International Riesling Day!

‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍We must confess! It is true. Australian Riesling is not usually our favourite wine. Don’t get me wrong, we really do love a great Riesling (most commonly seen from the likes of Jim Barry Wines, Rieslingfreak, Penna Lane Wines, Craigow Vineyard, etc), but way too often in Australia, this noble varietal is cooked up like some unripe, acid-bathed lime peel on methamphetamine – kinda drinks like taking a great big bite out of a roll of aluminium foil! Because of this, we chase Riesling too infrequently, but when we finally get back around to it, we do it right.

‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍Not too long ago (although it seems like forever now), we called and celebrated our own impromptu International Riesling Day. It was time, after months of not having cracked into a Riesling. We opened some pretty serious bottles including three international Rieslings (Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Turckheim 2018, Weingut Heymann-Löwenstein Schieferterrassen 2017, and Weingut Prinz von Hessen GG 2016) and three from Australia (Bay of Fires Wines 2013 (Northern Tasmania), Bay of Fires 2017, and The Ninth Mile (Beechworth) 2019)‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍.

It was quite a diverse range of spectacular wines! In the end, I believe the three crowd favourites were the ethereal Bay of Fires 2013, the coat-of-many-colours complex Prinz Von Hessen GG 2016, and the gloriously textural Ninth Mile 2019. That two of our three favourite Rieslings were AUS takes me back to our first point. When Australia, with its diverse climes, does it right, it is as capable as any country of producing stunning Riesling. Just a damn shame, I suppose, that so many AUS producers seem committed to peddling lime bleach‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍!

But here’s to Riesling! Drinking ones such as we tasted on International Riesling Day leaves us with hope yet that Australia may find a glorious future with this varietal‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍.

(That Bay of Fires 2013 really was spectacular. Here are our notes: A wave of individual minerals, each with its own sparkle of sun-kissed effervescence, roll gently across the palate. Lightly brushed with lemon, a lively artery of broader fruit flavours pushes straight through, leaving little hints of summer wheat hanging in its wake. Little honeysuckle pecks along the way. So beautifully balanced with electric charge, a river’s depth, and suggested complexity.‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍)

Amazing Rieslings are one of the reasons #WhyWeLoveWine