Super Jim Barry 2013 Riesling x 2

Super Jim Barry 2013 Riesling x 2

The Lodge Hill Riesling below actually stayed open in my fridge for 2 1/2 weeks.

It wasn’t a deliberate act at first, but watching it evolve over multiple days in the fridge turned into one of those irresistible experiments – kinda like leaving a piece of cheese on the ground on a hot day and seeing when/if it’ll melt.

In this experiment, however, the wine one. Even on day 15, when most lesser reds and whites would have fallen over, the 2013 Lodge Hill riesling had a certain vibrancy and freshness to it that was unmistakeable. Sure a little oxidation had softened the edges, but the heart was still beating strongly indeed.

When coupled with the open expression – and ridiculous value proposition – of the 2013 Watervale Riesling, it is hard to say a bad word about this pair of wines. If anything they are too cheap for people to take seriously, the pricing still lagging behind the quality in typical Riesling style…

A quick Google search reveals that this can be had for under $14. Or about enough to buy two mid-strength beers in plastic cups at ANZ Stadium. I know what I’d prefer…

Open nose – all lime juice, talc and fruit expression. It’s a ripe year Jim Barry Watervale Rizza, yet the acidity is still sprightly and sherbety while retaining softness and ‘naturalness’. A wine that looks every bit the generous Clare Riesling, but with a perfect line of natural, citrus acidity to keep it in check. I’ve got a minor quibble about a little broadness through the middle, but otherwise this is flawless in its lime juice acid softness and genuine smashability without losing flavour impact. Just a lovely wine really, at a silly price. 18/20, 93/100

Lodge Hill Riesling 2013 12.4%

From one of the highest spots in the Clare Valley, as the Lodge Hill Vineyard sits at 480m above sea level.

Initially this was very closed. Closed, phenolic and more chalky, more drying and more serious in every way compared to the Watervale. Yet over several days the lime juice came to play revealing a firm, brooding, acid driven Riesling of chalk and swagger, ripe fruit underpinned by a core of almost blunt and powerful chalked lime Riesling fruit.

Many will prefer the Watervale for drinking now, and I don’t blame them either – this needed two days of being open in the fridge before it flashed its good bits, with a more stout fruit expression than the juicy Watervale. It’s a more serous propisition though and the sort of wine that you keep looking at and silently (or not so silently sometimes) remarking ‘jeez that’s a good wine’. 18.5/20, 94/100