At about 500m above sea level, on the highest slopes of Skillogalee’s sustainably farmed vineyard, this is a riesling of honed acid drive meeting intense fruit concentration. Lifted lemon blossom fragrance overlays lime zest and granny smith apple fruit, supported by a textural back palate of granny smith apple skin grip and phenolic structure, finishing […]

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Mount Horrocks is a Clare riesling that appreciates bottle age more than most, and 2013 especially so. An axis or razor-sharp acidity intersects a bolt of phenolic grip, making this a tautly honed and firmly structured Mount Horrocks of drying mouth feel and textural firmness. It carries impressive restraint of lime zest character and notes […]

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The most enduring off-dry rieslings are driven by levels of acidity that render them exceedingly long-lived, and the searing backbone of taut acid structure that defines Grosset’s 2013 is poised to outlive any dry riesling from this season. Structurally, it’s impeccable, this bolt of acidity rendering its residual sweetness nigh-on invisible, with fine-tuned phenolics lending […]

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A cool frozen lime focus portrays a cooler demeanour than usual for this dry season, capturing impeccably gauged fruit ripeness in intense aromas and flavours of granny smith apple, lemon blossom and kaffir lime spice. There’s plenty of texture and structure to back this up, with a finely mineral Watervale mouth feel and a little […]

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A great season for one of Australia’s finest dessert rieslings, uniting unctuous intensity and honeyed sweetness with well-structured acidity. It’s as alluringly complex as ever, a gorgeous amalgam of lemon and lime, peach, baked apple, honey and mixed spice. Brimming with persistence and appeal, this is a vintage that will live long. $35 at Cracka.

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Some have proclaimed 2013 among the finest Clare vintages of all. Time will tell, but my money is on cooler seasons like 2012 and 2002. The warm, dry 2013 has produced greater back palate presence and more phenolic structure, raising questions over how this vintage will appear after a decade in the cellar. Grosset has […]

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The big question that divides the great rieslings from the also-rans of the Clare and Eden Valleys in 2013 is that of the skill of their makers in handling this warm and dry season, expressed most evidently in phenolic structure. The outcome is a greater disparity of house style and quality than the even 2012 […]

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‘I say 10% of the blend is from my blood!’ declares Jean-François Clouet, who has changed the style of his family’s rosé to a fresher and more direct mood, not so soft, aiming for the lively impression of malic acidity, even though it goes through full malolactic fermentation. The result is a rosé that epitomises […]

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It takes a tough season to truly define a great estate, and Gimonnet’s Special Club is one of Champagne’s finest expressions of the sunny and structured 2005 vintage — all the more noble at the top end of Special Club production volumes. Didier Gimonnet is justly proud of the balance he has upheld in this […]

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Eric Rodez has again crafted a definitive blanc de noirs, and one of the finest at its price anywhere in Champagne. The enticing purity of Ambonnay pinot noir on show is something to behold, encapsulating the personality of the village in voluptuous black cherries, cherry kernel, red apples and mixed spice. Malic acidity is cleverly […]

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