2022 Polish Hill River Riesling

Pale straw with green hues.

The bouquet provides notes of floral lime, talc, musk and hints of fennel.

The palate is taut with powerful lime, slatey minerality, great depth of flavour balanced with beautiful natural acidity.

We love to enjoy this Riesling while fresh, however it also has excellent cellaring potential - up to 20 years.

Despite growing these vines organically since their planting in the 1970s, 2010 marked the first year of NASAA Organic Certification for these vineyards. Martin and Joan Smith and Molloy's vineyards are virtually next to each other in Polish Hill River and consistently produce top quality fruit which highlights the excellence of this sub-region of the Clare Valley. Grey loam acid soils over sandstone and slate make up the profile with much of the top soil littered with rock, proving just how tough the vines need to be to sustain growth and produce quality fruit. It is the slate of Polish Hill River, as opposed to the limestone of Watervale, that gives rise to the point of difference between these styles.

Fruit is harvested in the cool of night, de-stemmed, crushed and gently pressed. This restults in a fine free-run cut and a pressings component, with all batches kept separately in stainless stell tanks. The free-run juice is chilled to preserve the vineyard expression and purity of fruit. Once the juice has settled it is racked off solids and seeded with yeast. A cool, temperature controlled fermentation is carried out over 10-14 days. The wine is then chilled and filtered prior to bottling.  

Alcohol - 11.5%

pH - 3.10

Acidity - 7.7g/L