The Auswine Forum

How long can you cellar a Riesling?

The oldest I've had that I've enjoyed would be about 13 years old, Pewsey Vale if memory serves. However I've had plenty of 10 yo ones. I believe they can go longer and I know people who have had 20 yo ones, but I think they had a bit of rs to start with.

Entirely depends on the riesling concerned.

But it is considered one of the noble varieties known for improving with age. Very sweet examples can last a century even!

cheers

Carl

Somebody thinks a bottle of 1975 Pewsey Vale Riesling under stelvin was worth $91++ to find out at auction recently. Would be a good test of stelvin after 33 years too.

Red,

I think the first wine that I remember under Stelvin was Ben Ean. I tasted an example about 30 years old and it still tasted almost the same as it did originally (pretty bad in terms of wine but pretty OK in terms of freshness and longevity). I questioned at the time whether what I was drinking was actually wine as it just hadn't changed.

Regards

Luke

We were given a 1976 Wendouree Riesling for a wedding present. It was brilliant when drunk with seafood on our honeymoon.

-- George Krashos

I've got a 1978 Tolley Pedare Riesling with a screwcap I got from a restaurant closing down sale. It was only $5. Haven't got around to opening it yet. Keep forgetting about it.

To answer the question - thirty years.

As always it depends on provinance. In 1999 I tasted a Lindeman's Watervale Spaetlese 1967 form a private Sydney cellar (passive). Sealed with cork in those days of course.

I hunted out my notes and in brief:-

A fine wine, drying but sound as a bell and with lovely deep colour (gold) and typical "kerosene" under-pinned with citrus (mandarin) characters, crisp finish.

As to Stelvin, some time ago some 1976 Rieslings and Gewurztraminers bottled under the "The College" label (wines made at the Ron Potter Centre at Wagga) were tasted by Nick Bullied (M.W.) in 2005. All the stelvin wines had survived well - the cork sealed Gts had died, but two of the cork sealed Rieslings had survived. These latter two were over the hill but still sound.

If I recall the article correctly, the stelvin sealed wines were all sound though the Gts had lost their fragrance; the Rieslings had developed characters but retained both typicity and freshness.

GG

G'day

Regular forumites will recall that I cellar riesling as about 15% of my cellar, and I've had several at 10-15 years of age. I've recently culled that cellar back so that the oldest rieslings are 1999s, especially for those under cork. Screwcaps have well and truly taken over for rieslings since around 2001, and I will start extending the time out slowly, so I hold a few for a little longer than 10 years.

Having said that, one of the absolutely memorable wines I've consumed was a 1979 Pewsey Vale under screwcap. We opened it in 2000, and surprised us all with its (relative) freshness, and how it still had plenty of zing (acid) supporting it.

That experience persuaded me to enter the bidding for the bottle of 1975 PV that Brian refers to earlier in this thread. But, no, it wasn't me that picked it up for $91 (+ 15% buyers premium) - I dropped out around halfway there.

The moral? Don't underestimate Aussie rieslings.

Cheers

Allan

The finest German Rieslings with residual sugar can be incredibly long lived. The oldest which I have had was a 40 year old bottle of Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese 1959 from J.J. Prüm, which tasted incredibly young, but those lucky enough to know say that the best examples from pre-war vintages can be just as good. Performance varies, of course, from bottle to bottle according to cellaring history and cork integrity.

The oldest dry Riesling which I have had was a 30 year old Alsace from the 1971 vintage. It was again one of those miracles which combines vigour with secondary and tertiary complexity.

I only have limited experience of young examples of Australian Riesling but guess there is no reason why they should not age equally well from terroirs of equivalent standard.

George Krashos wrote:We were given a 1976 Wendouree Riesling for a wedding present. It was brilliant when drunk with seafood on our honeymoon.

-- George Krashos

Were you married recently, or at the end of the seventies?

Michael McNally wrote:

George Krashos wrote:We were given a 1976 Wendouree Riesling for a wedding present. It was brilliant when drunk with seafood on our honeymoon.

-- George Krashos

Were you married recently, or at the end of the seventies?

I was going to say a 77 wedding. Haha

[quote="Eboracum"]The finest German Rieslings with residual sugar can be incredibly long lived. The oldest which I have had was a 40 year old bottle of Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese 1959 from J.J. Prüm, which tasted incredibly young, but those lucky enough to know say that the best examples from pre-war vintages can be just as good. Performance varies, of course, from bottle to bottle according to cellaring history and cork integrity.

The oldest dry Riesling which I have had was a 30 year old Alsace from the 1971 vintage. It was again one of those miracles which combines vigour with secondary and tertiary complexity.

I only have limited experience of young examples of Australian Riesling but guess there is no reason why they should not age equally well from terroirs of equivalent standard.[/quot

My finest German Riesling is, without a doubt, a `76 consumed a few years ago. Alas my record keeping has let me down! Purchased when the Alberta Liquor Board was privatized in the mid`90s and many sale items available.
Oh, welcome Eboracum!! Nice folks here.

I haven't had an old Australian Riesling but have every intention of cellaring mine for a good 10-15 years. I have a handful from 1998/99/2000 that I am cellaring.

There is one bottle of '92 Petaluma that I acquired some years ago (from Bob Parsons in fact) that is somewhere in the cellar. I'll take this as a reminder to look for this bottle and drink it this Christmas/New Year.

Like Bob, I bought quite a number of those German Rieslings from the ALCB and the '71s, '75s and '76s, all excellent years, were delicious. I'd have to say that those rieslings were some of the best I've ever had. As is my inclination I've kept a few from those vintages in the cellar to see how they would fare. Another reminder to pick out a bottle for Christmas/New Year.

Cheers......Mahmoud

I have drunk a lot of aged Aussie reislings up to thirty years old and would have to say the vast majority were very enjoyable. I find Eden valley a pretty safe bet as well as some central Victorian wines. Probably the biggest problem is how the corks have stood up. I had a 96 Granite hills a couple of weeks ago which still had plenty of life left in it.

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We were married in 2001.

-- George Krashos

I had some of the Leo Burings at 20 years of age in the mid 90s and they were sensational. Just wish I still had some...

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I had a 97 Richmond Grove Watervale Riesling, acquired from a friend, who was given it by John Vickery himself. It was fantastic, note as follows:

Richmond Grove Watervale Riesling 1997
Impeccably cellared, the colour was deep gold but the nose and palate were still so lively and fresh, with dominant Bickfords Lime Cordial characters with heavy wafts of perfumed petrol (if that makes any sense). Long, moreish, delicious! A great example of aged Riesling.

I just finished off the last of my 71's. I've got a decent number of 83's, 85's and 86's...the 85's are the only ones with serious legs left. I'm mulling the right time to pop a 59 Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Auslese. I've yet to have a Riesling from anywhere else that could last as long as a well made, very sweet, Riesling from a great year. I'd love to be proved wrong, however!