Rise Watervale Riesling 2010

Rise Watervale Riesling 2010 (Clare Valley, SA)
11.5%, Screwcap, $22?
Source: Sample
www.risevineyards.com.au

There is something wonderfully reassuring about sticking your nose in a Watervale Riesling like this. It’s a comfortable smell perhaps – a familiar smell even – that is unerringly distinctive, regional and terroir driven (yes, I’m going there). It’s a smell that I love.

That smell is of lime juice. Lime juice and Gardenia and expressive fruit. You can smell the sharp acidity too, expressed in a nose filling rush that is both distinctive and a little overpowering, all at once. Lime juice and acid is the what the palate is all about too, with just this beautiful line of intense, nay super intense, Clare Riesling fruit. Some clever phenolic chew through the finish just adds to the power and depth, making for a very long and sinewy palate indeed. It’s perhaps a little tight and withdrawn right now, but everything looks very promising indeed for the future, not least the very good length.

Looking for the essence of serious Watervale Riesling? Look no further. Good stuff. 18/93