$50 to $100
Crawford River Riesling
Mount Horrocks Cordon Cut Riesling
Golden in colour with aromas of tropical fruits and citrus. Delicate but mouthfilling, Mount Horrocks Cordon Cut reveals a balanced sweet palate with a hint of lime zest on the finish. A multi-award winning dessert wine over many years, this example of the style is a benchmark in Australia.
Weingut Robert Weil Kiedrich Turmberg Riesling-Trocken
Pooley Margaret Pooley Tribute Riesling
The Margaret Pooley Tribute Riesling is a reserve wine made only in exceptional years from the original Pooley Riesling plantings established in 1985. This is Anna Pooley's most explosive and concentrated Riesling release. Built with cellaring in mind, it's an intensely flavoured, tightly structured wine that is going to reward patience in the cellar. One of the benchmark Rieslings in Tasmania, whenever Anna deems this high enough quality to be a stand alone release, enthusiasts should jump on it. This Riesling is a cut above.
Robert Weil Riesling Trocken
This cuvée is a blend of fruit from high altitude Estate vineyards - including the brilliantly named Sandgrub vineyard - dotted around the village. There's a good dollop of Wasseros too, a fine vineyard which wraps around the Gräfenberg Grosse Lage. We've had some great bottles of this wine over the years, but few with the kind of horsepower on offer here. Racy and cool, with citrus and ripe stone fruit, yet balanced by fabulous, mouth-watering acidity; this is the sort of wine that will make Riesling lovers shudder with pleasure. Robert Weil doesn't make 'entry level' wines, as this clearly shows.
Montinore Estate Reserve Riesling
Pooley Cooinda Vale Riesling
Pooley was established in 1985 when the family planted 10 rows of Riesling & 7 rows of Pinot Noir on their property at Coal River in Southern Tasmania. This wine comes off those first planted Riesling vines. Such an enticing wine from the first sniff; jasmine, grapefruit & white flowers on the nose, while the palate reveals lavender, lime zest, green apple & fennel. Seductive stuff. The Cooinda Vale vineyard is ideally positioned facing northeast overlooking the Coal River in southern Tasmania. On the 43.5 Latitude line, the vineyard is planted on northeast facing slopes at 130m above sea level. This is a unique microclimatic location, being well protected from prevailing winds but still highly influenced by maritime conditions. The long growing season, which can extend into May, with high sunshine hours, predominately winter rainfall and the occasional frost and snow, combine to provide an excellent condition for cool climate grape varieties, such as Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Riesling and Chardonnay. Initially the nose is a little shy with fresh notes of citrus peel and blossom. The palate is typical Cooinda Vale, refined and elegant with lemon sherbet, cumquat and marmalade. Strong acid profile with a persistent finish.
Rieslingfreak No.7 Clare Valley Fortified Riesling Non-Vintage
Product Information: Rieslingfreak No.7 Clare Valley Fortified Riesling will remind you of good white port, but somehow with Riesling aromatics and flavours. There's a hint of nutty oak on the nose, supporting aromas and flavours of sultanas, caramel and butter scotch, orange peel and dried fruits. The wine is a perfect match for a sweet dessert, chocolate or a plate of cheese. Grapes for the No.7 are sourced from the family property, White Hutt, Clare Valley. The juice is partially fermented to 7-8 baume (approx. 140g/L sugar) then fortified with a neutral brandy spirit. Stored in old oak casks to develop for 2 to 4 years. The wine was bottled at three years of age, expressing many of the flavours and aromas of a good fortified Riesling. Maker: Established by John Hughes in 2009, Rieslingfreak started as a passion-project, was born from a long-running love for the Riesling variety. Today the portfolio has grown and evolved to include 19 different Riesling styles! Since the beginning, Rieslingfreak's mission has been to produce quality Rieslings that best represent both style and region. They craft Rieslings that reveal the qualities of essential South Australian wine regions, including Clare Valley, Eden Valley and Polish Hill River. It's easy to get the hang of, each of the Rieslingfreak wines is assigned a number, and the number represents both the region where the grape is grown, and the style of the Riesling in the bottle. The Rieslingfreak collection includes dry, sweet, sparkling, and fortified Riesling styles. There are not many grape varieties in the world that provides a winemaker the same level of versatility that Riesling does. To drive it home, Rieslingfreak’s Belinda Hughes, speaks to the versatility of riesling, “I believe Riesling to be the ultimate versatile variety... from dry to sweet, sparkling to fortified, there is almost nothing riesling can’t do – and do well!" Not only that, the variety has natural capability to hold elevated acid levels making it uniquely suited to delicate dry wines as well as perfectly balanced sweeter styles, and also imparts longevity and enables long-term cellaring. The other thing Riesling does well is its ability to effortless accept oak. To argue oak in Riesling, Anne Hughes, John's mum and source of Clare Valley Riesling, takes the mic. While many Australian makers see oak as an affront in riesling, playing it safe to preserve fruit purity at all costs, the reality is that oak is very traditional. “While the use of oak and wild fermentation is relatively rare in Aussie riesling, the Germans have been using oak vessels with riesling for centuries,” says Hughes. Most of the vats used at Rieslingfreak are so old, the oak flavour in the wines is barely perceptible, this subtle influence imparts a distinctive elegance and an old-world charm that truly sets their wines apart from the rest. Riesling Freak are also boundary pushing, respecting tradition, they've learned the rules to break them. While they certainly embrace the classic steely Aussie style and have paid homage to textured German styles, they go further aiming to push the boundaries of what Riesling means in this country. Anne Hughes says, "Riesling is remarkably well suited as a canvas for more exuberant expressions." The variety's high natural acidity is the key factor, that makes it perfect for oak fermentation and maturation - a vinification more commonly association to Burgundian Chardonnay. Anne explains it best, “natural preservation due to low pH and the delicacy of the base wine allows secondary characters to shine. Why can’t riesling be as textural and complex as a top-shelf barrel fermented chardonnay? Why can’t the winemaker embrace the bolder flair of Antoni Gaudi, rather than the restraint of Da Vinci in creating a riesling of great beauty?” You can find this style, that blurs the line between old and new world in Riesling No.1. Only made in the good years, in a way that distinguishes it from any other Rieslingfreak wine. This wine has been wild fermented in a large-format oak barrel, producing a Riesling with texture and unprecedented complexity; combining subtle, spicy oak notes with delicate tropical and heady floral aromas, strewn together by tight, linear acidity that will drive this wine many years into the future and definitely one for the Rieslingfreaks among us. Vineyard: At Rieslingfreak, grapes are sourced from Clare Valley, Polish Hill River and Eden Valley. Each of these regions and specific vineyards are selected based on their own individual microclimate, the history of the vineyard and the grower’s commitment to their vineyards. Their Clare Valley vineyard is the source of No.7 but also Rieslings - No.3, No.5, No.6, No.9, No.33. Situated in White Hutt and is my family vineyard, owned by Richard and Anne Hughes. This is approximately 5.8 kms north of the Clare township, and is situated 500m above sea level. On their Clare Valley property, they have five different Riesling sites. Each site has a different soil profile, where they use multiple clones on the sites. The majority of the sites have deep red clay, over limestone, providing a fruit driven style of Riesling. Nose - Porty Sultanas, Orange Peel, Butter Scotch Bouquet is straw-like and savoury, accented with orange peel, with a suggestion of nutty oak. Palate - Dried Fruits, Caramel, Zest Flavours of sultanas, caramel and butter scotch, orange peel and dried fruits Finish - Nutty Oak, Citrus Pith, Honey The sweetness is quite moderate. The phenolics and apparently high-alcohol accentuate an appealing bitterness on the finish.
Hollick The Nectar
Hollick of Coonawarra is a family owned winery known for their exceptional value table wines. The Nectar is a lovely example of Botrytis Riesling. Luscious sweetness and fine racy acidity make this the perfect partner to tour favourite desserts.
Frogmore Creek Iced Riesling
Made with a nod to the great wines of Germany and Austria, this bright sweet Riesling based wine is loaded with orange zest, lemon blossom. Luscious, sweet stone fruit and ripe apple flavours linger indefinitely, nourished by characteristic cool climate mineral acid. Perfectly matched with Lemon Curd tarts.