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Thörle Schlossberg Riesling, Rheinhessen This single vineyard wine comes from the Schlossberg Vineyard at Saulheim in the north-eastern sector of Rheinhessen, the largest of Germany’s 13 major wine-producing regions. The vineyard lies at an elevation of between 170 and 235m and is the coolest of Thörle’s three top sites. The deep clay and limestone soils effectively store heat and water. The amphitheatre-like Schlossberg has a unique microclimate, protected from winds by the surrounding hills, yet with a direct, tunnel-like connection to the Rhine which enables a constant supply of warm air to Schlossberg even on cold autumn days. Schlossberg Rieslings have finesse and are commonly mineral, delicate and earthy, with good acidity. They are Thörle’s most elegant wines. The Thörle family has been making wine at Saulheim in Germany's Rheinhessen region since the 16th century. Christoph Thörle and his brother Johannes have been running the estate since 2006. The vineyards are managed organically. These three flagships, single vineyard wines are naturally fermented, with some skin contact, 90% in stainless steel, 10% in barrel.

A fine-boned Chardonnay that reflects vintage conditions and the character of a unique vineyard site purchased by Shaw + Smith in 2012. Inaugural vintage: 2014. Planted in 1999, the vineyard has east and west facing aspects and reaches 500 meters above sea level. The soil is brown loam over clay with some broken shale and stone on the ridges. The wine is100% hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed, then fermented and matured on lees in 500-litre French oak puncheons (30% new) for 9 months.

WinemakingAll fruit was hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed. The cuvee taille (first cut free-run juice) was settled naturally overnight prior to racking to a mix of stainless steel tank and large format old barrels for fermentation.Fermented and aged separately in small batch lots on settled lees for nine months. The blended wine then underwent secondary fermentation in the bottle. This wine has been aged for an extended period on its autolysing yeast lees for more than four years to garner richness and complexity to its innate elegance and finesse.Winemaker's notesThe protracted growing season allowed a drawn-out ripening, resulting in an uncommon richness of flavour tempered by the abundant natural acidity contributed by the season.A bouquet of nashi pear, glazed brioche, lemon cheesecake and Amaretti buscuit. Flavours of nougat, lemon rind, jasmine and chestnut underpin a palate of steely acidity with delicated bubble, fruit weight and earthy 'sur lie' characters providing textural accompaniement, richness and creaminess to the finish. An excellent match for freshly-shucked oysters or semi-hard cow's milk cheeses.

Fruit for this wine is sourced from nine rows of P58 clone chardonnay planted on East West rows directly outside the winery doors. Once harvested the fruit was whole bunch pressed to French oak barriques (50% new) with Indigenous yeast fermenting the un-clarified juice. Barrel maturation took place on lees over the next ten months during which the chardonnay was stirred fortnightly.