 2008 One does not wish to be overly patronising but those of us who love this variety, hate to hear it mispronounced. It just seems disrespectful! If it were an English word, it would indeed rhyme with die (dye) but it’s not, it is German. The “e” is therefore the dominant vowel and while we are at it the single “s” sounds like a soft “z”. So it’s ‘Reezling". This is a very proud and structural wine, with aspects of chalk and gravel as if the roots of the vine had deliberately sought out small pockets of these deposits in the subsoil. Soused pear and fragrant late-evening florals fill the nose like a rose bowl of orange blossom. Roughly cut stone fruit and soft jube entice, while a subtle pinch of basil and hints of lanolin keep things real. The palate too has strong structural elements as the firm textural base holds a lush hemisphere of marzipan aloft on purlins of galvanised acidity. Succulent overtures of sweet grapefruit give way to a gritty carborundum powder mouthfeel which keeps the wine dancing and frothing ever so slightly. Enjoy this moreish fräulein on the patio, chilled down on a muggy late summer evening when the light lime twist in the finish will leave your guests looking ominously toward the dining table…
2009 It is many years since we produced a Riesling with sugar levels that elevate it well up into the medium class but at 20g/l residual sugar, this one fills the bill. There are many reasons for a winemaker to stop the fermentation early and retain natural sweetness but in this case we were trying to create an instantly appealing, drink-anytime style and also to balance the mouth-wateringly low pH and succulent acidity which the grapes exhibited at harvest. This wine is as fresh as it is exciting and moreish. Peeled lycee and lemon sorbet, like Cleopatra are carried shoulder height and feet first on wafts of velvet skinned nectarine and hot buttered crumpet. Hints of quince paste, Mexican Blood Flower and the long-illegal snifter lolly combine with a nuance of Jamaican white rum to make the anticipation of tasting an almost cruel pleasure. Alive and wriggling in the mouth, the first impression is plump, rounded and somehow reassuringly matronly. As it slides further back however, the keen streaks of acidity trim away the pounds and it struts lithe and youthful like a bare chested defender having just scored the equaliser seconds before full time. Enticing cantaloupe, manuka honey and a tangerine dream impart fluid motion, sanguine texture and deft balance to the palate which shows the smooth shoulders and the deadly sharp edge of a fine ceramic blade. A chalky hint of baking soda in the finish will mellow with time and the legendary aging ability of the variety will result in further fattening and complexity ensuring this wine will provide fascinating drinking for many years to come. Try it with a rich duck liver terrine spread on crusty bread and topped with flat leafed parsley.
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We believe our Riesling is best served at approximately 11 degrees Celsius.
We believe our Riesling is best served at approximately 11 degrees Celsius.
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