002 O’Leary Walker Watervale Riesling, Clare Valley: 12.8% alc. Medium straw/yellow. Amazingly complex and at times savoury nose, grassy/soursob, brown lime, toast, spice and fennel, a touch of fish oil, vanilla pod and lanolin. The palate’s ripe and very punchy with firm acid that’s a little clumsy in this field, finishing crisp and slatey. It seems relatively developed but there are absolutely no signs of dryness or bitterness that the Polish Hill wine has; great now, but one to closely watch.
2002 Clos Clare Watervale Riesling, Clare Valley: 13% alc. Medium straw with a hint of green. Grassy/soursob, lemon, slate and lanolin on the nose, the palate slow building, elegant but also a little austere compared to the surrounding Watervales; the mid-palate is bright withy acidity, finishing soft at first but becoming gum-draining/lip-smacking with each try. It’s a powerful wine, not quite as balanced as the Jim Barry Florita but it’s close.
2002 Jim Barry Florita Vineyard Watervale Riesling, Clare Valley: 13.5% alc. Medium straw with a hint of green. Tight nose with lime, mineral and slate, just a little sweet honey way off in the distance; that little touch of honey is also there on the palate, leading to a huge burst of acidity mid-palate, finishing extremely long, soft and slatey. Labelled as the Florita Vineyard (before the big price hike two years later) this wine continues to grow in stature as it ages, it was in top form today.
2002 Mitchell Watervale Riesling, Clare Valley: 13.5% alc. Pale straw/green. This has always been savoury and “out there” and so it is again, strange wild tropical scents of durian & pink guava, a little kerosene and lanolin along with more familiar Watervale territory of grass, soursob, and lime juice. The palate’s brawny and lip-smacking which like the nose suggests there’s still a healthy dose of sulphur, the finish very slatey with green tea and a toasty rebound. Always a distinctive wine in these groups, a love-it or hate-it style; I don’t consider it a classic but still love it for its quirkiness along with its great balance.
2002 Grosset Watervale Riesling, Clare Valley: 13% alc. Pale straw/green. I remember a past comment from John Bird about Penfolds Grange & St Henri; in the greatest vintages despite their obvious differences in winemaking, at times they seem to dovetail together and mimic each other. Sure enough in this tasting, there are more similarities between Grosset’s Watervale & Polish Hill than I ever expected, the elegant austerity, the tight, floral bouquets of lemon and lime juice, bath scents and in this case, sugared biscuits. The palate of the Watervale has more slate than quartz, with similar crisp apple and crunchy acidity, and a long, tingly/spritzy finish with a little toast appearing on the end. Subtlety different, yet just as ravishing.
2002 Leo Buring Leonay DWF18 Watervale Riesling, Clare Valley: 13% alc. Pale straw/green. Beautifully floral and still amazing young, talcum powder/bath scents, fennel/black sambuca liqueur, soursob and slate, pure Watervale in a glass; the palate’s limey and slatey, massive and slow-building, with a huge hit of fennel mid-palate and a glycerol texture that coats the mouth from entry to the extremely long, slippery finish. If you think the big corporates rarely find perfection, in a curate’s egg vintage like 2002 they literally got lightning in a bottle with this wine: it’s as close to perfection that I could imagine, it’s really that good.
Cheers,
Ian
2002 Peace of Eden Riesling, Eden Valley: 13.5% alc. Medium yellow with a bare hint of green. Very toasty and spicy, brown lime, oyster shells, talc and vanilla, seemingly developed yet without showing any sign of honey. The palate has a lovely sweet entry of brown lime followed by heavy toast, tingly acidity and a little bacon fat on the grippy mid-palate, finishing dry and a little bitter. Not sure I would hold on to this any longer.
2002 Jacob’s Creek Steingarten Barossa Riesling, Barossa & Eden Valley: 12.5% alc. Medium yellow with a little green. After so many years this still opens with a cheesy/sulphur stink, opening up to more pleasant grassy, talc and lime characters; the palate’s sweeter with apple and lime, but is also very tight and steely, dominated by acidity with some turpines and that stink still in the background. This seemingly been in a hole for the last nine or so years – will it ever dig itself out?
2002 Pewsey Vale Contours Museum Reserve Riesling, Eden Valley: 12.5% alc. Medium yellow with a hint of green. Tight and minerally, some lanolin with still a faint hint of orange blossoms in the distance, apple and lime; the palate’s steely, with a slightly grassy mid-palate and dry lime juice on the finish. This was the best of the Eden Valley group with the fattest palate and (comparatively) softer acidity, but like all of the other 2002 Eden Valley wines it’s on the austere side compared to the Rieslings of Clare and lacks their overall balance.
2002 St Hallett Riesling, Eden Valley: 12.5% alc. Medium gold. The most heavily developed wine of the tasting, while the nose is shy with slender, pithy lemon characters, the palate is sweet and lemony with some lanolin and soft acidity, finishing very dry with a little toast but also bitterness on the end. Drink now or yesterday.
2002 Penfolds Reserve Bin Riesling, Eden Valley: 13% alc. Pale to medium straw with a hint of green. Grassy and lemony with a hint of kiwi fruit, quite tropical and more than a little like Sauvignon Blanc at times; a soft entry leads to a big mid-palate with a creamy texture and crisp acidity, finishing tight and slightly sweet. A bit of an odd wine at the moment, it will be interesting to see where this heads.
2002 Mesh Riesling, Eden Valley: 13% alc. Pale-ish straw with a hint of green. The only wine of the Eden Valley group to show any slate characters on the nose and palate, which are limey with grass and a little fennel, the mid-palate punchy with very high acidity before finishing slatey. Very good.
2002 Jim Barry The Lodge Hill Riesling, Clare Valley: 13.5% alc. Pale straw/yellow. Very toasty and spicy nose with brown lime, the palate just as limey and toasty with nice, creamy acidity mid-palate and some soursob on the finish. One of the most developed Clare rieslings of the 2002 tasting, but it’s still hanging in there and well balanced.
2002 Petaluma Hanlin Hill Vineyard Riesling, Clare Valley: 12.8% alc. Very pale straw with a little green. Opens with a bit of stinky sulphur/diesel at first, followed by grass and apple fruit; the palate’s looser knit than the nose, lovely and round with lime and a hint of toast, tropicals and talc, finishing long with a hint of fennel. Bottles of this have been variable, and this looked a little clumsy next to the Tim Adams. Still good though, but clearly still needs time.
2002 Tim Adams Riesling, Clare Valley: 12.5% alc. Very pale straw with a hint of green. Smells of pristine Watervale, lime juice and limestone, grass and a hint of soursob, and some lemon blossom; the palate’s even better, slowly building in the mouth to an explosive mid-palate, the rapier-acidity softening to become crunchy on the soft finish with apple sweetness. Absolutely brilliant, a shining example of a great 2002 Clare Riesling.
2002 O’Leary Walker Polish Hill River Riesling, Clare Valley: 12.5% alc. Pale straw/yellow. Like the colour this was the most obviously developed of all the 2002 Clare Rieslings, very toasty with Bickford’s brown lime cordial, cinnamon and a touch of soursob; the palate’s soft with lovely, creamy acidity, but the finish is dry with a little bitterness creeping in on the end. It’s nothing like the Grosset and it may be in a dull phase at and bounce back, but at present the O’Leary Walker Watervale is significantly better.
2002 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling, Clare Valley: 13% alc. Very pale straw. Tight, lemony and minerally at first, apple and lemon blossom, a little banana cake with breathing; the palate’s still beautifully floral and delicately perfumed, lemon, talc, bath scents, chalk and quartz with a spritzy finish. It’s always austere but has an elegance and beauty that’s lacking in the Eden Valley equivalents: a stunning counterpoint to the 2002 Grosset Watervale, and just as exquisite.
2002 O’Leary Walker Watervale Riesling, Clare Valley: 12.8% alc. Medium straw/yellow. Amazingly complex and at times savoury nose, grassy/soursob, brown lime, toast, spice and fennel, a touch of fish oil, vanilla pod and lanolin. The palate’s ripe and very punchy with firm acid that’s a little clumsy in this field, finishing crisp and slatey. It seems relatively developed but there are absolutely no signs of dryness or bitterness that the Polish Hill wine has; great now, but one to closely watch.
2002 Clos Clare Watervale Riesling, Clare Valley: 13% alc. Medium straw with a hint of green. Grassy/soursob, lemon, slate and lanolin on the nose, the palate slow building, elegant but also a little austere compared to the surrounding Watervales; the mid-palate is bright withy acidity, finishing soft at first but becoming gum-draining/lip-smacking with each try. It’s a powerful wine, not quite as balanced as the Jim Barry Florita but it’s close.
2002 Jim Barry Florita Vineyard Watervale Riesling, Clare Valley: 13.5% alc. Medium straw with a hint of green. Tight nose with lime, mineral and slate, just a little sweet honey way off in the distance; that little touch of honey is also there on the palate, leading to a huge burst of acidity mid-palate, finishing extremely long, soft and slatey. Labelled as the Florita Vineyard (before the big price hike two years later) this wine continues to grow in stature as it ages, it was in top form today.
2002 Mitchell Watervale Riesling, Clare Valley: 13.5% alc. Pale straw/green. This has always been savoury and “out there” and so it is again, strange wild tropical scents of durian & pink guava, a little kerosene and lanolin along with more familiar Watervale territory of grass, soursob, and lime juice. The palate’s brawny and lip-smacking which like the nose suggests there’s still a healthy dose of sulphur, the finish very slatey with green tea and a toasty rebound. Always a distinctive wine in these groups, a love-it or hate-it style; I don’t consider it a classic but still love it for its quirkiness along with its great balance.
2002 Grosset Watervale Riesling, Clare Valley: 13% alc. Pale straw/green. I remember a past comment from John Bird about Penfolds Grange & St Henri; in the greatest vintages despite their obvious differences in winemaking, at times they seem to dovetail together and mimic each other. Sure enough in this tasting, there are more similarities between Grosset’s Watervale & Polish Hill than I ever expected, the elegant austerity, the tight, floral bouquets of lemon and lime juice, bath scents and in this case, sugared biscuits. The palate of the Watervale has more slate than quartz, with similar crisp apple and crunchy acidity, and a long, tingly/spritzy finish with a little toast appearing on the end. Subtlety different, yet just as ravishing.
2002 Leo Buring Leonay DWF18 Watervale Riesling, Clare Valley: 13% alc. Pale straw/green. Beautifully floral and still amazing young, talcum powder/bath scents, fennel/black sambuca liqueur, soursob and slate, pure Watervale in a glass; the palate’s limey and slatey, massive and slow-building, with a huge hit of fennel mid-palate and a glycerol texture that coats the mouth from entry to the extremely long, slippery finish. If you think the big corporates rarely find perfection, in a curate’s egg vintage like 2002 they literally got lightning in a bottle with this wine: it’s as close to perfection that I could imagine, it’s really that good.
Cheers,
Ian
