Hello All,
Besides Pewsey Vale, who are other great Riesling Producers in Aussie land?
Also, anyone have any contacts at Pewsey Vale?
Thanks in advance.
Vamsi
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Pewsey Vale is owned and made by Yalumba wines (S.Smith and Son). They also make Heggies which is very good and are in partnership with Grosset with Mesh, another qualitative choice.
Other great Aussie Rieslings include:
Grosset
Crawford River
Vickery (Eden Valley and Watervale)
Jim Barry
Pikes (The Merle is a beauty)
Petaluma
Leo Buring
OâLeary Walker
Frankland Estate
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Jeremy list is excellent.
I would add Seppelt âDrumborgâ from Grampians (Victoria).
I love the Pewsey vale âContoursâ
I would definitely add to Jeremyâs excellent list Rieslingfreak making great Rizzas from Clare & Eden Valley, also Nick OâLeary from Canberra district.
So many great producers of Riesling out of AustraliaâŚ
To add to the listâŚ
Seppelt Drumborg Riesling
Lethbridge
Peter Lehmann Wigan
Gaelic Cemetary
Some Young Punks Monsters Attack
Lotsa decent stuff out of WAâŚTasmaniaâŚ
There are probably 50 other producers that are up there as wellâŚmaybe not to the same extent but really goodâŚ
Another I used to love was Delatite, but Iâve not seen it in years. Of the big boys Orlando (now Jacobâs creek) Steingarten may trade deceivingly off the name of the Steingarten vineyard (which is now just a part of the source for the wine), but whatâs in the bottle is very good indeed.
Pewsey vale are very good themselves though, and the contours is a bit of a giveaway.
I always liked DâArenbergâs Dry Dam; especially for the price point.
No love for Mac Forbes? Granted thereâs been some variation in recent years due to weather issues (especially the year he was wiped out by flooding and had to source from Tasmania) but even in âoffâ years his wines are quite good.
Pressing Matters in Tasmania (nb: a friend).
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Agreed on the Steingarten, itâs what started me on Aussie Riesling, Iâve still got one bottle of the 03 that Iâm trying to hold for a bit longer. I wasnât aware that they had made a change and were using fruit that wasnât out of the Steingarten vineyard. Do you know when that change took place Ian?
As for the WA offerings, I can recommend all of the following.
Castelli
Howard Park
Leeuwin Estate Art Series
Larry Cherubino
Kerrigan + Berry
Forest Hill
Plantagent
Capel Vale
Castle Rock Estate
I forgot Pressing Matters. Terrific wines at different levels of R.S (a friend as well).
Would also add Clonakilla and The Wilson Vineyard.
P.S Andrew - Hold that Steingarten 03 for as long as you can, it needs another 5 years at least.
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Agreed. I used to pick these up in summer from one of my locals for ~$16/bottle and then stroll across the street to a Thai restaurant and have it with dinner. Stunning wine. Then I realised I should lay some down but when I went back to the shop they had sold all but one. I hope it makes it to 20 years old, at least thatâs my plan.
Hi Andrew
A quick web search picked this up on Sarah Ahmedâs site (I believe I first read it in one of James Hallidayâs wine annuals)
Steingarten Riesling, for which the Steingarten vineyard was the sole source until the mid-90s
regards
Ian
Opinion: Itâs a shame the Aussies do this. Kalimna and Koonunga Hill are two other examples form Penfolds, of trading off a vineyard name that is no longer the source, or even contributes to the wine at all. Whilst such behaviour persists, there will be no credible âCruâ system in Australia, but it is perhaps part of the Aussie psyche that would not lament itâs absence. There is still a strong anti-establishment streak, and if there were an established Cru hierarchy, the Aussie wine enthusiasts would surely be queuing up to cut down the âtall poppiesâ. Of course big brands such as Penfolds are not immune to criticism and much of it has been justified, not least in their aspirational pricing at home.
Henschke : several origins (Julius, Greenâs hill).
I agree with pretty much all of what has been said so far.
My personal favorite is Crawford River. I think Knappstein did an excellent job with their âinsiderâ riesling that had a degree of skin contact. Ravensworth in Canberra is another that has stood out recently
YeahâŚPressing mattersâŚand Mac ForbesâŚ
Really, you can throw a stick out there and hit a good Aussie Riesling producerâŚso many good onesâŚand they age fantastically wellâŚand cheap as chipsâŚ
+1 for Grosset. I like a bone dry style and year in and year out the Polish Hill hits tops for me. Have enjoyed Leo Buring, Henschke and Lethbridge in the past.
Grosset is the famous one on this continent (for certain values of famous). Itâs great but hard to come by here these days so I appreciate the other suggestions.
I used to buy mine at the old Columbus Circle Wines. I miss that place.
Thought I would age my 2008 dArenberg Dry Dam Riesling but today picked up the 2011 for $22 Cdn. Should I keep the 08 a while longer?
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